Apocrypha Sequence: Deviance

Apocrypha Sequence: Deviance
Shane Jiraiya Cummings
Kindle Edition
Published January 18th 2011
ASIN B004JU0ZJS

Apocrypha Sequence: Deviance explores the darkness within the human heart. Set foot inside the morgue at Stratton Memorial Hospital, a place where the scales of life and death have tipped in the wrong direction, and wander the city beyond, where fantasies of sex, drugs, and violence can become frighteningly real. Redemption may be found under a scalpel, in an alley, or sometimes, by embracing the darkest corner of the soul.

The Apocrypha Sequence is a series of dark fantasy collections with interwoven themes and interconnected stories from Shane Jiraiya Cummings, Australia's master of the macabre. Also in the Apocrypha Sequence: Divinity, Inferno, and Insanity.

Hear No Evil - Blaine awakes in bed, inside a hospital, where an explosion has left him deaf. He hears nothing-- not a word muttered by the nurses nor the doctor --nothing but the screams of a woman in agony.

Simple story of an unexplained phenomenon. Too rushed to build up any suspense so by the time it ended the only reaction you're left with is to turn the page and move on.

The Cutting Room - Dr Parrish attempts to train Gary to perform an autopsy procedure but the female body provided lures Gary to act on desires all her own.

Creepy and erotic. I actually liked this one. =)

Interlude, With Lavender - While awaiting the light, the scent of lavender gives a recently deceased man memories of his wife and children.

Not a fan of this one. Wasn't much of a fan of the movie Ghost either.

Dark Heart Alley - Sixteen year old Miri must aid to bring balance back to Execution Street, where darkness has prevailed and murder reigns.

Bleh.

Wrack - In an apocalyptic time, a man chooses revenge as a means to survive as the world falls to an incurable disease.

This last, very short addition gave the book a strong ending. The religious tie in, backed by the main character being the poor excuse for a human being that he was, cinched it. Dark souls committing hellish acts are a treat for my morbid imagination. Overall, 3 out of 5 stars.

Shane Jiraiya Cummings lives in Perth, Western Australia. He has been acknowledged as "one of Australia's leading voices in dark fantasy", had more than sixty short stories published in Australia, USA, and Europe, and his work has been translated in Spanish, French, and Polish. Shane has won two Ditmar Awards, and he has been nominated for more than twenty other major awards including Spain's Premios Ignotus.

Shane is an Active Member of the Horror Writers Association and former Vice President of the Australian Horror Writers Association. When he is not writing, Shane is an editor and journalist by day and sword fighting instructor by night.