*SPOILER WARNING*

ON TIME DELIVERY by Jason Davis is a somewhat confusing story. I get the premise: truck driver must stick to strict delivery timetable or face dire consequences, but-- oh,no! --family emergency. I could also piece together the "meat" eaters weren't exactly human, and I enjoyed the suspense. Unfortunately the storyline lost me a couple of times.

The driver remained on schedule, so why did his employers go to elaborate lengths to set him up to fail? I don't understand if they were testing him or if they never planned to keep him as a driver to begin with.

Also, what exactly happened at the end? I could not follow the author's descriptions very well. I tried rereading the ending three times, but it simply didn't make sense. I suspect I know what kind of creature Davis attempted to describe, but I can't be certain. This is the first time I couldn't visualize what the author wrote.

If you haven't read anything by Davis yet, do NOT read this one. Go read his Invisible Spiders series instead.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Up Against A Wall

ONE BAD NIGHT by Jason Davis is not what I expected from a story with a truck theme. I thought this might be a little like the movies Joyride and Breakdown, but the revelation from the tanker's driver had me second-guessing everything.

This is not a good guy vs. bad guy situation, and it is so much more than a misunderstanding. Davis has taken a single moment and transformed it into a clash of heartache and desperation. How far would you go for your loved ones?

As always,
AstraDaemon

Friday Fright: The Rest Area

The Rest Area by Jason Davis is the perfect short story, I thought, to acknowledge the upcoming road trip season. Davis has always been a favorite author of mine, known well for great lines, such as,

"He was the Frankenshit, hurrying to an outhouse near you, trying to make it before that brown stain would creep down his pant leg."

That's right. A trucker desperately has to take a dump, and the closest rest area is...well, a dump. I think those of us who frequent the highways have all encountered at least one bathroom that is so bad, we have flashbacks to every movie death taking place in a disgusting restroom we've ever seen. You know, the kind of bathroom that makes taking a dump on a the side of a road far more appealing.

Make no mistake, it's a horror story, complete with terror and gore, but Davis' dark humor had me laughing out loud like a deranged patient at an asylum. What really blew my mind is the surprise ending...never saw it coming.

I definitely recommend this story to all readers, especially if you're planning a long drive...

As always,
AstraDaemon