From the back of the book: "In these eight, never-before-published
stories, N.Y. Times bestselling science fiction and fantasy author Michael Jan
Friedman takes you on a tour of his favorite places, where the impossible is
all too possible and nothing is quite as it seems."
There isn't a lot I can add to the description of this volume of short
stories by one of my favorite authors. I can say though, there isn't a bad
story in this book, and I enjoyed every one. I received my copy of The
Immigrant directly from Mike because I backed the Kickstarter campaign for
it. What I especially like about Mike's short stories is the way his sense of
humor always shines through the writing and the plot twists he comes up with.
When I think about him as an author, the description 'master of the plot twist’
always comes to mind. His story endings are always brilliant and unexpected.
The opening story of the book is also the title of the book, The
Immigrant, which is what I will focus on for this review.
The only thing down-on-his-luck retired ghost hunter Roscoe Fay wanted to do
was sit quietly and get as drunk as he could. While working on that goal, he
noticed someone watching him. Despite him bidding the woman standing behind him to go away,
she insisted on telling him about her troubles. Her name was Elizabeth
Westerhouse, owner/operator of the Clarendon House, a place for immigrants to
live while they acclimate to their new lives in the United States. She
explained her tenants were being terrorized by an entity. Although Fay was not
looking for a job, he agreed to look into the situation and attempt to resolve
it.
Fay begins his investigation by taking up residence in Clarendon House. His
first night on the job, he experiences a disturbing dream as a participant in
World War I. In his experience, he has learned malevolent spirits have a
tendency to attach themselves to objects. He goes in search of things that may
be relevant. Meanwhile, the longer he stays in residence, the worse his
nightmares become, even to the point of threatening his life.
(A side note: as I read this, I couldn't stop hearing Metallica's “Enter
Sandman” in my head.)
When we first meet Roscoe Fay, he seems a curmudgeonly man who wants to be
alone. As the story goes on, we learn he isn't as bad a human being as he would
have others believe. He doesn't know any of the people in the home, but he
appears to care about their wellbeing, and the wellbeing of his employer,
Elizabeth Westerhouse. He even becomes enamored with her, somewhat, and her
him.
Elizabeth is a well-to-do, independent woman who also cares about her resident’s
comfort. They already have enough to handle just getting their new lives
together in a new country. Her boarders do not pay rent, but the ones with
skills help around the property. She seems a truly charitable person.
What Mike does best in this story is ramping up the suspense. It
slowly crescendos to a climax and plot twist culminating in the scene depicted
on the front cover of the book. Each experience Fay has gets more intense with
each passing night in Clarendon House until the dam breaks and the true source
of the terrorizing malevolence is revealed, and it gets quite personal.
I picked up on a theme from the story involving nationalism, prejudice, and
bigotry. Sometimes the ghosts that haunt us are not from outside ourselves but
live within. We don't even know what may shape our attitudes toward others
different from ourselves. A good place to find these demons may be inside of
ourselves. Beware the enemy from within.
That is my take on the opening story, a good one to start this book off
with. The other seven stories are all different in plot, tone, and content.
Here are very brief descriptions of the other seven stories in The Immigrant
and Other Tales from the back cover...
·
In Mort, an obscure goddess of virtue
finds herself on the wrong end of a decree in the City of A Thousand Gods.
·
In Unseen, a man takes advantage of a
groundbreaking technology to teach a corrupt politician a lesson.
·
In Daughter of Dread, the super-powered
Blowout risks his life for the daughter of his team's worst enemy.
·
In Movers, a woman finds herself in the
middle of a power struggle between entities she doesn't understand.
·
In Mistaken Identity, the lives of a suburban
family are placed in jeopardy by a super-hero's error in judgement.
·
In Kyniska, a mysterious woman shows up
in a gym and changes the life of an over-the-hill basketball player.
·
In The Right Hand of God, the man once
known as Nightsmith comes out of retirement to track down a killer.
I recommend this because of Mike's command of the writing craft. It is
always of the highest quality. His characters are genuine people with human
flaws (even the super-heroes have flaws), and things in his stories are often not what they seem. The Immigrant and Other Tales is some of his best work.
If you let him, he will take you to other places and other times. I found this
work entertaining to a high degree.
In 1992, Friedman wrote Reunion, the first Star Trek: The Next
Generation hardcover, which introduced the crew of the Stargazer, Jean-Luc
Picard's first command. Over the years, the popularity of Reunion has
spawned a number of Stargazer stories in both prose and comic book formats,
including a six-novel original series.
Friedman has also written for the Aliens, Predator, Wolf
Man, Lois and Clark, DC Superhero, Marvel Superhero,
and Wishbone licensed book universes. Eleven of his book titles,
including the autobiography Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Ghost Hunting
(written with SciFi's Ghost Hunters) have appeared on the prestigious New
York Times primary seller list, and his novel adaptation of the Batman
& Robin movie was for a time the #1 bestselling book in Poland (really).
Friedman has worked at one time or another in network and cable television,
radio, business magazines, and the comic book industry, in the process of
producing scripts for nearly 180 comic stories. Among his comic book credits is
the Darkstars series from DC Comics, which he created with artist
Mike Collins, and the Outlaws limited series, which he created with
artist Luke McDonnell. He also co-wrote the story for the acclaimed
second-season Star Trek: Voyager episode "Resistance," which
guest-starred Joel Grey.
In 2001, Friedman spearheaded the establishment of Crazy 8 Press, an imprint
through which he and other authors publish their purest and most passionate
visions. Crazy 8 press currently features more than 60 original titles.
Presently, Friedman is working on a variety of projects, including a
shared-world superhero anthology, a 21st -century Aztec civilization noir
murder mystery entitled Aztlan: Investigator for The Empire, and a prose
sequel to his graphic novel Empty Space.
As always, he advises readers that no matter how many Friedmans they know;
he is probably not related to any of them.
Well, there it is...
Qapla!
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