He is lauded as a master of mystery and suspense, but in this book Koontz uses his writing skills to travel a completely different and alien route than is his norm. But does he succeed?

It’s Christmas eve, but this year instead of a jolly fat man decked out in red swooping down chimneys to deliver gifts to good girls and boys a psychotic fat man decked out in red shall be breaking in and switching the gifts to things that no one, no matter how bad, deserve to be gifted with and causing random acts of vandalism. Santa’s twin brother is the complete polar (no pun intended) opposite of his brother and it’s going to be up to two brave little girls to stop this madman, free the real Santa Claus, and set Christmas right.

Like the famous story, The Night Before Christmas, Koontz’s Santa’s Twin is a narrative poem, and Koontz does an excellent job of keeping the rhyme scheme together without sacrificing the tale in the least.

The heroines of this tale, Charlotte and Emily, are snug in their beds on Christmas eve when they sense that something is wrong. They awaken from their slumber and head downstairs only to find an evil looking Santa Claus in their living room swapping out gifts. They attempt to apprehend him, and with some luck and Bob Claus’ complete lack of grace and balance, the girls succeed. With the help of the reindeer, who were forced to assist the bad Claus for fear of what he would do to their families, they set off for the North Pole to rescue Santa Claus and set things right before Christmas morning arrives.

The tale is clever, witty, and most importantly, highly amusing. Writing “Poo!” on a child’s art work? Indeed, quite the dastardly thing to do. And stuffing a microwave with ten pounds of popping corn? Those are just a few of the hilarious and clever prank’s Koontz’s evil Claus orchestrates. The story’s accompanying illustrations, by Phil Parks, are well done. They fit the story and add to the excitement of reading this holiday tale. In fact, upon completion of the story there is a note at the end of the book inviting readers to go back and take a second look at the images, because in each picture there is a snowman lurking around. Some are easy to see and some are so well blended in that had you not been invited to hunt for them, you likely would never have noticed them.

What I found to be the most amazing however was the fact that Koontz managed to write and tell this story in such a manner that readers of all ages would enjoy it. It’s a light and fun read, with just a hint of darkness, that will make it a suitable bedtime story the tykes, and at the same time it’s engaging and comical enough that older readers will find themselves amused and entertained rather than put off. Santa’s Twin more than deserves to be considered a holiday classic to be cherished and pulled out to be read annually alongside other timeless classics.

Joana’s rating: (5 out of 5 stars)

A Cannibal Yankee in Queen Clinton’s Court is a collection of poetry and short stories from the mind of Bryan DiTolvo. The book opens up with an interesting quote from Adolf Hitler but a less than interesting let alone remarkable one from actress Tuesday Knight.

The first selection in the book, denoted as “Introduction” is laid out in television script form and seems more like a joke than a serious attempt at writing. Considering the importance of first impressions I thought the placement, and overall addition of this selection, into the work was poorly done. I confess that after reading that I was rather hesitant to click on the next page. I think it prudent that I mention that the version of this work I read was a .PDF version that was supplied by the author himself. As such, my copy of this work may differ in layout and design from the version that you, the readers, will read.

Now one thing that threw me off and distracted me a bit was the lack of a table of contents with each work’s title and page location listed. In fact the complete lack of titles, aside from their numerical placement, for the individual works was rather disconcerting as it gave the impression of everything being connected, and while some pieces did feature characters who made reappearances or the individual pieces tied in nicely to the following piece, that wasn’t always necessarily the case. The author did allow for some white space after each work to signify the start of a new piece however which helped.

Many of the short stories featured in DiTolvo’s work would be more accurately described as drabbles as they are exceptionally short. While the writing and imagery in these drabbeles is not only outstanding and engaging the length, or rather lack there of, detracts from the piece. On numerous occasions I found myself really getting into the short story only to come to an abrupt end that left me wondering how I had come to the end of the track already when it had only just begun. It almost appeared as though the author was afraid to let these individual tales go on too long, a fear I believe he shouldn’t have.

Ironically enough, DiTolvo pokes fun of his short stories in “Fifty” where he and another character discuss his previous collection The Girl With the Lampshade Eyes.

“The stories are too short, though. Most people aren’t into reading stories that only span a page and a half” (p63).

I do not believe it’s so much that people “aren’t into” reading such short stories, rather that these extra-short stories do not always allow readers to feel as though they have gotten real insight and understand for the story. In the fan fiction community “drabbles”, which is what most would call DiTolvo’s short stories, work well because the readers already have the basic knowledge of the personality of the characters and the events in the series. So exceptionally short pieces, while sometimes disappointing, can be better appreciated and do not necessarily leave the readers feeling as though they were shorted or missed something.

That is not to say that I did not enjoy the short stories featured in A Cannibal Yankee in Queen Clinton‘s Court, merely that I would have liked to see them fleshed out a bit more. One particular short story, which I have since memorized, “Six”, is a little piece told from the point of view of a character named David St. Avis. I believe the reason why I liked this piece, and several of DiTolvo’s other selections, is because I could relate to them nicely.

My name is David St. Avis. I am twenty-nine years old and I work as a closer for Wendy’s. That means I go in at 4pm and stay until around midnight, working dinner rush and closing down the restaurant. A closer. Take the C from that word and that’s what I feel like every time I put my uniform on. Can I take your order, please?

I certainly was never a closer at Wendy’s, I don’t even eat there, but I have held less than desirable job positions, as I’m sure many others have, in my life and despite the shortness of the piece I was instantly able to connect with the character and empathize with him as well. To draw a reader in and have said reader instantly draw connections with the story at hand and their own life in such a short passage takes remarkable skill, a skill which DiTolvo demonstrates. I cannot however say the same for the passages written in script format, those just came off severely bland

While some aspects of DiTolvo’s short stories equally impressed and disappointed me I have to confess to finding no real fault with the poetry contained in the collection. Each poem was carefully constructed and nestled between short stories, sometimes even seeming to tie into its neighbors. There was not a single poem amongst the collection that I disliked, a fact that still startles me, and there were numerous which I would term my “favorites” (One, Five, Eighteen, Thirty-five). Number “Twenty” however stood out and called to me the most:

Everything I ever had
was something that you found.
You have the gift of soothing me
without a touch or sound.

Your midnight mansion answers me
and calmly lets me in.
Inside your home all pain is gone.
Inside there is no sin.

The look of pleasure on your face
by grace, elated me.
To see your soul so full
of love’s delight enlightens me.

Over all, reading A Cannibal Yankee in Queen Clinton’s Court was akin to wandering through a dream. There were the moments where events and happenings were befuddling to the reader, likewise there were also moments of crystal sharp clarity. It was an enjoyable trip for not only the mind but the senses as well. As happens in most collections, there were several individual pieces that I thought shined well above the rest and some that I thought it would have been better to have left them out. Pretty much, I think DiTolvo could have left out all of the pieces done in script format (or written them in a different manner for that matter) and this collection would have been the better for it.

Joana’s rating: (3 out of 5 stars)

Eyes of the Girl is a collection of poetry by a promising new poet and author writing under the pen name of Nyrak that is soon-to-be-published. The majority of the poems found in this collection will strike an immediate chord with any adolescent trying to survive their teenage years. At the same time however, I felt that a good deal of the poems in this collection held a message that will touch anyone who has ever found themselves standing on a street corner, the middle of a hallway, or half-way up the stairs and wondering what it is they should be doing and why.

Reading this collection made me think back to my own angst-ridden teenage years, and strangely enough, by the time I had finished this collection I found myself feeling as though I owed my mother a huge hug, kiss, and thank-you for raising me as she did.

The collection of poetry covers topics from family troubles, relationships, to just everyday life. One poem in particular that I found myself taking a shine to is entitled “What Happens Next?”. I believe anyone who has ever gone through a real relationship will be able to relate to and understand the feelings expressed in this piece, because hey, we’ve been there too:

…I didn’t want this
to happen and now
I am riddled with guilt
I don’t understand.

You claim to love me
and yet I can’t imagine
how that’s true.

Baby I’m tired of waiting for you…

While I enjoyed the raw emotion and feeling behind each piece, I highly suspect that this is going to be a work that is not suited for everyone. If you like your poetry to be strict and follow exact specifications I sincerely doubt that you will find much enjoyment in these pieces. Each piece had a rough quality to it that, in my opinion, helped to shape the poetry and give it its own signature style. However, there were a few pieces that I felt were a little too rough and could have been made all the more powerful if the author had sacrificed a little of her creative freedom and followed a more formal form.

For example, the poem entitled “Goodbye”, has a flowing and tumbling feel to it that initially suits the poem in the first handful of stanzas, but as you read on that “flowing and tumbling” feel changes into a “choppy and abrupt” sensation that ultimately waters down the emotion and message behind the words. In particular, the last stanza of this poem reminds me of sitting at my great grandmother’s feet as she told old folktales in Spanish. The stories were riveting and beautiful in Spanish, but if you translated them the meaning was lost. That was how I felt upon the conclusion of this particular poem, as though I had missed something vital and just couldn’t fully grasp it all.

Aside from this, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this collection of poetry and look forward to more from this author. It will be interesting to see how this new writer develops and matures. I would also like to disclose that I do have a friendly relationship with this author so it is highly possible that I was overly (or underly) critical of her work because of this.

Joana’s rating: