01/19/2026 Guest Review from Craig Brownlie
- Candace Nola
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
It’s Been A Year, Part 5
Reviews and thoughts on writing with Craig Brownlie
I may have implied to a few authors that I had every intention of reading their books, but it’s been a minute since I’ve done any reviews because 2025 has been a worse year than even 2024, which is saying something on a personal level. But I have kept reading and writing! So let’s see what I thought- in real time, the way Kurt Vonnegut meant us to write.
Poacher by Mark Scioneaux
Brady by D.W. Hitz
To Cut A Man by Justin Holley
New Era by Tommy B. Smith
Ahh, the ultra-violence comes to the TBR pile. I read most of these about the same time and it was a little like the Clockwork Orange (film) scene where Alex’s eyes are held open as he watches intense events on a large screen.
So, take a seat. Pour four fingers of bourbon. Let’s read along together, shall we?
No, you didn’t.
Oh, shit.
Nooooo.
FFS!
Did she really just…?
Yes, you did.
I don’t believe it. I mean I don’t want to, but…
Oh, come on.
That’s nasty.
Do you kiss your mother with those lips? Or rather use those fingers to type emails to your mother?
Ugh.
Etc. etc. etc.
These were fine books, but I probably should have shuffled them in among all the other volumes. (Remember, in this 7-part summary, we’re just scratching the surface of all the non-fiction that passed before my eyes this year and some of that was horrific too.)
The blessing of this selection of bad-things-happening-to-protagonists stories was that they actually presented a wide variety in POV and setting, as well as outcome and progression. Authorial styles stayed unique and all their voices held my interest. They all merit your attention when you want your blood to pump and your mind to go WTF?
Kissing the Beehive (Crane's View, vol 1) by Jonathan Carroll
I want to be a completist about Carroll. I prefer his magic realism, so this mystery thriller was an experiment. Whenever Carroll puts word down on the page, I feel the urge to read them. You probably ought to start with Sleeping in Flames to get the whole Paul-Auster-writing-magic-realism vibe which is in play often with him. If it’s not your thing, then I’m sorry but we probably have less to talk about.
Cold Vengeance (Pendergast, vol. 11) by Preston & Child
Clearly, I have read a lot of Pendergast books over the years, though I’m nowhere near a completist. They come out in paperback, and I have something that fits in a backpack, so now you know how to get me to buy your book. It also helps to have lots of action and incredibly perfect descriptions. If we could all do what Preston & Child accomplish in five sentences, genre fiction would be a lot more enjoyable.
Some Buried Caesar (Nero Wolfe, vol. 6) by Rex Stout
If you haven’t read any Nero Wolfe, this is arguably the best. I have definitely read a ton of Rex Stout. They come in paperback and fit in a backpack. Also, the print is legible and the binding holds for a generation. Do I need to repeat myself?
This is how you handle multiple characters. This is how you tell a story in the first person. This is how you describe motivation and appearance. This is how you handle surprises. They’re textbooks for writers.
What’s driving Craig apeshit: Not diagramming sentences!
This is what I am talking about. Back when I was in school, we had to diagram our sentences with a chisel on a stone tablet. If you don’t know what a transitive verb is then you shouldn’t pick up.
Also, Word grammar-check doesn’t know either. A pen, that’s what the prior sentence needs. Also, adverbs modify adjectives. Adjectives don’t modify adjectives. If you want to write for fun, then have at it, but if you want to publish, start looking at your sentences.
For crying out loud, just how far away from the word which it modifies are you planning to put that subordinate clause? Also, who vs. whom is not rocket science. Passive tense is not your friend if the shit goes down. Diagram a sentence or a few hundred.
This is not a call for drawing every sentence but rather learn to look at a sentence and hear what is so very wrong there.
The only mystery is why you haven’t acquired these highly recommended books
Bio:
Craig recently edited the anthology Five Raging Hearts: Splatterpunk for the Soul. Look for Craig's recent work in Hotel of Haunts, Demons and Death Drops, Wands: Year of the Tarot, and Unspeakable Horrors 3. He has three books out in his Little Books of Pain series: Hammer, Nail, Foot; Thick As A Brick; and A Book of Practical Monsters. These are in addition to the re-release of his middle-grade novel Comic Book Summer. He also has a surprise zombie novel dropping early in 2026. It takes place in Rochester, New York.
