Peaceable Kingdom [Mass Market Paperback]

The tales in "Peaceable Kingdom" run the gamut from supernatural horror and thriller to the just plain weird. The one consistent factor among the stories is Ketchum's stellar writing. Regardless of how plain or outrageous the tale is, Ketchum's crisp descriptions and well-realized characters bring an atmosphere to his writing that few authors are able to achieve. I won't be surprised to find Ketchum someday being required reading in high school as his writing deserves to be right up there with the classical masters.

This is a collection that, once you've started reading you'll find it quite literally hard to put down. Other than a few tales which don't shine quite as brightly as the rest (but still outdo most other author's work), "Peaceable Kingdom" is a collection of tiny masterpieces.

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Yuck. But effective story-telling, effective use of the gross-out. And not all the stories in Peaceable Kingdom push the same Panic buttons; Ketchum leads off his collection with an Intro where he tries to con you into believing he's a nuisance because he aims for variety. False modesty, but I'll take that over glaring hubris--and thank the stars for Ketchum's variety. I didn't want to spend the whole book fainting (though that would probably earn a horror collection a five-star review, now that I realize how rare that would be!), and thankfully, 'Amid the Walking Wounded' is completely different than, say the last entry, 'Firedance', which is unnerving but beautiful too.

The order of the stories sabotages Ketchum's penchant for variety, with a bit of theme-building. Early on, the emphasis seems to be on families--kids, in particular: the good the bad, and the ugly to the soul. The opener, called 'The Rifle', is cruelly arresting, and not far after that, we have one of the best tales in the bunch, the award-winner, 'The Box', enigmatic tragi-horror of the best kind you might ever find. By the end of the collection, animals attack, or at least behave strangely. In between, Ketchum gives up at least two stories--one of them the longest, called 'Closing Time'--in which several scattered characters are unknowingly interconnected by a dangerous fate that is unfolding, pulling them together, for a terrible conclusion caused by the evil, or maybe just the apathy, of one troubled participant. 'Closing Time' is good, but an earlier, similar entry--'The Exit at Toledo Blade Boulevard'--is perhaps better. Better, because the author doesn't end it. He allows you, the reader to end it for him, and how can you not end it badly? Marvellous horror, which comments on each and every reader, just by being what it is.

Additionally, lots of different women throughout the tales. The good, the bad, the...well, you get it. And you can decide if Ketchum has issues. It's no skin off my nose. (Yuck. I must forget, I must forget...).

-Horrorwench