A Song for Quiet | 
panThis follow-up just didn't do it for me. The connecting character was pointlessly involved. The plot was scant and scattered. While the first book felt like an exercise in using as much noir lingo as possible, this felt like someone with a degree in music theory trying to flex. Trying to emulate Lovecraftian terror with highfalutin musical concepts was a bit much, and the social commentary felt shoe-horned in.
pick(2017) Here's a good one, y'all. It's a novella about a bluesman with a deep blue soul that something from beyond mistakes for empty when it gives him a song with monsters in it. It's about justice and loss and the blues and the kind of weird dread that "Disciples of Cthulhu" should have been full of and wasn't. Second in Khaw's "Persons Non Grata" series, but it stands well on its own.
pickI enjoy Khaw‘s writing, and this is another Lovecraft inspired novella, this one involving a jazz musician and his fight against evil. I preferred her other book in the same universe (Hammers on Bone), but this one was also fun!
pickRating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ of 5 ⭐️s
This was amazing in the most unexpected way. The thing about Lovecraftian horror is that it can be pretty bleak, but this book? This book shines a ray of hope in a way that makes absolute perfect sense. It still has all the existential horror of Lovecraft‘s work, but with a slim, beautiful ray of sunshine that ACTUALLY WORKS. I actually got WEEPY a wee bit, and I LOVE THAT I DID XD.
pickHorror and music and sharp prose plus something apocalyptic growing in the brain meats of Deacon Jones...an entertaining novella that, I learn, is the second one set in this world. No trouble starting with this one, however; I suspect the world is consistent from book to book, but not the characters (perhaps). First is HAMMERS ON BONE, which I'll be seeking out shortly. This is a happy discovery.
