A Review of the Anthology Unearthed
By LMReviews on Oct 24, 2010 in Multicultural Lit Reviews, Multicultural Writing
Unearthed, is an anthology of eerie circumstances that reveal buried secrets. Shawn McPike’s “Last Fragment”, David A. Stelzig’s “Help Me”, Seth E. Lender’s “Crown of the Earth” and Edmond Chang’s “Illusion” all involve haunting truths that need to be bright to light.
Taking a project without meeting the client leads a construction contractor, Stuart Nichols to discover that a simple flooring job has more in store for him when he is confronted by a woman’s voice emerging from beneath the dining room’s subfloor. A nosey neighbor and a puzzling apparition trap him in a frame-up that requires him to go on the run in order to clear his name. McPike builds nice suspense and sends chills with the description of the contractor’s encounter with the voice.
In David A. Stelzig’s “Help Me”, you instantly root for the down and out police sargent Mario who provides safety to his former lover despite his alcohol-induced haze. It’s his chance to do right be a woman from his past after being haunted by the unfortunate events that took his sister and his more recent love away from him. His good intentions cost him what’s left of his career and his sanity as he fails to realize until the very end that nothing is what it appears, not now and certainly not in the past.
Seth E. Lender’s “Crown of the Earth” tells the story of Nichole, a police detective looking for answers in her sister’s brutal murder. The absence of her sister’s boyfriend makes him an instant suspect but the witnesses retelling of the events suggest there’s something unnatural about the incident. The detective’s search for truth leads her to near-by Toronto where the outlaws rule by fear and vigilantes with supernatural powers attempt to set things right. Amidst the city’s chaos, the detective and her supernatural chaperone discover her sister’s murder was merely a by-product of a bigger struggle between a street and corporate gangs’ attempt to rule the city and eventually the world. A mind-scrambling injection that turns normal civilians into murderers is at the center of the struggle. Lender does an excellent job of engulfing the reader in this chaotic city where darkness rules and the light dare not enter.
Finally in Edmond Chang’s “Illusion” we encounter a hardworking Asian man named Thomas who reaches the pinnacle of success in both his career and his marriage. However, everything begins to unravel after a visit from his best friend’s mother to solicit his help in warning his friend about his wife Helen. Later that evening, Thomas’ wife informs him that his best friend’s mother had passed away days earlier. Thomas feels determined to warn his friend, but his attempts and the occurrence of other spirits only prove to make the task difficult. As the danger increases through the discovery of infidelities, deception, murder and attempted murder a sudden switch in the plot plays up the novella’s title. Everything appears to be unlike what it seemed originally. Chang makes every effort to clear up loose ends but the plot switch creates more confusion than it resolves. Because the story drags on too long and suspicions that were never alluded to in the beginning are thrown in at the end to resolve the the questions that remain, the reader is left unsatisfied.
Unearthed earns two sable seals. McPike and Stelzig brought suspense to great heights causing the reader to see the story through. However, putting the strongest stories at the front of the anthology made for an overall weaker reading experience.
Publisher: Midnight Showcase
