Two positive reviews in the same week! This one is for “Relaxed Best” my horror-noir that appeared in Not One of Us #38:

Any small press publication that reaches thirty-eight issues is to be commended. A ‘zine that, like Not One of Us, edited by John Benson, can do so while publishing a bunch of strong fantasy stories that either play with or defy genre conventions, deserves a much wider audience.

Take Ian Roger’s “Relaxed Best,” the darkest story on offer, combining as it does the tropes of hard-boiled detective fiction with elements of paganism and witchcraft to create a horror story shaded with a sense of menace and creeped-out paranoia. Private investigator Ryerson is hired by Veronica Marchand—known as the Blue Fairy for her skill in playing the stock market—to investigate husband Jonathan, whom she suspects of straying from the marital bed. The alias signals Veronica’s true nature, and explains her success in predicting stock prices. It also suggests that there’s more to this marriage than Ryerson anticipated, with the possibility of some kind of demonic pact being hinted at as the story strays down the kind of horror/crime hinterland explored in fiction as diverse as William Hjortsberg’s Falling Angel and Jay Russell’s Marty Burns stories. Like Hjortsberg’s Harry Angel, Ryerson is soon way out of his depth and discovers too late the meaning of the term “relaxed best” as he pays the price for Marchand’s broken contract.

A very astute review, I thought. Especially since I am a huge fan of Hjortsberg’s Falling Angel (which was made into the film Angel Heart) and Jay Russell’s Marty Burns stories.

Check out the rest of the review to see what else they have to say about this excellent magazine.

I’m off to Ottawa in the morning to help my brother-in-law drywall his basement and drink beer. It’s a dirty job but someone has to do it.

• Currently reading: "The Silver Heel," by Robert E. Howard