Limbus, Inc.

I was granted a free copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review. The fact that I received this book for free has no bearing on my review.

Are you laid off, downsized, undersized? Call us. We employ. 1-800-555-0606 How lucky do you feel? So reads the business card from LIMBUS, INC., a shadowy employment agency that operates at the edge of the normal world. LIMBUS's employees are just as suspicious and ephemeral as the motives of the company, if indeed it could be called a company in the ordinary sense of the word. In this shared-world anthology, five heavy hitters from the dark worlds of horror, fantasy, and sci-fi pool their warped takes on the shadow organization that offers employment of the most unusual kind to those on the show more fringes of society. One thing's for sure - you'll never think the same way again about the fine print on your next employment application!

This extremely creative book is based upon a unique premise linking each of the stories together, a singularly mysterious and seemingly nefarious company interwoven into the very fabric of each individual story. The company is powerful, so much so that it seems to predict the future, accurately every time. At the same time it is twisted in ways that are nearly impossible to describe. Yet each author manages to do just that. At the same time they all capture the essence of the theme winding through the entire book but leaving their stories to stand alone within that whole, a real challenge for a single author, let alone five.

Each story carries a common thread with the others, and yet they remain remarkably unique and fiercely independent. In each story a sense of futility is woven through, binding them together while at the same time granting plenty of space to deviate from the others, and preventing any sense of formulaic writing.

Even when a story is set in the future it somehow captures the mysterious attitude found in the dark noir genre without making a caricature of itself. Easily one of the best series of short stories I've read in recent years - engaging, entertaining, and exciting! Without a doubt the second collection of Limbus, Inc. related stories is on my to be read list, steadily climbing closer to the top of that list the more I think about this first group of stories. show less

Have you been laid off, downsized, or undersized? If you have, you might want to think twice, and then again, before accepting a job offer from Limbus, Inc. If, on the other hand, you’re into reading shared-world stories with a dark twist, you need to run, that’s right, run to the nearest computer and order a copy of Limbus, Inc.: Book 1, an anthology edited by Anne C. Petty of JournalStone, and containing cutting-edge tales by four award-winning authors.
Limbus, Inc. is a mysterious employment agency that offers specific jobs to specific people, but there is often a deadly catch in the fine print. The book opens with an prologue written by Brett J. Talley, with passages inserted throughout, and then ends with Talley’s epilogue. In show more between these two macabre bookend offerings is a series of tales, though written by different authors, including editor Petty, come across as if they’d been either written by the same person, or a team working in close collaboration.
Each story, though, is self-contained, and masterfully done; from the prologue, when Matthew Sellers, a bookstore owner down on his luck, is given a strange and tattered manuscript by an unkempt stranger, to Benjamin Kane’s ‘Slaughter Man,’ Dean Fulsome, or the PI in Jonathan Maberry’s ‘Strip Search.’
Limbus, Inc. has something for just about every flavor of reader. Time travel and a space ship inhabited by a voracious, flesh-eating alien princess, arcane sacrificial cults, and ageless gamins who work as company recruiters. Every candidate for employment by Limbus is a loser, but every story is a winner. Tight dialogue, fully-formed characters, and settings described in a way that makes it easy to suspend disbelief.
Brew a pot of coffee, or mix your favorite brew; slip your feet into your most comfortable slippers; sit back and prepare to be transported to a realm where reality has taken an extended holiday. But, before you start reading, you might want to check the locks on all the doors and windows, and turn on a few extra lights. show less

Oh man, this was a fun ride! I found the idea of a shared-world anthology intriguing and Limbus, Inc. did not disappoint. The Limbus corporation is in place really only to kick start each of the stories. The premise is that they are an employment agency, but rather than you seeking their help, Limbus has already found and earmarked you for a specific job. We learn about these stories through an independent bookseller and publisher named Matthew who is given a book, containing many tales of the Limbus Corporation within and he shares these with us. The result are stories that run the gamut from hard sci-fi through horror and then mystery noir but all with that old Twilight Zone twist and feel. The potential for the stories and the show more writing styles is only limited by the authors themselves, and each did a fantastic job.

Within this collection are five distinct stories, with the only common link being the mysterious, sometimes covert Limbus Corporation:

The Slaughter Man by Benjamin Kane Ethridge -- A man known only as "The Sticker" loses his job at a slaughter house and is employed working to help feed the extravagance and appetite of a princess. Hard sci-fi here with lots of alien monsters and space travel. The interesting twist is when the hunter becomes the hunted.

The Sacrifice by Brett J. Talley -- A war veteran with PTSD is hired to help save a young girl before she is killed. This was a rather unremarkable, but heart-breaking story nonetheless. Some Lovecraftian themes set in Salem, Mass. bring is out of the realm of a story about the effects of war more into line with the rest of the stories in the collection.

One Job Too Many by Joseph Nassise -- A veteran of the "Faith Wars" in a dystiopian future is fired and hired by Limbus to work as a time-traveling errand boy of sorts, fixing problems he is "particularly well-suited" to fix. This was one of the more realistically written stories and added a depth to the Limbus Corporation as it was now part of a future shadow government. As with most time-travel works, the concept of the paradox is worked in, providing for an interesting though very predictable twist.

We Employ by Anne C. Petty -- An out of work, homeless college dropout is hired by the Limbus Corporation as a dog walker, but not is wholly as it seems. This was one of my favorite stories in the collection. It was just fun sci-fi adventure with my only complaint being that it was a little too short. The ending, which is a wonderful all-out Twilight Zone twist was fabulous, but came just a hair too soon for me.

Strip Search by Jonathan Mayberry -- A private investigator is hired by Limbus to help stop a serial killer before he strikes again. This was my favorite story in the collection. It reads like an old crime noir novel (think Raymond Chandler) with a supernatural twist. Add in a few secret societies, underground religions, and put the whole thing in the middle of Philadelphia and I am sold! It does become a little cliche in parts with the writing style, and is very graphic in its violence, but overall was a fabulous read.

On the whole, Limbus, Inc. is a fabulous start to what I could see as a long running series of sci-fi/horror anthologies. It is not for the faint of heart as all of the stories contain depictions of graphic violence and adult/sexual situations, but none detract from their respective stories. Also interesting throughout is the framing story for the collection which shows the bookseller, Matthew, slowly realizing that he is getting farther and farther into something more mysterious or sinister. Make sure you stick around for the epilogue for one more twist!

Many thanks to LibraryThing and JournalStone for the advanced copy and opportunity to review this collection. show less

I made the mistake of starting this book on a Sunday night when I had work on Monday. I read greedily and turned each page anxious to see the developments on the next. Each story is seamless, well crafted and subtly mind-blowing as it makes you think, "this could be real...." I am left with the disturbing feeling that I am a willing participant in Limbus' world by writing this review and asking 'How lucky do you feel?"...

Limbus, Inc.
Let me begin by stating very, very clearly ... read this book! Now!
I am a lifelong reader, now in my fifties, with an abiding love of horror, dark fantasy and the macabre. It is increasingly rare that I find a book that challenges, excites, genuinely entertains and absorbs me in the tale.
Limbus, Inc. is a bright and brilliant book.
It is a coherent and cohesive collection of stories linked through the eponymous employment agency. These are dark, foreboding tales with a rather bleak and black-hearted humour. They provide a perfect, and dangerous, balance between hope and nihilism.
The final denouement is superb and plastered a great big grin to my face, had me glancing around for a business card and wondering ... "Do I feel show more lucky?"
JournalStone, you must commission another collection of stories in this world. show less

Curated and conceived by Anne C. Petty, Limbus, Inc. feels like stepping into a tiny corner of the Twilight Zone. It features five stories, their shared world linked together by the shadowy Limbus, Inc., an Illuminati-like employment agency. They delightfully run a sci-fi/horror style gamut, some are quite visceral ("The Slaugher Man") while others dabble in time travel ("One Job Too Many"), detective noir ("Strip Search") , alien invaders ("We Employ") and old fashioned pagan sacrifice ("The Sacrifice"). Each story serves it's tale with a twist that will keep fans of the genre eager for more. I loved the idea of a secret all powerful intergalactic organization hiding itself in the guise of a mundane employment agency. Most of it's show more recruits are blue collar anti-hero types, down on their luck and out of options. This was fun, breazy reading but with plenty of creeps and gags. show less

I love the concept for this shared-world anthology: a mysterious organization whose motto is simply "We employ" picks the exact perfect person to do many very strange jobs.

The individual stories were a mixed bag for me. The framing story is fine, but fairly minimal.

Time travel is difficult to do well. This shows when people try it; the potential complications and coincidences are endless, so the plot always to me seems pretty arbitrary- and that's not a good thing. A plot needs to have an organic flow, so that each event is inevitable when looking back, but hopefully unexpected when it occurs.

"Strip Search" by Maberry was the strongest story here. The plot really worked, the atmosphere was noir, and the twists were unexpected. That one show more rates a 5 star in my opinion!

I got a copy of the ebook via Early Reviewers on LibraryThing. show less