David Morrell, "father" of the modern action novel and creator of Rambo,
has been telling stories now for more than three decades. He has the
craft of it down pat. With the exception of an occasional overindulgence
in exclamation points, his stories are textbook examples of how to write
short fiction. The only problem with many of the stories in this
collection is that, although perfectly written, the supposedly shocking
is about as surprising as a puddle after rain shower and just as
predictable. The virtue of obedience is turns to the sin of obsession in
"Remains to Be Seen." The object of the obsession is an incorruptible
Eva Peron-like body. In a world where a piece of silk used to cover the
casket of the real Evita just sold for $158,000, the obsession is, at
least, realistic. In "Front Man," a veteran screenwriter deals with
Hollywood's vicious ageism by making a devil's bargain with a young man
to front his scripts. The only thing unexpected in this story is the
portrayal of an agent with ethics. The unintentional "surprise" in
"Elvis .45" is that a professor who sees Elvis symbolic of an America
being destroyed by the media is considered crazy. Morell fares better in
"Rio Grande Gothic" which posits an agreeably urban legendary theory
about abandoned shoes in streets. He's at his best when writing with
real poignancy as in "Resurrection." Here, a fatally ill father is saved
by his dedicated son's discovery of a cure -- 46 years after being
frozen to await that cure. Novella "If I Should Die Before I Wake" is
the strongest in the collection, possibly because its inspiration, the
horror of the influenza pandemic of 1918, is still horrific. Best read
with tempered expectation.
--review originally appeared in Cinemafantastique Aug/Sept 2004
David Morrell, "father" of the modern action novel and creator of Rambo,
has been telling stories now for more than three decades. He has the
craft of it down pat. With the exception of an occasional overindulgence
in exclamation points, his stories are textbook examples of how to write
short fiction. The only problem with many of the stories in this
collection is that, although perfectly written, the supposedly shocking
is about as surprising as a puddle after rain shower and just as
predictable. The virtue of obedience is turns to the sin of obsession in
"Remains to Be Seen." The object of the obsession is an incorruptible
Eva Peron-like body. In a world where a piece of silk used to cover the
casket of the real Evita just sold for $158,000, the obsession is, at
least, realistic. In "Front Man," a veteran screenwriter deals with
Hollywood's vicious ageism by making a devil's bargain with a young man
to front his scripts. The only thing unexpected in this story is the
portrayal of an agent with ethics. The unintentional "surprise" in
"Elvis .45" is that a professor who sees Elvis symbolic of an America
being destroyed by the media is considered crazy. Morell fares better in
"Rio Grande Gothic" which posits an agreeably urban legendary theory
about abandoned shoes in streets. He's at his best when writing with
real poignancy as in "Resurrection." Here, a fatally ill father is saved
by his dedicated son's discovery of a cure -- 46 years after being
frozen to await that cure. Novella "If I Should Die Before I Wake" is
the strongest in the collection, possibly because its inspiration, the
horror of the influenza pandemic of 1918, is still horrific. Best read
with tempered expectation.