Justin R. Macumber

Haywire by Justin R. Macumber is a fast-paced sci-fi adventure story that kept the pages turning as we travelled through space in a desperate effort to save both earth and all of it’s colonies. The author has built a believable future universe and his story is both realistic and exciting.

More than a century ago super-soldiers known as Titans were able to drive the alien invaders from our solar system and destroy them, but the aliens left behind a deadly virus that infected the Titans with show more an insane desire to destroy humanity and now they are on their way. One Titan did not lose her mind totally and did all she could to slow the rest of them down while she tried to warn of their coming. Unfortunately she arrived just barely ahead of the murderous horde and now they have very little time to come up with a plan and implement it.

Haywire was a fun read. There were a number of characters to keep track of from space pirates to military factions but the author gave everyone a distinct voice, especially the inner core of characters, a museum director, her son, a government agent, and the damaged yet heroic Titan, Artemis. The story advances through chaos, explosions, chases and plenty of violence all the while giving me the adventure that I was craving. show less

Still Water, West Virginia is a tough town to grow up in. It’s a small town and most of its residents work at the local coal mine. The mine may be a dark place but there is something beneath the mine that’s much darker. The tomb of an evil god has now been disturbed and its effecting the whole town.

It starts with a change in attitude, everyone in Still Water is angrier then before and fights are breaking out everywhere. As the ancient sinister force gets closer to awakening, the people show more in town are changing physically as well and soon the whole world will change and a new age of suffering and hopelessness will begin.

Taylor sees the changes happening in her town and makes a call to her brother Kyle. Kyle left Still Water after graduating high school and never looked back. Now the prodigal son is returning to a Still Water where chaos reigns. He’s not the only one coming into town, a paranormal investigator named Maya is coming to write a story on how strange deaths have been occurring in Still Water. She has no idea what’s really happening in the small mining community but she is about to discover that Kyle and herself maybe the only ones that can stop humanity from tumbling into an evil abyss.

Still Water by Justin Macumber has a feeling of dread that lasts throughout the book. I found myself thinking as I read it, how can these people stop an evil that is as old as the earth itself. Still Water is heavily influenced by the works of H.P. Lovecraft. In Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos old gods are awakened and the only thing they want is the destruction of human society. This is the idea behind Still Water. The story starts with a bang as miners are transformed into evil creatures and then builds slowly to an action packed conclusion.

There were a lot of things I liked in Still Water. The description of the small working class town really made it come to life and I liked how Kyle’s family is described. While his family is far from perfect it represents what families are like in working class towns. I enjoyed how the story got into how Taylor feels abandoned by her brother and the guilt that Kyle feels. I also liked the character of Maya, she is a black psychic and a stranger in a strange land. The town would have been against her even if it wasn’t under the influence of evil but it doesn’t stop her from doing what she feels she needs to do.

Still Water is a book that preys upon our worst fears, which is the idea of being powerless in the face of evil. I loved Kyle’s revelation towards the end of the book and the ending was excellent. My only complaint about this book was that I felt the creatures in the mine could have been described a little better and some of the action scenes could have been more detailed. That being said the best part of Still Water is the atmosphere and it has plenty of it, plus a great story to boot. Still Water is a creepy novel that will have you sleeping with the lights on. show less