Lexie Conyngham's Blog: writing, history and gardening.

Tuesday, 20 June 2017

Blog Tour: Love, Murder and Mayhem


About the Book



Love science fiction stories that all include elements ofLove, Murder & Mayhem?
 
Then welcome to the latest anthology from Crazy 8 Press! This amazing collection from 15 all-star authors will delight you with superheros and supervillains. AIs, off-worlders, and space cruisers. We’ve also got private eyes, sleep surrogates, time travelers, aliens and monsters—and one DuckBob!
 
With tales ranging from wild and wacky to dark and gritty to heartbreaking and fun, take the deadly leap with authors Meriah Crawford, Paige Daniels, Peter David, Mary Fan, Michael Jan Friedman, Robert Greenberger, Glenn Hauman Paul Kupperberg, Karissa Laurel, Kelly Meding, Aaron Rosenberg, Hildy Silverman, Lois Spangler, Patrick Thomas, and editor Russ Colchamiro.
 
You’ll never look at Love, Murder & Mayhem the same way again—and that’s just the way we like it.



About the Editor


Russ Colchamiro is the author of the rollicking space adventure, Crossline, the hilarious sci-fi backpacking comedy series, Finders Keepers, Genius de Milo, and Astropalooza, and is editor of the new anthology, Love, Murder & Mayhem, all with Crazy 8 Press.


Russ lives in New Jersey with his wife, two children, and crazy dog, Simon, who may in fact be an alien himself. Russ has also contributed to several other anthologies, including Tales of the Crimson Keep, Pangaea, and Altered States of the Union, and TV Gods 2. He is now at work on a top-secret project, and a Finders Keepers spin-off.


As a matter of full disclosure, readers should not be surprised if Russ spontaneously teleports in a blast of white light followed by screaming fluorescent color and the feeling of being sucked through a tornado. It’s just how he gets around — windier than the bus, for sure, but much quicker.




My Review
When I read the blurb, I wondered how well this book would hold together – a collection of sci fi short stories linked vaguely by love or murder or crime? But this is a substantial collection full of variety, with some pretty long short stories that give a meatiness to the whole book. There is a bit of a bias, I thought, towards superheroes, but there is offworld, alternative future, and space battle material – something for everyone. What stood out? All the stories are high quality and there are certainly no duds to fill the space, but a sad little tale set in a battle on an unfamiliar planet was particularly touching – Meriah L. Crawford’s ‘Speedeth All’ - and I enjoyed the classic detection in ‘The Note on the Blue Screen’ by Mary Fan and in ‘The Hardwicke Files’ by Russ Colchamiro (also the editor). ‘Invasive Maneuvers’ by Hildy Silverman was both clever and amusing. Colchamiro’s editing seems to have been done with a light touch – the book holds together because no one has tried too hard and been too clever in pushing it together. A very enjoyable and solid collection.



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