Cover Reveal for THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO SAYING GOODBYE

Art and Design by SC Burke

Coming this September: THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO SAYING GOODBYE

Reviews in Other Places

I've been trying to spread my reviews a little wider lately. I've decided to experiment a little with Medium. I'm going to use it to post things that I don't think fit anywhere else. One thing I'm going to do is back up the reviews there that were originally published on the now-defunct Adventures in Sci-Fi Publishing, which is offline.

The first one over there is my review of Andre Duza's Technicolor Terrorists.

I also recently contributed a review to Lost in the Funhouse, run by author Daulton Dickey. The review is of M Kitchell's In the Desert of Mute Squares. 

Stay tuned to this blog or my social media for updates on my two forthcoming books.  

An Announcement and a Small Update on Story of the Y

I have some good news. My first collection of short stories, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Saying Goodbye, has been picked up to be released by NihilismRevised. Right now we're planning a late August release date, but that might change. Be sure to 'like' the NihilismRevised page if you're on Facebook for future updates.

Also, Story of the Y is now going to be published through Cabal Books, the new imprint of Thicke and Vaney Books. Be sure to 'like' the Cabal Books page on Facebook as well for more updates on my novel and other great books coming soon from them.

Book Review: Zero Saints by Gabino Iglesias

(Disclaimer: Gabino Iglesias did editing work on my forthcoming novel)

Fernando never wanted to come to the United States, but when he chances to kill someone with connections to dangerous men, he flees Mexico for Texas to stay alive. Working as a drug dealer in Austin, he believes himself to be safe. That is until he's kidnapped off the street by some heavily tattooed gangbangers who drag him to an abandoned home and force him to watch them torture and murder a friend. They send him away with a message for his boss: this is their territory and others had better stay out.

Sometimes the best thing that happens to other people is an unloaded gun.

Zero Saints is a book that slams on the gas pedal from the beginning and doesn't let up until the end. That isn't to say that it's non-stop action. One of the best parts about the book is that it takes time building up to its most violent parts. However, even the comparatively quiet moments pulse with intensity. It's the kind of book that compels the reader to sit down and take it all in in one go.

Iglesias packs a lot in this book that's less than 200 pages through his use of precise and vivid detail. For example, as the gangbangers are torturing his friend by cutting off his fingers, Fernando hears a crunching noise when they throw his fingers in a bucket. He never learns what was in that bucket, but it's enough it scares him just as much as watching his friend die. It leaves in him a dread that the reader can feel as the story progresses.

A rudimentary knowledge of Spanish is helpful going into this book, though not absolutely necessary. Because the story is told from Fernando's perspective, he often slips from English into Spanish, especially when he's under pressure or praying. If nothing else, this book is helpful for learning Spanish curse words.

Zero Saints is an excellent novel that mixes crime, horror, and magic realism. If you want a book that's both intense and unique, this is a must read. I look forward to reading more of Iglesias's work. 

Buy Zero Saints by Gabino Iglesias here.

Brief Thoughts 25

The Summer Is Ended And We Are Not Yet Saved by Joey Comeau

While his mom is doing special effects work on a movie in another city, Martin is spending the summer at a Bible camp. While he's not religious, it seems like he's going to have a fun time. He makes new friends and even has his first kiss. What he doesn't know is that the Reverend who runs the camp is completely insane.

Comeau is probably most well-known as the writer of the now ended webcomic, A Softer World. He's also written several books, his first of which, The Complete Lockpick Pornography, I've reviewed on this blog before. The Summer Is Ended And We Are Not Yet Saved is a tribute to B-grade horror films, slasher films especially.

While it's not fair to this book, I couldn't help but compare it to another horror novel of Comeau's, One Bloody Thing After Another. That novel, like this one, also concentrated heavily on the characters and spent a lot of time developing the relationships between them. However, it was also much more abstract in its horror and more original. The biggest problem with The Summer Is Ended... is that it doesn't really balance out the relationships with Martin and his mother and his friends at the camp with the over-the-top, bloody plot. It feels like it can't tell if it wants to be a campy (ha!), blood-splattered romp, or a heartbreaking story. Given how well Comeau usually does heartbreak, that's a bit of a disappointment.

Despite that, I still really enjoyed the book. It's easy to tell that Comeau has a deep love for the slasher genre and it kept me reading in spite of its flaws. Not to mention that his simple but impactful prose makes anything he's written worth reading.

While it's not Comeau's best work, I still recommend it.

Buy The Summer Is Ended And We Are Not Yet Saved by Joey Comeau here. 

Psychosomatic by Anthony Neil Smith

Lydia is the ex-wife of a rich drug dealer who lost all her limbs in a car crash, Alan is a small-time criminal doing odd jobs to get by, Terry and Lancaster are a pair of fratty extortionists and car thieves, Norm is a drug dealer looking to muscle his partner out of the picture, and Megan is a thief who disguises herself as a nurse to steal drugs from a hospital. Their various schemes bring them crashing together in a way that leaves a lot of bodies and destruction behind.

Psychosomatic was Anthony Neil Smith's first novel, but it certainly doesn't feel like it. It's masterfully plotted, keeps moving at a fast pace, and never feels bogged down despite the number of characters. The characters are also repellent and yet compelling enough that I didn't want to put the book down.

I had previously read and reviewed one of Smith's later novels, XXX Shamus, which he wrote under the pen name of Red Hammond. I'm curious why he felt that one needed to be under a pen name when this is what he writes under his real name. I found many parts of Psychosomatic much darker and more fucked up than XXX Shamus, the ending especially.

If you like dark neo-noir stories, this is a must-read.

Buy Psychosomatic by Anthony Neil Smith here. 

New Review of the sky is black and blue like a battered child + An Annoucement

Brandon Adamson, author of the poetry books SideQuests and Beatnik Fascism, gave a very kind review of my chapbook, the sky is black and blue like a battered child, at Stepkid.com.

"the sky is black and blue like a battered child very much reminds me of 90s zine poetry, both in tone and style. It has a pre-internet quality to it that’s difficult to put into words, but one which someone my age will instantly pick up on. Even though Ben Arzate appears to be about ten years younger than me and firmly within the millennial demographic, this strikes me as a precociously Generation X book. Arzate’s refreshingly not trying to save the world, fight social injustice or do much of anything here. Still, the sky is black and blue like a battered child succeeds in punching above its slim weight.

You can read the full review here.

I've also been sitting on this for a little bit, but I figured I may as well make it known as I've told a few others individually.

My first novel, Story of the Y, will be coming out this year from Thicke and Vaney Books. We're currently working on putting together the final book, but, unfortunately, we don't have a set release date yet. It will be sometime this year, though. I'll keep you all posted.