Steve’s Year in Books

What did you read this year?

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2023

41,334

pages read

205

books read

Steve

Shortest Book

pages

Longest Book

1,000

pages

Average book length in 2023

201

pages

Most Shelved

799,490

people also shelved

Archie's Pals 'N' Gals Double Digest, #108 by Archie Comics

Least Shelved

people also shelved

Steve’s average rating for 2023

4.5

Highest Rated on Goodreads

4.94 average

Steve’s first review of the year

it was amazing

By this point, if you’ve read any of my work, you’ll be aware that David Sodergren has been pivotal in my progression as a writer. Since my collection ‘Left Hand Path: 13 more tales of black magick’ was eviscerated by some reviewers due to horrendous editing, Sodergren has been by my side guiding my writing, editing and copy/line-editing my work. So, it should be no surprise that I’m always excited to read what David conjures, knowing how phenome By this point, if you’ve read any of my work, you’ll be aware that David Sodergren has been pivotal in my progression as a writer. Since my collection ‘Left Hand Path: 13 more tales of black magick’ was eviscerated by some reviewers due to horrendous editing, Sodergren has been by my side guiding my writing, editing and copy/line-editing my work. So, it should be no surprise that I’m always excited to read what David conjures, knowing how phenomenal of a job he does taking my Playdough manuscript and turning it into a Marble work of art (lol).

Do I think David’s work is grossly overlooked? Absolutely. Look at his body of work thus far; ‘The Forgotten Island,’ ‘Night Shoot,’ ‘Dead Girl Blues,’ Maggie’s Grave,’ The Perfect Victim,’ and ‘Satan’s Burnouts Must Die!’ I would call all of these Indie Horror Masterpieces. Sodergren fully embraces the DIY Self-Publishing model and the level/caliber of books he’s given us are second to none. And I’m not going to include our co-written novel ‘The Navajo Nightmare’ as I think that would be too biased, but I will say, his opening salvo that makes up the story is simply one of the best Splatter-Western stories released in that genre over the last few years.

Which brings us to ‘The Haar.’ Maybe a year ago? eight months ago? I can’t fully recall, but at some point we were discussing what each of us was working on and what releases we had coming down the pipeline and he discussed this one. He’ll correct me if I’m wrong here, but I believe back then it was being referred to as ‘Witchaven’ and he jokingly called it his monster-romance novel. He wasn’t far off. And don’t get that phrase stuck in your brain and not take a chance because I used the dreaded ‘R’ word. No, instead, Sodergren does what he does best and gives us a stunning character piece layered below a horrific plotline.

What I liked: The story follows 80+ year old, Muriel McAuley, life long resident of the Scottish fishing town Witchaven. This was where she was born and raised, met and married her husband and continued to live when, years ago, his fishing boat was found, but no signs of Billy were ever found. Now, a billionaire American is buying up all of the land and houses, building a massive golf course and resort, but some residents are holding their ground and refusing to sell. Muriel being one of them.

The story itself follows Muriel as she struggles to comprehend how this place she loves with all of her heart is being ripped away from her. She doesn’t have many years left and just wants to enjoy them in the home she’s lived in for decades.

But, if you look at that synopsis closely, you’ll see Sodergren says this is a gore-soaked folk horror fairy tale, and that’s just what we get. We get a looming fog, the haar, that sweeps in one day and brings something from the ocean. Muriel saves it, connects with it and gets to experience some of life’s moments again. Things and memories she thought long since buried, returning and reinvigorating her.

With Muriel, Sodergren has really created a truly memorable character. From the words shared in the afterword, we see the why and how, but even without that piece of backstory, you’ll fall for her and want to root for her no matter the odds.

Now, I haven’t forgotten about that ‘gore-soaked’ aspect either. Expect the brutality and bloodbath that David is known for. Think ‘Maggie’s Grave’ and you’ll have an idea, and while this one doesn’t have as much as most of his books, it works perfectly to highlight the horrors and events Muriel is living through.

The ending was perfect and the varying POV’s we get to see some of those last moments through was fantastic to really highlight the emotional aspect of this book.

What I didn’t like: The main bad guy and his son, aka The Grant’s, I think were a little underutilized in the sense that I felt they loomed but their dirty work seemed too detached. It’s hard to really say everything and remain spoiler free, so I think once you’ve given this one a go, you’ll understand.

Why you should buy this: Sodergren is the rare combo of TBR-buster and book slump-buster. You always know that even a 300 page book of his will feel like a single sitting because you’ll be so entrenched in the world and his writing flows so beautifully, that you don’t realize how long you’ve been reading.

Muriel really is the best character he’s created yet and the relationship and tenderness we get to see and experience was second to none. I’ll be raving about this book until his next one comes out, but this shows why Sodergren is so good and hopefully now, he’ll stop being overlooked. ...more

STEVE’S 2023 BOOKS

it was amazing

Archie's Funhouse Comics Double Digest #23 by Various

Jughead and Archie Comics Digest #4 by Archie Comics

In the End, Nothing by Michael Patrick Hicks

it was amazing

Jughead and Archie Comics Digest #7 by Various

Woe To Those Who Dwell On Earth by John Lynch

Jughead and Archie Comics Double Digest #11 by Various

it was amazing

Jughead and Archie Comics Digest #3 by Jon Goldwater

Jughead Double Digest Magazine #184 by Archie Comics

it was amazing

The Life and Times of Edward Morgan by Joe Scipione

Secret of the Water Dragon by Tracey West

One Hand to Hold, One Hand to Carve by M. Shaw

Sleeping Among Wolves by Robert Royal Poff

Jughead Double Digest Magazine #181 by Archie Comics

Illusions of Isolation by Brennan LaFaro

it was amazing

World of Archie Comics Digest #44 by Paul Kupperberg

Song of the Poison Dragon by Tracey West

Birds in the Black Water by Kodie VanDusen

Flight of the Moon Dragon by Tracey West

it was amazing

Our Own Unique Affliction by Scott J. Moses

The House of Small Shadows by Adam L.G. Nevill

Archie Double Double Digest #250 by Archie Comics

Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #307 by Archie Superstars

Search for the Lightning Dragon by Tracey West

it was amazing

Archie's Funhouse Double Digest #4 by Various

Roar of the Thunder Dragon by Tracey West

The Circus of Hungry Clowns by Caesar Ruell

How Lovely To Be a Woman by Tiffany Michelle Brown

it was amazing

Betty & Veronica Double Digest #205 by Archie Comics

Waking the Rainbow Dragon by Tracey West

Archie's Funhouse Comics Double Digest #14 by Paul Kupperberg

it was amazing

And by God's Hand You Shall Die by David Sodergren

Shine of the Silver Dragon by Tracey West

Archie & Friends Double Digest #17 by Various

Treasure of the Gold Dragon by Tracey West

it was amazing

Jughead and Archie Comics Double Digest #17 by Various

Eye of the Earthquake Dragon by Tracey West

The Girl Who Cried Monster by Megan Stine

Jughead and Archie Comics Double Digest #18 by Various

it was amazing

Wrapped in Plastic and Other Sweet Nothings by Robert P. Ottone

The Land of the Spring Dragon by Tracey West

Steve’s last review of the year

it was amazing

So, this ended up being my last read finished in 2023 and if I’d have read it earlier, it would’ve definitely made it onto my Year-End-Best-Of list.

This novel has been suggested to me a few dozen times and a lot of readers who’s opinions I trust and have similar reading enjoyments as myself have raved about it. But for a long time, I was kind of hesitant to dive in for one sort of lame reason. The cover. Honestly, this cover has never done it for So, this ended up being my last read finished in 2023 and if I’d have read it earlier, it would’ve definitely made it onto my Year-End-Best-Of list.

This novel has been suggested to me a few dozen times and a lot of readers who’s opinions I trust and have similar reading enjoyments as myself have raved about it. But for a long time, I was kind of hesitant to dive in for one sort of lame reason. The cover. Honestly, this cover has never done it for me and even after reading the novel, I find the cover to be bland and lacking. I’m not sure if it was a ‘mass market’-type decision to appeal to as many potential readers as possible (which, hey, is often what all writers want, right?), but this one doesn’t scream read me. It doesn’t scream – CRAZINESS AHEAD. It kind of screams ‘last minute’ and ‘meh, this will do.’

But, when I was looking to finish my year off with a horror novel firmly wrapped together with sci-fi, this one’s synopsis fit the bill and I was kind of hoping I’d end up in a Splice movie type situation. And while we didn’t go there, this one does go in some really great directions.

What I liked: The story follows shit father, Joe, who works for a clandestine organization. He is in charge of a secret place that is using doped up people to get intelligence from around the world. The place is deep underground and he’s unable to discuss what he does with anyone from the outside world. He works long hours and focuses solely on his job and the perfection of the job. Which is administering a special cocktail of nerve stimulants to ‘tune’ these prisoners to retrieve this information.

Payne does a really solid job of setting the stage. We get the ‘why’ of Joe’s divorce, his estranged relationship with his teen daughter Riley and as the first quarter of the novel goes along, we get some hints about things starting to turn and Riley struggling with seeing something. This occurs after an incident with her mother and soon enough the novel goes from a jog to a sprint for the remaining 50%.

The location of this one is perfect. While it isn’t fleshed out with full schematic blueprints for us, it is described enough in bare-bones details to have our imaginations fill in the blanks. The same goes to the people they use. Heads shaved, hospital gowns stained and emaciated bodies abound.

What begins as a moral-testing story of how far should we go to get intelligence that can prevent huge world events, turns into a story of survival. Of Joe wanting to do whatever he can to save his daughter Riley from both the organization as well as from those who have been mistreated and experimented on.

The ending is essentially three parts. The first is the wrap up of the events in the underground lab. The second is the ‘epilogue’ of how the survivor continues on. And the third is the true epilogue which in itself made for a fantastically dark and bleak short story and could potentially see more of this world in the future.

Payne kept me completely captivated throughout and the blending of sci-fi and horror was pitch perfect.

What I didn’t like: Throughout, Joe is portrayed as a callous, asshole of a dad who never cared to be there for his daughter and even shares a few memories of when he chose work over her or spending time with his ex-wife and his daughter. It made it tough, for me at least, to completely believe that he had this sudden change of heart once Riley was involved. It was even shown a few times that his ‘love’ for her was shallow, when instead of staying with her, he up and left to return to work.

Why you should buy this: As I mentioned, this novel gallops along and was a great mix of horror, sci-fi and had some amazingly brutal and graphic moments. A lot of it reminded me of how a graphic novel would’ve rolled out and the action sequences and layers of government interference and involvement was great.

Payne has definitely hit a home run with this one and I think it’s a novel that will have a long, long shelf life as many new readers discover it. ...more

2023 READING
CHALLENGE

Steve Stred read 205 out of 200 books.

102%

What did you read this year?