Kat On A Hot Tin Airship

Kat On A Hot Tin Airship: A Penny Dreadful Review

            What happens when one takes a Tennessee Williams play as a jumping off point and adds demons? Why, ask Sam Stone. She wrote a book about it – Kat on a Hot Tin Airship.

            In the scant years since her literary debut, Kat Lightfoot has transformed from a shop girl with a good head on her shoulders to a gun-toting demon-slayer. With her journalist friend George Pepper and her inventor friend Martin Crewe, the practical young lady destroys any forces of the Darkness she happens across. Often, she gets paid for this and is therefore able to support her mother and little sister.

            Her brother finally makes a proper appearance on the page. The Lightfoot family travels to New Orleans to celebrate his marriage to the daughter of a wealthy landowner. Sam Stone takes the oppressive miasma of secrecy that hangs over the characters of any given Tennessee Williams play and turns it into the oppressive miasma of a vengeful spirit/demon. I find that this meshes quite well.

            There are a lot of twists, turns, and revelations featured in this book, and I must say that it can be a little difficult toward the end to keep track of who is what and haunting or possessing whom. I must say, though, that poor Kat is also exceedingly confused. I don’t think she’ll sort out quite what happened until she gets home to New York. Maybe she’ll figure out this book by the next book?

            At any rate, Kat Lightfoot and her family are a delight to read about. The characters are so vivid and the demons are pretty creepy. This book did not give me nightmares like the last one, but perhaps this is because demon possession doesn’t disturb me quite as much as the walking, talking corpses of my loved ones.

            Kat on a Hot Tin Airship was a delight to read. I give it three and a half gears out of five and look forward eagerly to the next installment of Kat Lightfoot’s adventures. I suggest that you track down a store selling the publications of Telos Publishing and purchase a copy.

Your Correspondent From The Bookstore,

Penny J. Merriweather

Zombies At Tiffany's

Zombies at Tiffany's: A Penny Dreadful Review

            I must admit to judging a book by its cover. I found myself browsing in a bookshop, and I came across a colorful depiction of the undead. In front of the lurching crowd stood a young woman in a red gown wearing a back-mounted machine gun. This young lady has a look on her face that says, “Here we go again.” I had to pick up this slim little novel and find out what this was all about.

            The volume I investigated was Zombies at Tiffany’s, by Sam Stone. I purchased it, and eight hours later, I’d finished reading it. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Set during the American Civil War, it follows an ordinary shop girl named Kat Lightfoot as a horrifying darkness from the front lines invades New York. She discovers a small cat named Holly, who is quite important. I would spoil the most wonderful part of the story if I explained why.

            Even if you have tired of the walking dead lurking on every shelf of the bookstore, this is worth a read. Sam Stone is a writer with a gift for the comedic and the horrific. Kat’s point of view is straightforward and usually funny, despite the zombies that invade her world. I confess that I had nightmares after reading this book. Sam Stone’s zombies are terrifying. They talk and they have a sick sort of hive mind. It’s quite disturbing.

            I give this excellent little adventure four gears out of five. The prose is entertaining and the characters vivid. Unfortunately, I was able to devour Zombies at Tiffany’s in the space of a night. Fortunately, it is the beginning of a series…

Your Correspondent From The Bookstore,

Penny J. Merriweather