The Naked Eye
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A winter’s day, and something terrifyingly dangerous is waiting out there in the snow, while at the same time an even more dangerous curse is spoken… In a possible future a monster uprising is in full flow, but a couple have their own problems to deal with when they’re stuck in a very strange queue... And while a scientist attempts to rid humanity of all evil, a female werewolf is on the prowl… Here we have a clutch of stories by award-winning and # 1 bestselling author Paul Kane (Hooded Man, Sherlock Holmes and the Servants of Hell, Before, Arcana), including another one of his popular horror fairy tales and a ‘Mortis-Man’ prequel, proving once again that there’s more to this world than can be seen by the Naked Eye. With an introduction by Sunday Times bestselling author Cavan Scott (Doctor Who: The Shining Man) and cover by Christian Francis (Wishmaster: The Novelisation) you might just find yourself taking another look at what you thought was possible. Watch out!
Review
White Shadows: Amy hunts monsters! Most 13 year olds look forward to the snow, but not Amy! Ever since the death of her parents who were heading away on an idyllic retreat up north, Amy knew they had been taken by the White Shadows that lived in the snow. And now the White Shadows have come for her! Was she the hunter or the hunted?
The Cursed: What is the perfect gift for the one you love? The one who fills your dreams and is the centre of all your desires? Well, it certainly isn't a box of chocolates that is delivered by a man doing daring spy type things to deliver them in the dead of night. Not in Stuart's world. When his Goddess Athena (not the Greek one, but the one he meets at uni who prefers to be called May) chooses another man over him, Stuart thinks that the best gift he can give the girl he loves is a curse
Not that he believes in these things like, but one drunken night he gives it a go on the off chance that his familial lineage of general witchery might actually work.
Maddy the Monster: A tale about monsters. A tale about the end of the world. In Maddy the Monster, we are thrown into an unknown facility, with Maddy. Maddy is helping the children. They take blood from her, and sometimes Nurse Julie brings her treats from the canteen. Maddy doesn't know how long she has been at the facility. They call her a monster, they call everyone a monster. However things change when Barbara is caught and brought to the facility. She tells them of Michael and how he will save them all.
The Queue: How far would you go? What would you do for the woman you love. Donny would do anything to get his Grace away from George
He would go to the ends of the earth. He would do anything - even the M word. But would he wait till the end of the Queue?
Crumbs: If you go down to the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise.
Gabby and Harry go to the woods with their father who has fallen on hard times and is now a poacher. Along for the ride is his new wife, who seeing an opportunity wants to get rid of the 'anklebiters' who belong to a previous relationship, And now that Gabby and Harry's mother is dead, the stepmother thinks the children should be too. However, fate lends a helping hand and things don't turn out quite as the stepmother foresaw.
Pure Evil: The road to hell is paves with good intentions!
What makes a person kill another? What evil lies in the heart of men whose only thought is to mete out violence to those around them?
Dr Elizabeth Warren thinks she has the answer. Her 'procedure' has already given starling results, but when she tries to 'tame: a prolific serial killer things don't go exactly according to plan. Especially when a local evangelical priest becomes involved.
Mortis Man - A superhero origin story.
Another Life - A female werewolf escapes from the predators hunting her.
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This is my first encounter with Paul Kane's writing and I must say I will be hunting out more. There are a different range of stories in this collection from a young girl who hunts monsters, to superhero origin stories.
However, not only are there a different range of stories, there a various layers of horror. Some of them reminded me of Ronald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected, whilst others like Pure Evil are more visceral.
My standout stories of the collection were White Shadows, and I would definitely like to read more about these monsters that live in the snow and make people disappear. The other story that I think was my favourite was Maddy the Monster. I loved this tale of monsters who had been genetically made to fight a war.
However, I did enjoy all of the stories. They were immediately engaging and hooked me in immediately, making me want to get to the end of the story to see how it would unfold.
I listened to the audio version of this book, which was narrated by inimitable R.J. Bayley who really showed his vocal prowess in this book. Each story had a different mood and atmosphere which the narrator had to convey, and this was done well. In addition to that there was an array of accents, including American accents which were all believable.
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