Title: Old Forests and Older Things Within
Author: Rudolph Kohn
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: August 9, 2024
Genres: Science Fiction, Paranormal, Contemporary
Length: 25 pages
Source: I received a free copy from the author.
Rating: 4 stars
Blurb:
Victor Martinez-Silva thought he was going to enjoy a leisurely vacation in Peru with his wife.
As they were hiking up to the ruins of Choquequirao, something happened to his wife, Amy–something Victor couldn’t explain, much less stop.
However, a stranger found them in the nick of time, and he seemed to know exactly what to do.
Enjoy this short story introducing Lawrence G. Samson, hunter of otherworldly monstrosities hiding on our planet, waiting for the opportunity to wreak havoc on humanity!
Content Warning: parasitic infection
Review:
Hikes are supposed to be relaxing, right?
Nature can be a little intimidating at times for some of us, so I appreciated the fact that Mr. Kohn leaned into this fear in order to set the scene. There’s nothing like a character being many miles away from help in an emergency to highlight just how quickly things can go wrong and how much courage it takes to race to safety when the unthinkable happens. If any outdoors readers check this tale out, I’d love to read your takes on the themes here as I’m sure they can be a read differently by experienced hikers and campers.
I would have liked to see a little more time showing the characters’ personalities. Obviously, the fast pacing and short length can’t leave a lot of room for exposition, but I’d struggle to describe the characters if someone asked me what it would be like to meet them other than to say that Lawrence didn’t always give the clearest instructions and Victor didn’t always comprehend what he was asked to do because of how panicked he was about his wife’s condition. This could have easily been expanded upon in a few more paragraphs, and I would have happily gone with a five-star rating if the author had made that choice. Everything else about it was well written.
One of my challenges as a book blogger involves figuring out how to talk about twist endings without giving them away in my reviews. The twist is this tale was something I suspected might be coming, but I’m not the sort of reader who has to be surprised in order to enjoy something. It was still fun to see how it played out once Victor had more information about what was happening. I suspect that he would have figured it out sooner under calmer circumstances as my first impression of him was of someone who is generally capable and smart.
Old Forests and Older Things Within was an atmospheric autumn read.