Book Review | A Lush and Seething Hell by John Hornor Jacobs

A Lush and Seething Hell combines two tales of cosmic horror by John Hornor Jacobs.

The award-winning and critically-acclaimed master of horror returns with a pair of chilling tales—both never-before-published in print—that examine the violence and depravity of the human condition.

Bringing together his acclaimed novella The Sea Dreams It Is the Sky and an all-new short novel My Heart Struck Sorrow, John Hornor Jacobs turns his fertile imagination to the evil that breeds within the human soul.

A brilliant mix of the psychological and supernatural, blending the acute insight of Roberto Bolaño and the eerie imagination of H. P. Lovecraft, The Sea Dreams It Is the Sky examines life in a South American dictatorship. Centered on the journal of a poet-in-exile and his failed attempts at translating a maddening text, it is told by a young woman trying to come to grips with a country that nearly devoured itself.

In My Heart Struck Sorrow, a librarian discovers a recording from the Deep South—which may be the musical stylings of the Devil himself.

Breathtaking and haunting, A Lush and Seething Hell is a terrifying and exhilarating journey into the darkness, an odyssey into the deepest reaches of ourselves that compels us to confront secrets best left hidden.

I just love John Hornor Jacobs' cosmic horror. The two novellas in A Lush and Seething Hell are set in the same world as Southern Gods {my review}, and I really can't get enough of it. You definitely don't need to read Southern Gods before reading A Lush and Seething Hell, but I do recommend you read Southern Gods at some point just because I loved it so.

I read the two novellas in A Lush and Seething Hell separately (a month apart), and even though I really enjoyed The Sea Dreams It Is the Sky, I think I missed something. I was probably my own worst enemy with all of my preconceived Lovecraftian notions and expectations. I want to read this one again.

The second novella - My Heart Struck Sorrow - was my favorite of the two stories. Not only was I in Jacobs' world of cosmic horror, but it turned out to be music horror which is something I always love. My Heart Struck Sorrow was dark and unsettling, and I love when reading a book becomes an experience. I will probably want to reread this novella, too, just because I liked it so much.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

*according to the book description, My Heart Struck Sorrow is actually a short novel and not a novella.

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Book Review | The Twelve-Fingered Boy by John Hornor Jacobs

The Twelve-Fingered Boy is a YA fantasy novel by John Hornor Jacobs.

Book Description

Fifteen-year-old fast-talking Shreve doesn’t mind juvie. He’s good at dealing contraband candy, and three meals a day is more than his drunk mother provided. In juvie, the rules never change and everyone is the same. In juvie, Shreve has life figured out.

So when he’s assigned a strangely silent and vulnerable new cellmate, Jack, Shreve takes the younger boy under his wing. But all Shreve’s plans and schemes unravel when he discovers Jack is different. For one thing, Jack has six fingers per hand. For another thing, he just might have superpowers.

Soon Jack has drawn the attention of the cellblock bullies as well as the mysterious and chilling Mr. Quincrux—who claims to be from the Department of Health and Human Services. But when Shreve feels Quincrux invade his mind and shuffle through his darkest memories, he knows Quincrux’s interest in Jack is far more sinister. Mr. Quincrux means to take Jack away. For what purposes, no one knows.

But Shreve has another plan: escape.

Why did I read The Twelve-Fingered Boy?

I'm a fan of John Hornor Jacobs. His debut novel Southern Gods blew me away. (You can check out my review of Southern Gods here.) The Twelve-Fingered Boy is Jacobs's first YA novel, and it sounded like an awesome read.

The Strengths

I have a strong affection for coming of age stories, and I don't find myself reading male POV YA books very often. The Twelve-Fingered Boy was able to fill that spot in my heart and make me a very happy reader.

I love the friendship between Shreve and Jack. This is something I look forward to reading more of in the rest of the series.

Superpowers! Can a YA fantasy get better than the main characters having special abilities? I'm not sure that it can for me. If you love books like the Lorien Legacies (I Am Number Four, etc.) then you should check out The Twelve-Fingered Boy as well.

I'm very happy to report The Twelve-Fingered Boy is a full story. I bitch A LOT around here about series books not giving a full story in each volume. I firmly believe that any and every book should be able to stand on its own. Even though there is a larger story arch and questions left unanswered, The Twelve-Fingered Boy is completely capable of standing on its own.

The design of the physical book is fantastic. I'm very blessed to have a hard copy. It's a great read so I certainly recommend downloading the ebook if that is your thing, but bibliophiles, keep in mind this is a stunning book.

The front and back matter are printed on dark paper.

The Weakness

When the big baddie Mr. Quincrux forcibly enters Shreve's mind (not a spoiler/in the book blurb), Shreve has a very strong reaction to how he's been violated. I was uncomfortable with the extent to which Shreve was equating this violation especially given the fact that (this part is a spoiler) Shreve goes on to do the exact same thing to others.

Would I recommend The Twelve-Fingered Boy to others?

Yes! It was a really great read. The Shibboleth comes out in March so I will definitely be reading that one soon as well.

8/10: Great Read

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Review copy provided by author via publisher

Book Review | Southern Gods by John Hornor Jacobs

Southern Gods is the debut novel of John Hornor Jacobs.

Book Description

Recent World War II veteran Bull Ingram is working as muscle when a Memphis DJ hires him to find Ramblin' John Hastur. The mysterious blues man's dark, driving music - broadcast at ever-shifting frequencies by a phantom radio station - is said to make living men insane and dead men rise. Disturbed and enraged by the bootleg recording the DJ plays for him, Ingram follows Hastur's trail into the strange, uncivilized backwoods of Arkansas, where he hears rumors the musician has sold his soul to the Devil. But as Ingram closes in on Hastur and those who have crossed his path, he'll learn there are forces much more malevolent than the Devil and reckonings more painful than Hell... In a masterful debut of Lovecraftian horror and Southern gothic menace, John Hornor Jacobs reveals the fragility of free will, the dangerous power of sacrifice, and the insidious strength of blood.

I wasn't sure at first how much I was going to like Southern Gods. It started out with a great, atmospheric prologue which should have been a good thing, but prologues always send off warning signals to me that the book is going to need a lot of help hooking me. Then, as I expected, it had a slow start. I didn't have a lot of confidence that the book was going to be extraordinary, but I was wrong. Really wrong.

I loved Southern Gods.

In the end, the build up became one of my favorite things about Southern Gods. It was like a huge crescendo. It started out small and just got bigger and better until it was downright awesome. I even grew to love the prologue which is rare for me.

There are two separate story lines going on in the first half of Southern Gods. In one, Bull Ingram is hired to find a missing person, and he gets tangled up in an investigation of a really creepy blues man and a radio station that changes frequencies and plays the devil's music. In the other, Sarah and her daughter have returned to her family's home where Sarah discovers there are evils she never knew existed. Once these two story lines converge, Southern Gods moves from creepy to scary to terrifying. I'm glad I wasn't reading it in public because you could visibly see the horror on my face.

If you love a well developed horror story, you will love Southern Gods. It was so unique and so surprising. I am now a big fan of John Hornor Jacobs. I cannot wait to get my hands on his next book.

9/10: Highly Recommended

There are a lot of Lovecraft references in Southern Gods. I think it might finally be time for me to start reading Lovecraft. Over the years, I've learned to spot most anything Lovecraftian, but I have yet to experience where it all originated. Are you a fan of Lovecraft? Let me hear from you!