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A Hard Day’s Work: A Review of Bounty Hunter Stex

In: Science Fiction and Fantasy

Every Thursday I share a list of free spectulative fiction books on Twitter. Last April, My friend Berthold Gambrel reviewed one of the books I mentioned, and now I’m reviewing it as well! Thank you for reviewing this book and nudging it closer to the top of my to-read list, Berthold! 

Book cover for Bounty Hunter Stex by Vesa Turpeinen. Image on cover shows a gunslinger and cowboy pointing a pistol while standing in front of a space ship on a dusty plain. Title: Bounty Hunter Stex

Author: Vesa Turpeinen

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: April 1, 2021

Genres: Science Fiction

Length: 23 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

Bounty Hunter Stex crashes his small plane hundreds of miles away from civilization while transporting a prisoner.

Stex and his prisoner end up face to face with an ancient evil as they look for shelter from a godforsaken ghost town in the middle of a desert.

This story is written by the award-winning author of the Amazon best-selling Pilot Career Series, Vesa Turpeinen. While he is widely recognized in the non-fiction world, this is his first attempt at writing fiction ”” and it won’t leave you cold!

The story combines science fiction, western, and magic, plus a little bit of Stephen King-style horror. It’s only about a 10-minute read and distributed for free. Enjoy!

Review:

Content Warning: Blood and murder. I will not be discussing these things in my review.

The less you know about this tale in advance, the better!

I adored the creative plot twists. As mentioned above, this is one of those stories that works best if you avoid all spoilers for it ahead of time. That’s going to make it a little tricky to discuss and critique here, but I’m always up for  a challenge. The coolest things about these plot twists were how often they happened and how many different genres they invited into the storyline in order to make everything tie together. I was surprised on a few different occasions, but everything was tied up beautifully together in the end.

This would have benefitted from another round of editing. The typos and punctuation errors happened often enough for me to give this a much lower rating than I otherwise would have chosen. It was distracting to pause and read those sections again to make sure I understood what the narrator was trying to communicate. With that being said, the plot itself was excellent. I am hoping to read more from this author in the future as his writing style was otherwise delightful.

The dialogue was nicely written. None of the characters were the sorts of folks who stand around shooting the breeze. I quickly learned that all of them had a strong preference to get to the point and then immediately figure out what to do next, so it made perfect sense that they’d keep their conversations to a minimum and plainly say what they were thinking when they did decide to speak up. Writing it that was a sensible decision, and I honestly wouldn’t have wanted those parts of their personalities to be communicated in any other way.

Bounty Hunter Stex was a wild romp through multiple genres. Do give it a shot if you love westerns, science fiction, or simply being surprised by clever storytelling.

 

Stex Freeman – MC. Bounty Hunter.

Lucas the Slayer – bad guy he just captured and is taking in.

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: The Best Dish I Cook (and Recipe)

In: Blog Hops

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

A plate filled with pasta, shrimp, and cooked tomatoes.The best dish I cook is Lemon Shrimp Scampi.

This is a stock photo of a similar shrimp pasta dish. I included it because it features cooked tomatoes as well which can be a nice addition to this meal if you need more vegetables in your diet.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound uncooked shrimp (26-30 per pound)
  • 8 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta (I use whole wheat, but white works just as well)
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 4 minced garlic cloves
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth
  • 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
  • Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
  • Small tomatoes, washed and cut in pieces (optional)

Instructions:

 

  • Begin to boil water and cook pasta. Cook and drain it as necessary while you work on the other steps.
  • If needed, peel and devein the shrimp. Remove their tails and cut them in half lengthwise. I generally buy deveined shrimp to simplify this step.
  • Heat butter and oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add shrimp, green onions and garlic. Cook and stir for 2-3 minutes until shrimp turn pink. Add the tomatoes in at this point, too, if you want them. Remove the shrimp from pan with a slotted spoon. The tomatoes can stay in to finish cooking.
  • Add broth, lemon zest, lemon juice, pepper, salt and red pepper flakes to that same pan. Bring it to a gentle boil and cook until liquid is slightly reduced. This should take about 1 minute. Return the shrimp to the pan and remove from heat.
  • Drain pasta and divide it among 4 bowls. Top with shrimp mixture; sprinkle with parsley and, if desired, the cheese.

Serves 4.

This is an especially nice thing to make on a warm day when regular pasta might feel too heavy.

Top Ten Tuesday: Quotes About Crushes

In: Blog Hops

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

The original theme for this was was “Fictional Crushes.” Since I’ve never developed a crush on a fictional character, I tweaked it a little to be quotes on the topic of crushes instead.

 

“It’s just that I don’t want to be somebody’s crush. If somebody likes me, I want them to like the real me, not what they think I am. And I don’t want them to carry it around inside. I want them to show me, so I can feel it too.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

 

“It takes a minute to have a crush on someone, an hour to like someone, and a day to love someone… but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.”
― Kahlil Gibran

 

“Do you know what it’s like to like someone so much you can’t stand it and know that they’ll never feel the same way?”
― Jenny Han, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

 

“Luke used to give me butterflies. Noah spawned mutant pterodactyls.”
― Katie McGarry, Pushing the Limits

 

“It’s like I’m thirteen again and he’s my crush. All I’m aware of in this entire roomful of people is him. Where he is, what he’s doing, who he’s talking to.”
― Sophie Kinsella, Remember Me?

 

 

“She definitely has a crush on you. It’s about the size of Jupiter.”
― Marissa Meyer, Winter

 

“You’re falling now. You’re swimming. This is not
harmless. You are not
breathing.”
― Richard Siken, Crush

 

“I wondered if this was the way old crushes died, with a whimper, slowly, and then, just like that—gone.”
― Jenny Han, The Summer I Turned Pretty

 

“I don’t entirely understand how anyone gets a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend. It just seems like the most impossible odds. You have to have a crush on the exact right person at the exact right moment. And they have to like you back. A perfect alignment of feelings and circumstances. It’s almost unfathomable that it happens as often as it does.”
― Becky Albertalli, The Upside of Unrequited

 

“She blushed and so did he. She greeted him in a faltering voice, and he spoke to her without knowing what he was saying.”
― Candide, Candide

Overdue Consequences: A Review of The Swell

In: Science Fiction and Fantasy

The Swell by Adam Vine book cover. Image on cover shows reflection of child standing on a pier and looking into a mostly-still body of water. There are a few ripples of water around the wooden columns holding the pier up. Title: The Swell

Author: Adam Vine

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: March 1, 2021

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Mystery, Contemporary

Length: 11 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 2 Stars

Blurb:

Ana Barrington’s son is missing – and so is everyone else’s child. Every kid in Santa Cruz has vanished, leaving no trace but a single, cryptic message directing their parents to the sea…

Review:

Content warning: Death of children. I will not discuss this in my otherwise spoiler-free review.

Even the brightest day at the beach can hide some dark secrets.

One of the most interesting scenes happened in the beginning when Ana first realized her son Dana was missing. She briefly argued with her next-door neighbours about which of their missing children was a worse influence on the other one. I thought that moment was a great chance to get to know her better and a realistic look at the sorts of things a worried parent would bicker about while frantically looking for their child.

The narrator discovered hints here and there, but the brief explanations for how those things were connected only made my confusion about this storyline stronger. This is something I’m saying as a reader who prefers stories that expect their audiences to put work into figuring out a tricky mystery or subtle plot development. I have no problem with open-ended final scenes or not having all of my questions answered, but I really struggled to figure this one out or connect to it despite my strong interest in the beginning.

I enjoyed the way the message of this story was shared with the audience. Normally, I’m not a big fan of tales that are written as a warning for their readers, but I thought this one struck a good balance between pushing the plot forward and making its point. It was short and matter-of-fact on the issue it wanted to bring our attention which is always a good thing in my opinion.

If you love dark fantasy, The Swell might be right up your alley.