The Detained

When Phoebe McBride returns to Bonneville for her twentieth high school reunion, she tells herself it's the best way to confront what has haunted her since her senior year. There was one boy who never lived to see graduation, and in a way she blames herself for this tragedy. Now a child psychologist, Phoebe is determined to face her demons by going back, but those demons may be fresher than she realizes. When she arrives at the school there are only three of her old classmates present--a bad boy turned writer, a fallen football hero and a popular girl whose life isn't all she'd thought it would be. Bonneville isn't even set up for a party--it's set up for detention. Tables are aligned and her old P.E. teacher sits waiting. He always hosted detention back in her school days, but now he thinks he's here to accept an award for all his years of service. Soon the guests discover gruesome keepsakes waiting on their chairs. Horror and paranoia sink their claws into the class of '96 as they are forced to revisit the worst memory from their youth, and ultimately pay for their past. The Ruin Season bristles and lurches powerfully with lust and dope, violence and satanic music, but make no mistake, its a runaway train whose engine is pure heart, and Kristopher Triana keeps it on the tracks just long enough to give you hope that the little engine can. Makes it hurt true. Hell of a crash. Jedidiah Ayres, author of Peckerwood Ive written that a way to judge the health of a genre is to gauge the number of emerging young, good writers. Kristopher Triana is one of the newest bumper crop of good ones. I read a couple of his short stories after meeting him at the recent StokerCon. His prose is excellent, his plots compelling. The Ruin Season has these same qualities. Kris has the Write Stuff. Check out a rising star. Gene ONeill, author of The Cal Wild Chronicles and Entangled Soul with Chris Marrs The Ruin Season is like the literary equivalent of Springsteens classic Nebraska. Its a book with a stripped back feel, brooding with raw emotion and atmosphere where Triana allows his characters to bare their souls and bleed onto every page. Adrian Shotbolt, BeavistheBookhead Jake Leonard has more than his share of trouble. Hes close to forty now and still suffers from bipolar disorder and the painful memories of the psychotic episodes that derailed his life and sent him behind bars as a youth. He lives in the rural south where he spends his days breaking horses and his nights training dogs in solitude. His nineteen-year-old girlfriend, Nikki, is the daughter of the sheriff, and shes just getting worse with drugs, alcohol and satanic metal, eventually leading into heroin and low-budget porn. When Jake reconnects with his ex-wife, things get even more complicated, and the limits of love and sanity get pushed to the breaking point. The Ruin Season is a haunting, violent tale of a mentally ill man struggling in a violent and heartless world. It is the story of unrequited love, mad rage, and bloody revenge. It moves forward in the dark style of gritty southern gothic novels, in the tradition of Larry Brown, Harry Crews, Daniel Woodrell, Cormac McCarthy and Flannery OConner. It shows both the tender and horrible sides of insanity as well as the seedy underbelly of the American, backwoods suburbs. "Jake Leonard has more than his share of trouble. He's close to forty now and still suffers from bipolar disorder and the painful memories of the psychotic episodes that derailed his life and sent him behind bars as a youth. He lives in the rural south where he spends his days breaking horses and his nights training dogs in solitude. His nineteen-year-old girlfriend, Nikki, is the daughter of the sheriff, and she's just getting worse with drugs, alcohol and satanic metal, eventually leading into heroin and low-budget porn. When Jake reconnects with his ex-wife, things get even more complicated, and the limits of love and sanity get pushed to the breaking point. The Ruin Season is a haunting tale of a mentally ill man struggling in a violent and heartless world. It is a story of unrequited love, rage, and bloody revenge. It moves forward in the style of gritty southern gothic novels, in the tradition of Larry Brown, Harry Crews, Daniel Woodrell, Cormac McCarthy, and Flannery O'Conner. It shows both the tender and horrible sides of insanity as well as the seedy underbelly of the American, backwoods suburbs."--Back cover What's that sound? Do you feel it? The signals are already inside you. You never even had a chance. A tome of horror fiction featuring radio waves, numbers stations, rogue transmissions, and other unimaginable sounds you only wish were fiction. Forget about what's hiding in the shadows, and start worrying about what's hiding in the dead air. With stories by Matthew M. Bartlett, T.E. Grau, Joseph Bouthiette Jr., Josh Malerman, David James Keaton, Tony Burgess, Michael Paul Gonzalez, George Cotronis, Betty Rocksteady, Christopher Slatsky, Amanda Hard, Gabino Iglesias, Dyer Wilk, Ashlee Scheuerman, Matt Andrew, H.F. Arnold, John C. Foster, Vince Darcangelo, Regina Solomond, Joshua Chaplinsky, Damien Angelica Walters, Paul Michael Anderson, and James Newman. Also includes an introduction from World Fantasy-award-winning author, Scott Nicolay Whats that sound? Do you feel it? The signals are already inside you. You never even had a chance. Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing brings you Lost Signals, a tome of horror fiction featuring radio waves, numbers stations, rogue transmissions, and other unimaginable sounds you only wish were fiction. Forget about whats hiding in the shadows, and start worrying about whats hiding in the dead air. Edited by Max Booth III and Lori Michelle, featuring a front cover design by Matthew Revert and 25 interior illustrations by Luke Spooner, this 130,000 word collection is a must-have for any serious fan of horror. "The guys following her home are bad enough, but when Jacalyn's Poppa comes to the rescue, things only get worse. After all, he's been dead for six years. There's no time to be relieved, because when she ends up back at Poppa's new apartment, nothing feels right. The food here doesn't taste how food should taste. The doors don't work how doors are supposed to work. And something's not right with Poppa. Guilt and sickness spiral Jacalyn into a nightmarish new reality of Lynchian hallucinations and grotesque body horror."--Back cover