
Today's tour feature is John Shirley's
Bleak History...
About the book:CLASSIFIED: APPARENT SUPERNATURAL
Subject: Gabriel Bleak. Status: Civilian. Paranormal skills: Powerful. Able to manipulate AS energies and communicate with UBEs (e.g. "ghosts" and other entities). Psychological profile: Extremely independent, potentially dangerous. Caution is urged...
As far as Gabriel Bleak is concerned, talking to the dead is just another way of making a living. It gives him the competitive edge to survive as a bounty hunter, or "skip tracer," in the psychic minefield known as New York City. Unfortunately, his gift also makes him a prime target. A top-secret division of Homeland Security has been monitoring the recent emergence of human supernaturals, with Gabriel Bleak being the strongest on record. If they control Gabriel, they'll gain access to the Hidden — the entity-based energy field that connects all life on Earth. But Gabriel's got other ideas. With a growing underground movement called the Shadow Community — and an uneasy alliance of spirits, elementals, and other beings — Gabriel's about to face the greatest demonic uprising since the Dark Ages. But this time, history is not going to repeat itself. This time, the future is Bleak. Gabriel Bleak.
About the author:John Shirley is the author of numerous books and many, many short stories. His novels include
Crawlers,
Demons,
In Darkness Waiting, and seminal cyberpunk works
City Come A-Walkin', and the A Song Called Youth trilogy of
Eclipse, Eclipse Penumbra, and Eclipse Corona. His collections include the Bram Stoker and International Horror Guild award-winning
Black Butterflies and
Living Shadows: Stories: New & Pre-owned. He also writes for screen (The Crow) and television. As a musician Shirley has fronted his own bands and written lyrics for Blue Öyster Cult and others. He can be found online on his blog,
johnshirley.net.
drey's thoughts:I was really interested in reading
Bleak History because I wondered, what would the government do if it could "study" those with supernatural abilities? Would it be something like the X-Files, with it's conspiracy theories and secret labs? Well... In John Shirley's world, yes. The government agency is the CCA--Homeland Security's Central Containment Authority. *shudder*
I wouldn't want anything to do with anything with "containment" in its name! And they're looking to round up or shut down the paranormals. Why? Because they're afraid, of course. After all, you can't have people running loose in the normal population when they can
do things, can you?
I liked Gabriel Bleak's character. Maybe it's the t-shirts he wears (although, where's the rock band "stuff" on the cover?). Maybe it's because even though he doesn't trust the government within an inch of his life (heck, I'd keep them at least 10 football fields away if I were him), he still tries to negotiate a compromise with them because that's the better path for him and those like him.
However, some of the other characters were a little overblown, I think. Shoella seems a little "off" to me, to be that interested in Gabriel--almost like John Shirley tried too hard to come up with a character already in the story who would fit the "lover & betrayer" role, instead of needing to add one. And Loraine is almost the stereotypical government-agent-turned-sympathizer who has doubts about her job but does what she's told anyway because they (the CCA) couldn't be
that bad, could they?
The action is fast here. The bad guys are everywhere Gabriel turns, and they aren't above using local law enforcement to assist in Gabriel's location and detention. So who can he trust? Guess you'll have to read & find out. *grin* I did like
Bleak History, but I'm thinking I'd probably prefer the screen version--lots of explosions to
ooh and
aah at...
Giveaway!Thanks to Pocket Books, I have 2 copies of
Bleak History for you, but ONLY if you live in the US...
Rules:
-- Contest is open to US residents only, no PO Boxes please!
-- To enter, comment and share: Would you want to have supernatural powers? If so, what? I probably wouldn't. Sure, it could be cool. But I already have enough things to do in a day... *grin*
-- Follow for 1 extra entry.
-- Share for 2 extra entries (let me know what & where, please).
-- Do it all before 6:00 pm CST August 31st. Good luck!
Title: Bleak History
Author: John Shirley
ISBN-10: 1416584129
ISBN-13: 978-1416584124
Paperback: 370 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2009
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