Damnation and Dames by Liz Grzyb

Damnation and Dames Reviews

• 
  Chris Bauer

  Give the thugs on your tail the shake, keep your peepers open for double-crosses, wet your whistle with a shot of bourbon and enjoy 16 tales of the "paranoirmal" in this great new anthology from Ticonderoga.
  
  Every single story is true to the genre of hard-boiled fiction with urban fantasy elements. Zombies? Check. Vamps (both the garden variety flapper and undead species)? Check. Undead primates? Hell yeah!
  
  All of the authors have written works which remain true to the noir tradition while infusing it with contemporary and unique flourishes. Normally when I tackle an anthology of this size there are 2-3 stories which are sort of "filler" if you will. Not the case with "Damnation and Dames". Every single story is rich, detailed, and above all else, unique. Tropes in the genre are squashed flat with delight or re-invented entirely.
  
  All of the stories within are solid but some of my personal favorites in the collection were;
  
  - Alan Baxter & Felicity Dowker ("Burning, Always Burning") for a pure WTF-ness unexpected ending.
  - Joseph L Kellogg ("The Awakened Adventure of Rick Candle") for 100% unbridled originality and coolness.
  - Robert Hood ("Walking the Dead Beat") for page after page of undiluted awesomeness all over the board.
  - Lisa L. Hannett & Angela Slatter ("Prohibition Blues") for fantastic dialogue and characters and pace.
  
  Do yourself a favor and check out this collection. You won't be disappointed.
  
  
• 
  Alan Baxter

  I should start with a disclaimer - I have a story in this anthology, co-written with Felicity Dowker. However, obvious bias aside, this is a stellar collection. The variety of paranormal, supernatural, noiry goodness is astounding. As with any anthology, there were some stories that didn't hit my buttons exactly, but most did. Overall, it's a strong collection of the paranoirmal - a genre tag I'm even credited in the introduction as coining. Which is great, because I've always wanted to invent a word!
  
  I'm a great fan of the noir tale - it's a genre I've loved for years. To combine that with the paranormal is just gravy for me. If you love your spec fic and/or your noir fiction, this book will move you. If, like me, you enjoy both, this book will rock your world.
  
  My favourite tales would have to be Dirk Flinthart's "Outlines", Robert Hood's amazing daikaiju, zombie, ghostly, procedural noirish "Walking The Dead Beat", and "Prohibition Blues" from the brain team of Angela Slatter and Lisa L Hannett. And my collaboration with Felicity Dowker, of course. But there's so much other good stuff in here too. Get a copy and see which yarns turn out to be your favourites.
• 
  Mark Webb

  
  Damnation and Dames (published by
  Ticonderoga Press) is a collection of noir style stories with supernatural themes, edited by
  Liz Grzyb and
  Amanda Pillar.
  
  This was a very enjoyable anthology, with a lot of great stories that have been very nicely put together. All the stories stayed on theme, but there was enough variation to keep the collection interesting with some very unusual takes on the paranormal noir genre.
  
  As is my habit with large collections I haven't commented on every story individually (review would go for too long). There weren't any stories I didn't enjoy though, so where I haven't commented it is mainly because I don't have anything interesting to say, rather than there being a problem with the story itself.
  
  The collection opens with  Blind Pig by 
  Jay Caselberg, a good short story to set the scene for the rest of the book. Vampires, a private detective and a bit of old fashioned gum shoeing to solve a mystery.
  
  I enjoyed Sound and Fury by 
  Pete Kempshall, which included a bit of voodoo magic in a early 20th century setting. The ending was good and unexpected enough to be entertaining.
  
  Burning, Always Burning by 
  Alan Baxter and 
  Felicity Dowker is a well written piece, with another unexpected ending. The prose was very evocative and the story satisfying. Mr Baxter was up for Best New Talent in the recent Ditmar awards and Ms Dowker has a new collection out called Bread and Circuses, which I'm looking forward to reading.
  
  The Black Star Killer by 
  Nicole Murphy is a story set in the world of the gadda, which I believe have formed the basis for some of Ms Murphy's novels. The story was enjoyable and I suspect those that have read Ms Murphy's other work would get something extra out of the story.
  
  Silver Comes the Night by
   M.L.D. Curelas set up an interesting world. The story was good - very satisfying - and I got the sense that there had been a fair bit of background world building behind the story.
  
  Sangue Della Notte by 
  Donna Maree Hanson was another story that hinted at a much larger world. It was entertaining, but read almost as an introduction or prologue rather than a self contained piece.  I haven't done enough research to see whether Ms Hanson has written more in this setting.
  
  The Awakened Adventure of Rick Candle by 
  Joseph L. Kellogg had a very original premise, of fictional characters accidentally brought to life, their "completeness" dictated by the quality of the writing and the amount of background given in their books. Very enjoyable story with a great ending.
  
  Three Questions and One Troll by 
  Chris Bauer moves more into the world of Fae, which was a bit of a change of pace from some of the other stories. I enjoyed the writing voice in this story.
  
  Prohibition Blues by 
  Lisa L. Hannett and 
  Angela Slatter was another story focusing on the Fae. This was well written and felt like an anchoring story for the collection. The story had a great sense of place and invoked strong imagery. I particularly liked the way the characters were drawn in this story.
  
  Ms Hannett was recently very successful at the Aurealis Awards for her collection Bluegrass Symphony as well as her short fiction, and that talent is evident in this story.
  
  Also included in the collection were:
  
  A Case to Die For by
  Karen Dent
  Hard Boiled by
  Brian G. Ross
  Outlines by
  Dirk Flinthart
  Third Circle by
  Lindsy Anderson
  Be Good, Sweet Maid by
  Penelope Love
  Walking the Dead Beat by
  Robert Hood
  One Night at the Cherry by
  Chris Large
  
  I also reviewed this book
  on my website.
  
• 
  Sammi

  I recieved this book in a Goodreads Giveaway!
  Thank you for giving me the chance to read and review this book.
  
  Seeing as this book is a compilation of short stories, I will rate each seperately and then give the book a general mark.
  
  Blind Pig by Jay Caselburg - 1/5
  The narration in this short story was reminiscent to me of that in Sim City. Although I liked the narration, I couldn't find it within me to care about what was going on, nothing really engaged me in this story. That's not to say it was bad, it just wasn't for me.
  
  A Case To Die For by Karen Dent - 3/5
  This one was a weird one for me. The beginning I liked a lot - towards the end I didn't, I thought it was too... weird. But the ending I liked a lot, too. It reminded me a bit of Stephen King, and for me, he either has 'Loves' or 'Hates' when I read his stories. This was a good one though. I enjoyed it. Very different.
  
  Sound and Fury by Pete Kempshall - 4/5
  This was a strange one, but compelling. I loved every minute of it, and both hated, but felt for the main character. Best one so far.
  
  Burning, Always Burning by Alan Baxter + Felicity Dowker - 5/5
  I loved every minute of this. This was one story that I actually couldn't put down. I kept reading it until it was over. Definately the best one. I loved how it was written, particularly how well the characters were portrayed.
  
  The Black Star Killer by Nicole Murphy - 3/5
  I thought this story had so much promise, I mean the characters..'abilities' were great, I just didn't find the story that engaging. I so wanted to love this one, but it left me feeling short. Like something was missing.
  
  Hard Boiled by Brian G. Ross - 5/5
  I loved this one, I just couldn't stop reading it. The characters were well developed even in such a short story and the end left me wanting to read so much more.
  
  Silver Comes The Night by M.L.D Curelas - 4/5
  and
  Outlines by Dirk Flinthart - 5/5
  Both of these stories reminded me somewhat of paranormal versions of C.S.I and I enjoyed every bit of them - that is my type of reading! Great.
  
  Sangue Della Notte by Donna Marie Hanson - 3/5
  I don't know about this one. I mean - I remember liking it when I was reading it, but after reading the next short story it's gone completely. Maybe it just wasn't that memorable to me.
  
  The Awakened Adventure Of Rick Candle by Joseph L. Kellog - 5/5
  I love every minute of this one! The idea behind it was so unique and it was so interesting to read! I loved the ending, too. Talk about making you think. Kind of like a chicken and egg situation ;)
  
  Third Circle by Lindsy Anderson - 5/5
  The beginning of this story seemed sort of samey to me, similar to a few others in the book... however, I carried on reading and loved every minute of it. It was so interesting and I could picture it clearly, I loved the idea of the club! Very good!
  
  Three Questions and One Troll by Chris Bauer - 3/5
  The trolls and other beings in this story are not really my thing. I don't particularly like reading about them. However, although there were themes I did not enjoy there were essences I did, which bumped the score up for me. I enjoyed how each 'person' could be 'seen' differently, and that was really interesting to read.
  
  Be Good, Sweet Maid by Penelope Love - 4/5
  Very interesting concept, and I couldn't wait to see what would happen. That's what I want in a story, short or long.
  
  Walking the Dead Beat by Robert Hood - 1/5
  The only story I actually could not get through, I'm sorry. I just couldn't find anything in it I liked and I HATE not finishing a story once I've started, but with this one I just couldn't finish it. Not for me.
  
  One Night at the Chery by Chris Large - 5/5
  I loved this one! It's definately my favorite of the whole collection. I loved the twists, towards the end I was sure that a twist I assumed would happen was going to happen... and while it was hinted the twist was completely different and I loved that! I would have honestly, loved to end the book on this story.
  
  Prohibition Blues by Lisa L. Hannett and Angela Slatter -2/5
  Whilst I really enjoyed the beginning I thought the end was lacking in something. Not for me, and not the best way to end the book for me. Sorry.
  
  Overall, whilst there were some stories that weren't my cup of tea I would give this book a strong 4 stars. Would I choose this book, with paranormal/fantasy type concepts? No. But honestly, I am glad I won this giveaway to be given the chance, because although the content really isn't my usual reading material I really enjoyed it. It was fun reading outside of my usual taste, too.
  
  I would recommend this book to anyone interested in paranormal/fantasy stories. This collection really does contain something for everyone! Vampires your thing? Got it. Zombies? Yep!
  Definately something to check out.
  
• 
  Katharine (Ventureadlaxre)

  Katharine is a judge for the Aurealis Awards. This review is the personal opinion of Katharine herself, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of any judging panel, the judging coordinator or the Aurealis Awards management team.
  
  To be safe, I won't be recording my review here until after the AA are over.
• 
  Ticonderoga Publications

  Standard Ticonderoga Disclaimer: We published this book because we loved it!