Sunday, February 17, 2008

hey! a review!

My buddy Rob Chilson sent me this in my email:

In the Feb 08 LOCUS, the following appears in Rich Horton's Short Fiction reviews:

JIM BAEN'S UNIVERSE for February has a strong novella set in the Old West, "The End of the Line", by HOLLY MESSINGER. Trace is a man who can, to his distress, see ghosts. He is employed, almost against his will, by a spooky lady from St. Louis who has use for such talents. This time, she sends him and his black friend Boz to accompany a train heading for Oregon because there have been rumors of vampires -- or something dangerous -- in the remoter stretches of the journey. They do find what they are looking for, which is plenty interesting. More interesting still is Trace's story, and his relationship with his employer, and the stories of some of the passengers. I suspect there will be more stories in this world.


How cool is that? Nice to know somebody read the durn thing, at least. Of course the SP and I promptly hopped in the car and ran over to the big-box bookstore to buy a couple copies of LOCUS, but they didn't have the February issue in stock. Doesn't seem to be a copy for sale anywhere in town, point of fact, so I'll have to find one when I go back to work on Tuesday. We're not exactly in the middle of nowhere, but we're far enough from the city that you don't waste the time and gas unless you have at least two reasons to drive there. Still, a mention! A favorable review! That's not to be sneezed at.

I'm wondering now if I should send them "Parlor Games." I don't think they're buying at the moment.

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