The Kind Folk by Ramsey Campbell

Reviewed by Jeanne

What would you do if you suddenly discovered your parents weren’t your parents?  That’s just what happens to Luke Arnold on national television, no less.  He’s been dragged to the Brittan’s Resolutions show—a sort of British Maury Povich program—because his father Maurice suspects Luke is really the son of his brother, Terrence, despite tearful denials from Freda, Luke’s mother. 

As it turns out, none of them are related to Luke at all.

Luke is left in an uncomfortable situation. His erstwhile mother wants to pretend nothing at all has changed, while others kept asking Luke if he isn’t curious about his biological parents.  His partner, Sophie, is expecting the couple’s first child, but she is content with whatever Luke decides to do.

Luke isn’t sure what he wants, except that he wishes the TV show had never happened.  He has the impression that his Uncle Terrence knows more than he is telling, but Terrence dies suddenly of a heart attack before Luke has a chance to question him.  He leaves his house to Luke, and when Luke goes to look it over, he finds that Terrence left a journal with many curious notations—not to mention an odd collection of artifacts, most of which seem to pertain to ancient folklore. And then Luke begins to feel he's being watched. . . .

Ramsey Campbell has been called “Britain’s greatest living horror writer,” which may be one reason I haven’t read his previous books.  Horror is not my favorite genre, not since Richard Matheson kept me awake several nights; I have enjoyed certain books (The Seeker by R.B. Chesterton springs immediately to mind) that deal more in creepiness and unease instead of gore and projectile regurgitation. I was drawn to The Kind Folk because the reviews said it drew from folklore, which I usually enjoy.

Having finished the book, I’m still not quite sure what to make of it.  The jacket copy didn’t help; it didn’t exactly fit the book I read.  I understood the underlying implication of Luke’s birth, but the broader possibilities left me more than a bit baffled.  This is probably a flaw more in the reader than the writer. I also wonder if it would have helped had I known more about the history and folklore of some of the places visited.

On the other hand, Luke’s uncertain probing into his origins held my attention.  His attempts to decipher exactly what Terrence meant kept me turning the pages but the most mesmerizing parts took place in the woods and fields where Luke feels he is being watched, maybe even glimpsing movement around the trees.  I have to say that I looked at the foliage around my house with deep suspicion after reading the book.

Campbell wrote on his website (www.ramseycampbell.com) that if he cannot achieve awe, then he strives for “a lingering disquiet.”  I think he has achieved that with The Kind Folk.

Nevermore: American Dream, Southern Literature, Medicine, Huck Finn Again, The Cutaway, and Notorious RBG

Reported by Kristin

Our first reader led off with Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power by Noam Chomsky.  A film of the same name was created first, then this printed version addressing income inequality in America.  With each of ten chapters focusing on the ten principles mentioned in the title, Chomsky argues a well documented case.  Describing it as “like a graphic novel and a seminar at the same time” our reader found the book interesting and informative.

Next up was Rough South, Rural South: Region and Class in Recent Southern Literature by Jean W. Cash and Keith Perry.  This collection of essayists include some self-educated and some with more formal education.  Despite their varying backgrounds, all authors seem to have a realistic view of the people and place of the South.  Our reader enjoyed the book, although she was puzzled that more women and people of color were not included.

Mind Over Meds: Know When Drugs Are Necessary, When Alternatives Are Better—and When to Let Your Body Heal on Its Own by Andrew Weil, MD is a new release from this well known physician and author.  Focusing on just how many Americans are overmedicated by both prescription and over the counter drugs, Weil discusses side effects and drug dependency as well as suggesting more natural alternatives.  Our reader liked the eighteen short chapters, each dedicated to a specific medical problem.  Weil concentrates on “integrative medicine,” that is, knowing what effects that medications will have on the entire body.

Continuing in the medical vein (please pardon the pun,) our next reader reported on An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take it Back by Elisabeth Rosenthal.  Discussing the economic rules of the medical market and the difficulties patients may have navigating the complexities of the system, Rosenthal explains how individuals can cut through some of the confusion and take control of their own healthcare.

A thriller consumed our next reader—The Cutaway by Christina Kovac.  Television news producer Virginia Knightly is drawn into a missing persons search that she fears may involve foul play.  Discovering even more about the corruption of the press and politics in Washington DC, Virginia soon finds herself at risk in the gritty corners of the city.  Our reader said this was a very good book.

Another novel this week was Huck Out West by Robert Coover.  Huckleberry Finn is back, but now he’s all grown up and bouncing around from job to job in the old West.  As always, Huck is charming but has no direction in his life.  He will work for whoever pays the most and has no qualms about changing jobs at the proverbial drop of a hat.  Our reader enjoyed the novel as it is a fresh look at Mark Twain’s characters over 130 years after their original introduction to American society.

Lastly, Notorious RBG by Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik was discussed.  Octogenarian Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has become an pop-culture sensation, with her image spreading across blog posts and tattoos alike.  Nominated to the highest court in the land in 1993 by Bill Clinton, Ginsburg has become known as a relative moderate who gives careful consideration to the rule of law.  Our reader very much enjoyed the combination of history and eye-popping layout of the book.

The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel

Reviewed by Kristin

“Roanoke girls never last long around here.  In the end, we either run or we die.” --Allegra

Black and white photographs on the wall show the Roanoke girls who have lived in the sprawling house on the prairie.  Some have escaped.  Some have not.

After her mother’s suicide, fifteen year old Lane moves from New York City to small town Osage Flats, Kansas to live with her maternal grandparents.  Gran and Granddad have a farm, but also family money, so they are the proverbial big fish in a small pond.  Beyond that shimmering surface, secrets lurk in the murky depths.

Cousin Allegra is near Lane’s age and absolutely ecstatic to have another teenager in the house.  The girls look enough alike to be sisters.  No surprise there, all the Roanoke girls have the same dark haired beauty.  As Lane settles into small town life, she soon meets Allegra’s boyfriend Tommy, friend Cooper, and a few girls who are more competition than friends.

But that was then.

The book is separated into alternating chapters of “then” and “now.”  “Then” was the single summer Lane spent with her family before becoming one of the Roanoke girls who ran. “Now” is a decade later, when Granddad called and asked her to come home, because Allegra is missing.

Now.

Lane returns from an aimless, rambling life in California to Kansas to help find Allegra.  Tommy has become the local law enforcement and finally married to someone else after Allegra refused to commit to him.  Lane sees Cooper again and in some ways it’s as if she never left.  Lane senses the swirling undercurrents of secrets kept and lives ruined, even lives lost, but feels she must stay to help Allegra.

Clues about the things hidden then and now are revealed slowly.  The Gothic atmosphere winds itself around the characters like a fog, even as the summer sun shines brightly.  The house itself feels like a character, bearing witness to all that has gone before.  Lane then and Lane  now, and Allegra then, both feel the charismatic pull of the powers of the Roanoke estate.

Days after finishing this book, it is still on my mind.  I found it creepy in a spine tickling way.  While reading, I was continually examining the motivations behind the characters’ actions and looking at how some people control others.  Family relationships are not always simple, and within the Roanoke family they are more convoluted than most.  Since I am always curious about authors’ other books, I looked and discovered that Amy Engel has published just two other books, a young adult series.  I will be on the lookout for upcoming novels.  Although not my usual reading fare, I enjoyed the shivers and prickles as the story unfolded.

Kiss of Steel by Bec McMaster

Reviewed by Ambrea

Honoria Todd grew up in the shadow of blue blood society.  Daughter to a famous inventor, she was privy to many of the secrets the ruling vampire class would prefer to keep secret—and that may very well be her undoing.  When her father is killed and one of the dukes of the Ivory Tower puts a price on her head, Honoria has no choice but to hide herself and her siblings in Whitechapel in the hopes that the blue bloods—and the diabolical master of the rookeries—won’t notice her.

I was intrigued by this novel and, starting out, I fell in love with the unusual, complex world of verwulfen, blue bloods, vampires, and mechanical creatures.  There’s an unexpected depth to this story.  I mean, on one side are the blue bloods—not quite vampires, not quite human—who basically run society from their Ivory Tower, trailed by human consorts and blood thralls; and then, on the other side, one finds verwulfen (werewolves), humans, and others who live outside the blue bloods’ pristine city, living on the very fringes of “respectable” society.

Except it’s not that clear cut.

Blade, said diabolical master of the rookeries, rules Whitechapel, and even the Dukes of the Ivory Tower are hesitant to cross him.  Honoria is one of the many humans caught in between, but she’s also the daughter of an Institute scientist and a chemist in her own right.  Humans, blue bloods, verwulfen, and more living together in one city, but it’s a tenuous relationship at best.  A variety of variables come into play:  blood taxes, drainers, Humanity First insurgents, house rivalries, Slasher gangs and turf wars, and Queen Alexandra, thrall of the Prince Consort.  It all hinges on how far one wants to push the boundaries, because anything could tip the balance and bring London—and Britain—crashing to its knees.

I found all the detail fascinating and, honestly, I wish I could have had more.  Like I was curious to hear about France, which endured a completely different Reign of Terror in which blue blood aristocracy were put to the guillotine; Spain suffered a second Inquisition, in which blue bloods were hunted rather than witches or religious dissidents; Germany didn’t have so much a blue blood ruling class as a massive verwulfen population; China saw the initial outbreak of the craving disease, the first symptoms of vampirism; and America is still a colony of the British Empire.

It’s a curious reworking of historical events that I found captivating.  And that’s not even including a close look at the precarious situation of the Fade and the course of the craving disease.  Blue bloods are vampires, as we traditionally view them; however, it’s different in Kiss of Steel.  Blue bloods are in control of their hunger (for the most part), but as they age they come closer and closer to the Fade, in which they slowly lose all human aspects and slip closer to an unstoppable, insatiable hunger for blood.  They essentially begin to rot, losing all traces of the person they were previously and they become monsters—they become vampires.  It was a fascinating concept.

However, despite enjoying Kiss of Steel immensely, I realize that it could have been better.  Like so much better.

I love a little romance mixed in with my adventure stories, but I like to have more of a balance.  That is, I don’t like romantic entanglements to overshadow the rest of the novel.  I may like romance novels, but I do like my stories to have depth, rather than lots of awkwardly steamy moments or gratuitous amounts of explicit material.

Like with Blade and Honoria.

I understand these moments are going to happen, considering how desperately they crave each other.  I mean, their relationship is practically incendiary.  But I would have liked to have learned a little more about Honoria’s father, her time among the blue bloods, and their shared experiments in the Institute labs.  Honoria is a smart girl; in fact, she’s frighteningly smart in some respects—and, personally, I would have loved seeing her flaunt that intelligence a little more.  I would have enjoyed seeing her continue her father’s research, seeing her find, if not a cure, a way to stop the progression of the craving disease.

Don’t get me wrong, she’s a pretty great character.  She’s smart, she’s determined, she’s handy with a pistol, plus—and this is a big one—she’s not some shrinking violet, damsel-in-distress type when faced with danger.  Before the end of the story, she’ll face down a fully turned vampire not once, not twice, not even three, but four times.  She may not be a swift and skilled as Blade, and she might not be as strong as her verwulfen companion, Will, but that’s not to say she’s not powerful in her own right.

I just had this little, lingering wish that she could have done more.  I know that sounds funny, considering she does quite a lot in regards to protecting her brother and sister, and she even saves Blade’s life on a couple of occasions.  I just wish she could have been featured more prominently in the search for a cure or, at least, a treatment, rather than her intellectual pursuits becoming secondary.  I wish I could have learned more about it and a little more about her.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Kiss of Steel.  It’s a blending of science fiction, paranormal, steampunk, horror, and fantasy, and it develops an intriguing story—an intriguing world—that kept me captivated.  Once I was hooked, I found there was no going back.  I had to find out what happened with Honoria and Blade—would she be captured by Vickers, Duke of Lannister, and killed?  Would she find a cure that her father had so desperately sought?  Would Blade, who lurked on the fringes of the Fade, finally succumb?

I had to have an answer and I was, more or less, satisfied with the conclusion.  Granted, it’s only the first of a series—book one of five (Heart of Iron, follows next, and then My Lady Quicksilver, Forged by Desire, and Of Silk and Steam)—so I have quite a bit more to read if I want to shore up the story and delve a little deeper into this steam-powered world of dangerous creatures.