Mini-Review: “La Santasima” by Teresa Frohock

A brilliant, dark short story from one of my favourite authors.

It’s also a story that any review of length will ruin. It’s timely, incisive and haunting – it is a blending of the supernatural with the ongoing illegal immigration across the US-Mexican borders. Frohock has written a brilliant story that highlights the dangers and issues that those desperate to enter the States will face, as well as the people who will take advantage of and prey on their desperation. At the same time, it is a touching story of family ties.

Here’s the synopsis…

Sebastian’s friend Carlos claims that La Santa Muerte watches over the poor, the ones that the Church abandons. He promises Sebastian that La Santa Muerte will be his patron saint, that she will protect him and grant his wishes.

Death comes for us all. Keep her as your friend.

Sebastian is disappointed as prayer after prayer is rejected by the saint, and he loses faith. One night his sister Lucía joins him, and La Santa Muerte answers their prayer to bring their brother home…

On top of that, the eBook has a great piece by the author at the end, talking about the genesis of the story. If you haven’t read Frohock’s work, yet, you must. Best of all, La Santisima is free on Smashwords!

Week in Review (May 5-12)

This week, I’m afraid I wasn’t online that much, so I may well have missed a few articles and posts. Nevertheless, I did stumble across a few interesting articles. So, we have Sarah Fay of The Atlantic ponders the future of book reviews online; Lev Grossman is interviewed for Far Beyond Reality; Myke Cole writes about authors and their political views, and what sort of impact that can have on readers, and when it’s ok to voice these opinions; and Bookworm Blues continues the “Special Needs in Strange Worlds” series with articles by Teresa Frohock, Daniel Goodman, Aidan Moher, Stina Leicht and Jay Lake.

Teresa Frohock Reviews “The Blade Itself” by Joe Abercrombie (Gollancz/Orbit)

I have to be brutally honest here: I quit reading genre fiction for about ten years, then I wrote and published a fantasy novel. There’s a certain irony to all of this that I appreciate, because I have strange sense of humor, and you would do well to keep that odd humor in the back of your mind as you read this review. The only reason I mention it is because I think it’s important that you understand that I don’t know Joe Abercrombie. I have never met the man or even heard of him until I was bumping around online and came across an article by Leo Grin, who described Abercrombie’s novels like this:

“Think of a Lord of the Rings where, after stringing you along for thousands of pages, all of the hobbits end up dying of cancer contracted by their proximity to the Ring, Aragorn is revealed to be a buffoonish puppet-king of no honor and false might, and Gandalf no sooner celebrates the defeat of Sauron than he executes a long-held plot to become the new Dark Lord of Middle-earth, and you have some idea of what to expect should you descend into Abercrombie’s jaded literary sewer.”

Well, I thought. I would certainly read that.

“Miserere” by Teresa Frohock (Night Shade)

A superb, mystic fantasy debut

Exiled exorcist Lucian Negru deserted his lover in Hell in exchange for saving his sister Catarina's soul, but Catarina doesn't want salvation. She wants Lucian to help her fulfill her dark covenant with the Fallen Angels by using his power to open the Hell Gates. Catarina intends to lead the Fallen’s hordes out of Hell and into the parallel dimension of Woerld, Heaven’s frontline of defense between Earth and Hell.

When Lucian refuses to help his sister, she imprisons and cripples him, but Lucian learns that Rachael, the lover he betrayed and abandoned in Hell, is dying from a demonic possession. Determined to rescue Rachael from the demon he unleashed on her soul, Lucian flees his sister, but Catarina’s wrath isn’t so easy to escape. In the end, she will force him once more to choose between losing Rachael or opening the Hell Gates so the Fallen’s hordes may overrun Earth, their last obstacle before reaching Heaven’s Gates.

It took me a little while to get to Miserere, but after hearing quite a few good things about the novel, I decided it was high time that I gave it a try. Another of Night Shade Books’ New Voices releases, this is a dark, brooding tale of redemption with an original setting and engaging characters.

An Interview with TERESA FROHOCK

Teresa Frohock’s Miserere is one of Night Shade Books New Voices project, and has been receiving a good deal of attention and praise around the blogosphere and elsewhere. I recently picked up a copy, and asked Teresa if she would be interested in answering some questions. Read on for more about her novel, writing, and The Zombie Prince of Prague (I apologise for my hand in that…).