Book: Martyr By Kaveh Akbar (2024)

“Cyrus Shams is a young man grappling with an inheritance of violence and loss: his mother’s plane was shot down over the skies of Tehran in a senseless accident; and his father’s life in America was circumscribed by his work killing chickens at a factory farm in the Midwest. Cyrus is a drunk, an addict, and a poet, whose obsession with martyrs leads him to examine the mysteries of his past—toward an uncle who rode through Iranian battlefields dressed as the Angel of death to inspire and comfort the dying, and toward his mother, through a painting discovered in a Brooklyn art gallery that suggests she may not have been who or what she seemed.

This debut novel explores a lot of themes, mostly philosophical (which probably escapes me), and it’s basic take on theme most of us struggle with – why are we here and how can I be remembered. At times comical, but also serious, Akbar’s poetic prose is something to behold. Still, the tale boils up big ideas, but the writer seems fine with not knowing all the answers. The fact that there is little explanation to those ideas makes book work (though some may have difficulty with the books less than cohesive structure). We all contemplate the human experience and no one really knows how to explain them in any rational sort of way. Maybe Akbar is saying that is okay?

Despite some of the bleakness that Cyrus must endure, the book is filled with wry humor and observations; it’s densely layered and may require a few readings to understand it fully. But I think a reader should have a background in poetry to full grasp what the ideas here (it’s a genre I do not read). Perhaps an understanding of addiction and sobriety would also be helpful.

Martyr, in the end, is interested in the question of how to give life meaning through death - its central focus being martyrdom. Literary fiction such as this book is not for everyone, because most will not understand the central theme here –despite Cyrus’ very, everyday, personal issues. But its fine not to completely understand the book, because trying something new, with original and fresh ideas, is what most novelists strive for. I challenge people to look outside the box of everyday popular fiction and try something new – and not safe.

Books: Frances Hunt's Body Shop and Boneyard by Chad Darnell (2024)

"Three months after accidentally shutting down the Southeastern cell of a human body harvesting operation, Frances Hunt is living her best life. She’s opened a senior citizen recreational facility, quit smoking and drinking, and found a new reason to live. But that doesn’t last long. When disaster hits the small town of Liberty, Frances finds herself being hunted by old foes, betrayed by those she trusted and blackmailed by the people she loves. Her only way out is to assemble an unlikely team of misfits and shut down the international ‘body shop.’”

There is a lot more going on here in the continuation from Buying the Farm (and I agree, as someone points out late in the book “You couldn’t write this shit. You need, like, a chalkboard and flow charts just to keep up”), as things get more absurd as each page flies by. The characters are really fleshed out, which is the strong point of the tale. As wild and sometimes unbelievable the story gets, Frances and the rest still shine and you feel their pain. 

As noted, a lot of stuff happens in what amounts to just a few days, with the lighting and fire damage done to the Baptist Church being at the center of it all. On hindsight, even in such a small town as Liberty is described, the damage done by the rain storm would’ve gotten both local and national news interested almost instantly. Also, it seems surprising that the death count would’ve peaked some people’s interest long before the events of this book. Liberty is seemly a cousin to Stephen King’s Derry, a town that contains more cruelty than any other place –a town where a lot of horrible things happen and yet the people who are born there, who live and work there seem to exist in the ether of indifference. Liberty contains very religious people, but it’s also clearly a place where blinders are put on the eyes of the people, who only care about their petty and small problems and their secrets.

While Frances Hunt remains a black comedy, it’s not as laugh out loud as the first book, though the book is still pretty funny. As author Darnell noted in the previous book, he tried to sell this idea as a movie or a TV series. And this second book is seemly set up as continuing story over what might be a thirteen episode season. He also sets up more plots for a third tale, which appears to be due sometime in 2025.

In the end, a still enjoyable tale filled with almost real-life characters set against a plot that probably does happen in the real world as well. Which is very disturbing.

Books: The Way Up is Death By Dan Hanks (2025)

“When a mysterious tower appears in the skies over England, thirteen strangers are pulled from their lives to stand before it as a countdown begins. Above the doorway is one word: ASCEND. As they try to understand why they’ve been chosen and what the tower is, it soon becomes clear the only way out of this for everyone is…up. And so begins a race to the top with the group fighting to hold on to its humanity, through sinking ships, haunted houses and other waking nightmares. Can they each overcome their differences and learn to work together or does the winner take it all? What does the tower want of them and what is the price to escape?”

Despite what feels like an alternate take on the Netflix series Squid Game, The Way Up is Death is a leap forward for author Dan Hanks, from his scrappy, pulp-ish first novel, Captain Moxley and the Embers of the Empire, and the delightfully goofy Swashbucklers. At turns brutal, soul-stirring, and funny, it’s a tale of survival for thirteen people from different backgrounds who must struggle to survive an acid test of a game, which is probably the best way to explain the premise. It’s like the famous (or infamous) Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode Move Along Home. Aired early in the series run, the plot was about a visiting delegation from the Gamma Quadrant who turns four crew members into "pieces" for a bizarre game. That too has the threat of death over the crew of DS9, especially Quark, when he has to figure which one of the four he must sacrifice to move forward.

All the characters get back stories, which somehow tie-in to each level the groups ascends, but we mainly see  a handful, like Alden, who mourns the loss of his dog Leia, who is also teacher by day/singer by night. Nia a angry concept artist foe indie films who’s grown weary of the industries lack of acknowledgement about the below-the-line talent. Then there is Dirk, the American jackass (I suppose US based writers have been making fun of the British for so long, so Hanks makes Dirk an almost poster child for corporate greed, “influencers”, and probably (though never mentioned) a Right Wing clown.

The others get a bit interchangeable along the way, though young Rakie stands out in the end.

I sometimes found it hard to visual increasingly weirdness of the tower, sometimes, but Hanks gave most of the characters a strong voice, so I didn’t get lost there. It’s a thrilling piece of speculative fiction, brought down only by the ending. It’s been said Stephen King has never really written a great ending, so The Way Up is Death is brought down Hanks philosophical and optimistic approach to dealing with grief and finding ability to move on.

I mean, it’s lackluster and too abrupt. While I was fine with no real explanation of anything here, its sudden ending was a bit jarring. But as I said, a good leap forward for the writer, and I look forward to more of his work.