Dog Days - Deadly Passage: JournalStone's DoubleDown Series - Book III

By Joe McKinney and Sanford Allen

JournalStone’s DoubleDown series hits book number 3. Dog Days: It's the summer of 1983 and the suburbs of Houston are reeling from a disastrous hurricane.  But the storm brought more than wind and floodwaters.  In the swamps that surround Clear Lake a brutal and possibly supernatural killer is gathering strength, and waiting for the full moon.  The focus of his bloodlust is fifteen year old Mark Eckert.  Reckless to a fault, with a knack for making spectacularly bad decisions, Mark had planned to spend that last summer before high school wandering the swamps with his friends and his beloved dog Max.  But after a chance encounter with the lunatic, Mark's summer becomes a time of terror and tragedy.  With his life on the line, Mark's courage will be tested to his limits and beyond as he struggles to survive the hottest days of summer: the dog days. Deadly Passage: Just after the American Revolution, the slave ship Lombard sets off from Africa, beginning its brutal passage to the New World. But even this ship’s hardened crew of thugs and drunkards is unprepared for the horrors ahead. When the Lombard’s human cargo dies one by one, free black crewman George Bell suspects a stealthy and devious stowaway — not disease — is the cause. As the death toll mounts and the slaves threaten mutiny, he must choose between his humanity and duty to a callous captain. But Bell doesn’t have much time to make his voyage of self-discovery. The deadly beast burrowing through the rotten guts of the Lombard grows more powerful with each life it takes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: JournalStone
• Release date: Dec 6, 2013
• ISBN: 9781940161136

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Dog Days

JournalStone’s DoubleDown Series, Book III

By

Joe McKinney

JournalStone

San Francisco

Copyright © 2013 by Joe McKinney

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

JournalStone books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

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The views expressed in this work are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ISBN: 978-1-940161-12-9  (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-940161-29-7  (hc – limited edition)

ISBN: 978-1-940161-13-6  (ebook)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013951062

Printed in the United States of America

JournalStone rev. date: December 6, 2013

Cover Design: Paul Vaughn

Cover Art: Alfredo Lopez Jr.

Edited by: Elizabeth Reuter

This one is for Jeff, Mark and Ralph

Who lived it with me back in 1983

Dog Days

It must be a wild place.

Yes, the setting is a worthy one. If the devil did desire to have a hand in the affairs of men –

Then you are yourself inclining to the supernatural explanation.

The devil’s agents may be of flesh and blood, may they not?

From an exchange between Holmes and Watson in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles

Dog Days

My dad had me pinned to the floor. He put a finger to his lips and said, Shhh, you’ll wake your mother.

I had lurched out of sleep so suddenly, with the storm still roaring in my head, that it took me a moment to realize where I was.

You’re alright, he whispered. It’s over. Stop fighting.

I blinked at him. He was kneeling next to me, our dog Max sitting behind him, his yellow eyes focused on me, tail wagging a million miles an hour. The poor dog was so excited he could barely contain himself. Probably happy to be alive, I thought. I knew I was, because there’d come a point during the night when I seriously doubted I’d see the morning. But the fear I’d felt then was rapidly shrinking.

I looked around, took stock. The house behind my dad was dark. The air was hot and humid. I couldn’t hear the hum of the air conditioners. I heard nothing but Max’s impatient breathing and the sweep of his tail across the floor. I let myself go slack, all the tension fading.

What’s going on? I asked in a whisper. Is the power out?

Yes, the power’s out. The water too. Probably will be for a few days. Come with me. I want to show you something.

I sat up and rubbed my arms. Hurricane Alexis had made landfall the night before, and when the wind and the rain got really bad—bad enough that the house started to shake and I honestly thought the roof would tear away and go sailing off like a kite cut from its string—my family had gone into our walk-in hall closet for shelter. It was where we stashed everything. My parents loved to throw dinner parties, and that closet was where we kept all the extra tables and chairs and fondue kits and everything else. But it was the only room downstairs that didn’t have an exterior wall. My dad said we’d be safest there. So we took out all the tables and chairs, made a bed out of coats and old sweaters, and hunkered down for the storm. My mom put her arms around me and hugged me so tightly she left finger-shaped bruises on my skin.

But that was over now. The storm had passed, and we had made it through.

Moving slowly, so as not to disturb my mom, I got up and followed my dad through the hall and out to the living room, Max trotting along at my side.

Are we gonna take down the boards? I asked.

The day before, when the weatherman said that the storm was definitely going to make landfall at Galveston, my dad and I went around the house nailing sheets of plywood over the windows. Good thing too because the wind had snapped off one of the branches from the pecan tree in our front yard and sent it crashing into the big bay window in my mom’s office. We went into the closet shortly after that. All the other boards had held though. White lines of light glowed from the edges of the windows on the front of the house, and I took that as a good sign. Daylight had come, and I’d had enough rain for a long while.

Later, my dad said. First, I want you to see this.

He led me to the front door, opened it, and then stood off to one side so I could look out.

Whoa! I said.

His smile was wide. I know. Cool, right?

I turned back to the doorway, stunned. We lived in a neighborhood called Brook Forest, one of the wealthier parts of Clear Lake, a little bedroom community about midway between Houston and Galveston. My dad was a sergeant in the Houston police, but my mom was a pediatrician, and because of her we were able to live in one of the nicest homes in a neighborhood made up of nothing but nice homes. Now those gorgeously huge houses looked like islands in a sea of caramel-colored water. There was water everywhere. It came right up to the front door. We had a big brick mailbox down at the curb, but I couldn’t even see it. The water was that deep. Across the street, near where his mailbox should have been, was Mr. Matheson’s blue pickup truck. Except only the top two or three inches near the roof were visible above the waterline.

As I watched, a water moccasin glided by, a long black ribbon on the brown water.

Then I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and looked down. Our lawn sloped away from the house to meet the street, and so the water up near the porch was only a few inches deep. There, hundreds of red crawdads were waving their pinchers in the air, as though outraged and confused by the way they’d been uprooted from their home in the bayou down at the end of my street.

Dad, look!

His smile broadened. I thought you’d like that.

We stepped out onto the porch together and Max followed along. When he saw the crawdads he jumped from the porch and splashed around in the shallow water, his mouth open and teeth bared as he tried to bite them. I noticed he kept his nose high and his tongue pulled into the back of his mouth, though. He’d dealt with crawdads before. He knew those pinchers could hurt.

One of the crawdads grabbed hold of Max’s teeth and, startled, Max shook his head until it went flying off, landing with a small splash halfway across the yard. Max barked at it, and my dad and I laughed. I looked up at him and he smiled down at me, and for a moment, I thought we were fine. It felt good, standing there together in the middle of the flood, realizing that we’d come through okay. But then his smile faded and his expression turned sad and I knew that even this new adventure wasn’t enough to allow him to forgive me.

Luckily neither one of us got a chance to discuss it, for just then Mr. Moore pulled up to our porch in a little aluminum boat. Mr. Moore lived down at the corner of our block in a house that looked like an old Louisiana plantation. On school days, I caught the bus at the corner under the shade of an enormous pecan tree he had in his front yard. He was kind of fat and really pale and going bald, and he looked ridiculous sitting in the boat in his white t-shirt and baby blue shorts and black socks.

Morning, Wes, he said to my dad. You and Meredith make it through okay?

Morning, Tom. I haven’t had a chance to look at the roof yet, but I think we did all right. How about you and Eleanor? You guys good?

Mr. Moore was wearing an Astros baseball hat. He took it off and wiped his bald head before answering. Well, actually, I got a bit of a problem I was wondering if you could help with.

Oh yeah? What’s up?

Mr. Moore looked back toward his house, and when he turned back to us, I could see he was scared.

I think my dad noticed it too.

What’s wrong, Tom?

Um, can you…can you see my house from there?

We couldn’t. There were trees in the way. My dad stepped off the porch and walked into the yard until he was up to his knees in the floodwater.

Oh my God, he said.

I jumped off the porch and ran to his side. And looking down the street toward Mr. Moore’s house I got my second shock of the day.

Is that a shrimp boat? I asked.

My dad nodded.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. We were seven miles from the shrimp and oyster camps down in Kemah, but somehow the storm had carried one of those shrimp boats all the way from down in Kemah to the corner of my block, where it now rested in the branches of Mr. Moore’s pecan tree. The tree looked like a giant trying to pull a toy boat out of the water.

How is that even possible? I asked.

I don’t know, my dad said. Storm surge must have carried it here. Had to have been seven or eight feet of surge to cause this kind of flooding. I guess it could’ve carried a boat.

My dad turned to Mr. Moore and shrugged. I don’t know if I can do anything about that, Tom. I guess you’ll just need to call your homeowner’s insurance once the phones come back up. You’re probably gonna need a crane to get that thing out of there.

Huh? Mr. Moore said. Oh, yeah, I guess you’re right.

What’s wrong, Tom? my dad asked. You look spooked.

Spooked was one way of putting it, I thought. Actually, Mr. Moore looked like he didn’t quite have the words to say what he needed to say. He opened his mouth to speak, then stopped, looked at me, and then at my dad, and tried again. Can you…would you come with me, Wes. Please.

Well, sure, my dad said. Just tell me what’s wrong.

It’s… He took a deep breath. There’s a bad smell, Wes. You know what I mean? It’s real bad.

Oh, my dad said. Oh, okay. Come closer. Let me get onboard.

Mr. Moore turned the motor back on and coasted up to our porch. My dad climbed aboard and I tried to follow.

Um, Mr. Moore said, holding up a hand to stop me. I think, Mark, it’d be best if it was just your dad.

But I want to see the boat, I said.

No, my dad said, and right away I recognized the bark of command in his voice. It was what my mom called his cop voice. You stay here. Take Max inside and help your mother. I’ll be back in a bit.

But Dad…

I said no. Now go on. Take Max inside.

Before I could say more they backed the boat up and powered off, leaving Max and me on the porch. He looked up at me and whined.

Figures, I said. Come on, Max. This summer’s gonna suck.

I walked back inside and closed the door and sat on the stairs. Max put his head in my lap and I scratched him behind the ears, but not even he could pull me out of the misery I felt. Biggest adventure of my life and I was sitting on the sidelines.

But then there came a knock at the back door.

One I knew very well.

Max raised his head, perked his ears up, then let out a series of deep, booming barks as he ran for the back door.

I followed him through the kitchen and into the mudroom. Once there, I opened the door to see my best friend, Jeff Hefke. Behind him, tied off to the corner of my garage, was a bright orange canoe.

Dude, is he gone?

He meant my dad. Yeah, he went down the street with Mr. Moore.

That’s crazy, right? You saw that?

The shrimp boat. Yeah, I saw it.

Well, come on, let’s go. He pointed over his shoulder at the canoe.

Dude, I can’t. My dad told me to stay here.

Oh come on, he said. There’s a shrimp boat up a tree. How many times are you gonna get to see that?

I laughed. He was right, of course. He usually was. Of course, him being right usually got me in trouble.

Jeff and I got in his canoe and paddled down my driveway to the street. Now that I was out in it, I really got a sense for the destruction the storm had left behind. The weatherman said that we were going to catch the dirty side of the storm, the side where the winds were strongest and the damage was usually the worst. I could believe it, looking at all this. My neighborhood had a bunch of huge trees, pines and pecan and oak and dozens others that I didn’t know the name of, and nearly all of them looked like they’d lost limbs to the wind. Power lines were down. The Matheson’s place, directly across the street from ours, had thousands of bright green pecan leaves plastered to its surface. And garbage of every sort, from Styrofoam cups to Coke cans to unnamable bits of plastic, floated in the current. I heard a nasty sounding metal-on-metal grinding and looked down to see that the bottom of our canoe had just scratched up the roof of Mrs. Matheson’s Mercedes.

Oh shit, I said.

Man, we used to play kickball in this street. Can you believe it?

The water should drain away in a few days.

Yeah, but I don’t know if I can ever look at this place the same way again, you know?

I did. I got it. Though I was only fourteen, I still realized that I had it pretty good growing up. I was, by any reasonable way you want to measure it, growing up rich. My neighborhood, hell, everything about my life, had always been comfortable and safe and secure. But now I was looking at that security sacked. My comfortable upbringing had just gotten bitch slapped by the Gulf of Mexico, and there I was, floating around in a canoe in the ruins of everything I thought I knew of the world.

Jeff used his paddle to push us off Mrs. Matheson’s Mercedes and we got moving again. A few neighbors were outside on their front porches, most of them with stunned expressions on their faces.

I waved and a few of them waved back.

Jeff said, What do you think the Swamp looks like?

The Swamp was a vast expanse of undeveloped marshland at the edges of our subdivision. My friends and I spent our summer days there, our dogs at our side, our pellet guns gripped by the breach like we were Marines in the Asian jungles of World War II.

I thought of Jeff’s question. What would it look like right now? The answer seemed obvious to me. It would be a sheet of brown water, punctuated here and there by clusters of trees.

Like the rest of my mental map of the world, it was in the process of reconstruction.

You know what, Jeff said. I bet the alligators are loving this.

I stopped paddling. I put the paddle across my lap and stared daggers into his back.

Dude, really? You think that’s funny?

Oh come on, Mark. It’s not that big of a deal.

Maybe not to you.

Whatever. You can be a real pansy sometimes.

Screw you, Jeff.

You wish.

He laughed and went back to rowing. I did too.

We’d completed the 8th grade two weeks before and this summer was supposed to be our gateway to the Promised Land. In about ninety days we’d start high school. We were about to enter an undiscovered country of girls who actually had tits, and would probably be willing to show them to us. God help us, there was a chance we might actually get laid.

That was looming in our future.

As a reward Jeff suggested we get my dad’s pistol and go out for a bit of target practice.

My dad is a cop, like I’ve said, and he has a lot of guns. His gun safe is one of those floor-to-ceiling jobs, with a safety lock. He thought he’d done a pretty good job of hiding the key, but I was a teenager, and of course I knew exactly where it was.

So, that first Monday of our vacation, my dad had one of those police-for-charity golf tournaments he was always doing. He was going to be gone from 6 a.m. to sometime in the late afternoon. And of course my mom was gone, working at her practice. I was left all on my own, with nothing but a key to my dad’s private gun stash to entertain me.

I did what any teenage boy would do. I called over my best friend and unlocked the gun cabinet and gloated as he stood amazed at the weapons before him.

There were machine guns and long rifles and combat shotguns and even vintage military pistols spread out there before us; but what caught both our gazes, what held us transfixed, was the .357 Smith & Wesson revolver with the blued barrel and the walnut grips. Along its four-inch barrel an inscription read HOUSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT, and above the trigger the weapon’s serial number read SW0191HPD, my father’s badge number.

That was the Holy Grail of the gun chest.

It was a long moment before I finally reached out and took it.

He won’t know? Jeff asked.

He’ll never have a clue, I said. We’ll have time to replace any ammunition we use.

Jeff nodded. I wrapped the gun up in a dishtowel and put it into my backpack. Then we went to the Swamp and wandered around looking for something to shoot at when we came across a ten-foot-long alligator sunning itself next to a pond that was scummed over with bright green algae.

Jeff and I had both spent plenty of time out there in the Swamp. We’d seen snakes and wild hogs and wild dogs and even fish slapping and flapping from one creek to the next. But alligators were a rarity. They usually kept to the ponds, sunken out of sight.

But this one was brazen. It

Reviews for Dog Days - Deadly Passage

[pixiedark · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I received this book from Library Thing Early Reviewers.Dog Days and Deadly Passage are from Journal Stone Publishing's Double Down series. Dog Days by Joe McKinney is set in 1983 in the suburbs of Houston after a deadly hurricane. Hidden in the swamps of Clear Lake is a ruthless, blood thirsty supernatural killer. Young Mark Eckert is the focus of his blood lust. This book is filled with terror and tragedy. Mark is a believable character who acts like a fourteen year old, and makes decisions like a fourteen year old.Deadly Passage by Sanford Allen is set on a slave ship. Bell is a freed slave who works as a carpenter on the ship. He works so he can save up to buy land. Bell is appalled at the conditions of the ship and the treatment of the slaves. But Bell soon realizes that there is much worse aboard the slave ship. I found this book to be disturbing and sad. I am shamed to read about how the slaves were treated and the horrible conditions of the middle passage. This book will make you think about the horrors that happened in the past.

[kpjackson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love Journalstone's Doubledown books -- two great tastes . . . oh, wait, that's been done.Seriously this is a great way to get two books for the price of one and experience a couple of different authors' styles.These two are very interesting books, and share a lot of similar elements, survival being chief among them. Overall I enjoyed both of these books and would recommend them highly to anyone who enjoys horror/suspense.

[texascheeseman · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Dog DaysAuthor: Joe McKinneyPublisher: Journalstone PublishingPublished In: San Francisco, CA, USADate: 2013Pgs: 222REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERSSummary:Summertime in Houston, TX. The aftermath of Hurricane Alexis. Something is on a killing spree, something from deep in the swamp, something hungry. Growing up, growing old, Mark is in the summer between middle and high school. The lunatic in the swamp has set his sights on Mark. Texas in the summertime is a great time, if you can survive it. Welcome to the dog days of summer.Genre:AdventureFictionHorrorThrillersWhy this book:Got it through a LibraryThing giveaway. Love a good book. Love a good free book.This Story is About:courage, doing the right thing, family, overcoming fearFavorite Character:The boy, the voice, the narrator, Mark.Least Favorite Character: Jeff is a troublemaker and an instigator. And if you don’t do what he thinks is the right thing to do, he’ll harass you until you either escape him or give up and go along. I have, literally, known this guy all my life.Character I Most Identified With:The Feel:The story feels like a trap, lots of tension, waiting to spring.And I keep twigging on a Stand By Me vibe.Favorite Scene:The moment when his dad’s concern overcomes his being pissed off at his son as he is handing him the police radio and he sees what is inside that shrimp boat.The standing up to your bullies scene is awesome.Pacing:The flow of this one is pretty damned good.Plot Holes/Out of Character:I have an increasing issue as the story unfolds with how the parents are acting. Even though they know that the cannibal serial killer has attacked their son and has been stalking him, they both go off to work and leave him alone. C’mon. Imagine it’s your kid and this was happening. There is a cognitive disconnect there that is damaging my suspension of disbelief. The story is still awesome, but that issue is nagging at me.Maybe his parents are the parents from Home Alone...and Home Alone 2...etc...etc...etc.Hmm Moments:And Mark gets in trouble with Jeff ...and is still in trouble and his Dad tells him to do something, and Jeff comes by, and he goes with him. And, they run into his Dad in the middle of a crisis. And he does something that sorta redeems him, a bit. And his father tells him to go home and check on his Mom and stay there with her. And Jeff, again, lures him offsides.Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and hot Texas summers...is this author channeling my childhood.His parents just don’t seem concerned enough. The killer has been very active in the neighborhood. And he attacked the boy. But they are leaving him at the house just outside the swamp while Dad goes to work and takes the dog with him. C’mon...we all see that train coming. Only it...he is circling close.The 13/14 year old boy is acting about like I would expect. Not sure if he’s a kid or a man and wanting to be both. More balls than brains and such. His character is very well done.Why isn’t there a screenplay?Might be too similar to Stand By Me to get much traction with the Hollywood types.Casting call:That said, I do sorta see a young Wil Wheaton when I think of this. Young Lucas Black would have been great in the role.Though, now both of them would be old enough to play the father...or the killer.Last Page Sound:Did not expect the denouement to go that way.Author Assessment:I like the way this story flows along. I could definitely read more by this author.Editorial Assessment:Could have had someone ask the “would his parents really do that?” a few times throughout the second act.Knee Jerk Reaction:really good bookDisposition of Book:e-BookWould recommend to:friends, family, kids, genre fans===Rate = ****Deadly PassageAuthor: Sanford AllenPublisher: Journalstone PublishingPublished In: San Francisco, CA, USADate: 2013Pgs: #REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERSSummary:The smell of death and human suffering. A slave ship. A hell on Earth. But what is hell without a Devil. The Devil is making the crossing...the crew and the cargo may not survive the trip. A slave ship departs the coast of Africa with hundreds in chains. Something followed them. It followed the chained men and women out of the jungle where its hunting ground had been depopulated. The blood hunger of the creature drove it to follow them, out of the jungle, to the slaver encampment, out to the ship, and into the hold. Hidden away, it will feed on its captives as the crossing is underway. It will feed as it has never fed before. Miles and miles of ocean and no way for its victims to escape. They cannot run. They cannot hide. It will feed.Genre:FictionHorrorMythologyVampiresWhy this book:It’s the second half of a double book.This Story is About:circumstance, the horror of history, the supernaturalStory title is short story collection:Favorite Character:Hard to like any of these characters when most of the named characters are slavers.Least Favorite Character: The Lombard’s mate, Ned Bevan. He enjoys dispensing the punishment. He’s a horrid man. Hopefully soon to be eaten by the monster below decks.Character I Most Identified With:Bell. He’s here because work for a freedman isn’t easy to come by. And work that would pay enough to allow him to purchase land and live the life he wants is harder to come by. So, he does distasteful and evil work in service of the future that he hopes for...even as he feels the memory of the lash every time it is administered to some poor soul who broke the rules in some way.The Feel:This is a grim tale under horrible circumstance. Horrible the way that the slaves are just “the slaves”...unnamed, unknown, just grist for the mill...or the monster. It’s shudder inducing without the monster thrown into the mix.Favorite Scene:The run through the rigging of the ship with the monster chasing.Pacing:The pace is moving along apace.Plot Holes/Out of Character:Sort of a predictable run up to the climax. Still satisfying, just a tad predictable.Hmm Moments:I wish when Bell found Bevan and Follett raping one of the slaves in the hold that he had gone with his first instinct and broke one of their skulls with his hammer and, then, dealt with the other as he needed to. Why isn’t there a screenplay?I just don’t know that a slave ship horror movie would play well on the big or small screen. Feels to me like the real horror would overwhelm the cinematic horror of the monster.Casting call:Last Page Sound:Not bad. Not too bad at all.Author Assessment:I would look at other stuff by this author.Editorial Assessment:Well edited.Knee Jerk Reaction:glad I read itDisposition of Book:e-BookWould recommend to:genre fans

[chucknorton · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The novella Dog Days by Joe McKinney is half of Book III of the Double Down Series, published by JournalStone of San Francisco. It is paired with Deadly Passage by Sanford Allen. In this series, JournalStone, which specializes in horror fiction, revives the old-fashioned format of combining two novellas in one book, one by an accomplished author, McKinney in this case, and the other by a relative novice, with a loosely shared theme. The second novella appears "upside down" as printed after the first, so when the reader finishes the first, she or he flips the book over to start from what would be the back cover of a "normal" book.McKinney is a former patrol officer and homicide detective of the San Antonio Police Department, and has worked in other fields of emergency response, so his writing reflects both a knowledge of police work and the physical and social geography of South Texas and the Gulf Coast. Dog Days is set in the Houston suburb of Clear Lake, a real place, dominated by the Johnson Space Center and serving as a bedroom community for NASA employees and aerospace industry contractors. It's located on the coast near the northern end of Galveston Island. As the title implies, it takes place in the late summer, in this story the mid and late summer of 1983, beginning with the aftermath of a powerful hurricane that floods the neighborhood of Mark, the narrator. Mark is an adolescent kid in his last summer before entering high school. His dad is a cop in the Houston Police Department and his mom is a pediatrician whose income is much larger than her husband's and who often argues with him about what she sees as his spending more time than needed at his job and away from home and the family. Mark is keenly aware of the tension between his parents and he's also aware that he's caused parental concern, particularly with his father by defying his dad's rules and getting into the safe in which his father keeps a considerable array of firearms, including a pistol that Mark takes and uses to kill an alligator, on a dare while on an escapade with other kids in a nearby undeveloped area. He gets caught as he tries to put the gun back in the safe, resulting in his father expressing disappointment that he can't trust his own son- a worse punishment for Mark than a physical thrashing.Mark is a highly intelligent and imaginative kid. In some ways, he seems fairly mature for a person of his age. The morning after the hurricane strikes, he helps his dad respond to a neighbor's call for help concerning a shrimp boat that the storm surge has left stranded in his yard. There doesn't seem to be any crew aboard and there's a faint smell of rotten meat coming from the boat. Mark's dad goes aboard and immediately comes back out of the boat's cabin, vomits over the side, and calls to his son, in the family skiff, to go back home and return with his police radio. Mark does so, asks his dad a lot of questions which his father declines to answer except to say there are dead men on the boat. But Mark gets a brief glimpse of the interior of the trawler's cabin and sees an horrific scene, dismembered bodies and blood-spattered walls.The next day, police returning to the scene find that the neighbor and his wife, in whose yard the shrimp boat landed, have also been torn apart and apparently partially eaten. We soon learn that they are the victims of a crazed, naked, cannibal who terrorizes the neighborhood for much of the remaining summer. He apparently finds refuge in the wetlands area adjacent to Mark's neighborhood and takes up residence in an abandoned house in the "Swamp". Mark figures this out, with some help from his buddies, while at the same time dealing with his family issues and his emotions concerning girls, particularly his former baby sitter who he now discovers is very sexually attractive. She still responds to him in a friendly way, which confuses him, as most pretty high school girls either ignore him or react with faint distaste to the presence of him and his nerdish pals. Then she gets killed and semi-devoured by the "hairy man". Mark is devastated and feels that he is somehow responsible for her death. Then he gets into a near-deadly feud with the local teen thugs, led by a kid much bigger, older, and stronger kid than Mark, but not smarter. Mark, while fleeing the thug and his gang, crosses the path of the cannibal, who grabs him, sniffs him, and prepares to chow down on him, when Max, the faithful family German shepherd and a member of the Houston PD K-9 unit, jumps in to the rescue, saving Mark in a desperate fight in which he (Max) suffers a gnashed ear. And now for the belated spoiler alert. Dear Reader, if you wish to read Dog Days with your sense of suspense intact, you should stop reading this review. You should have stopped several paragraphs ago, but it's not too late.Still reading? Okay, as you have probably have deduced by now, Mark is the hero of this story and, although the good people of Clear Lake don't know it, all that really stands between them and the cannibalistic horror preying on them is this one teenager. Mark wonders if the hairy man is a werewolf, since his killings seem to correspond with the full moon. He reads about lycanthropy and suggests the possibility to his mother, but she, with her medical-scientific training, dismisses the idea as superstition, which hurts her son's feelings. Despite the disapproval of his parents, who insist on treating him like a child, Mark continues his personal quest to solve the riddle of the hairy man.That it is Mark who tracks the cannibal to his lair and initiates the final deadly fight requires quite a lot of suspension of disbelief on the part of the reader. Several weeks pass between the cannibal's first appearance, in the wake of the hurricane, and the end of his gruesome spree, during which he murders and savagely mutilates nearly a dozen people in an upper-middle class neighborhood in the suburbs of a major American city. Yet, as McKinney tells the tale, the police reaction seems strangely muted and low-key. This might be understandable, right after a major hurricane has devastated the region and before the authorities know they are dealing with a madman on the loose. But as the cannibal continues to devour residents of the neighborhood, you would think the Harris County Sheriff's Department and the Texas Rangers would arrive in force, with bloodhounds and plenty of gun-toting civilian volunteers to form a very large posse to comb the "Swamp" and track down the cannibal within a few days, if not hours. Also, the story is set in 1983, three years after the appearance of CNN in the world of electronic tabloid journalism. This is the kind of story Ted Turner's 24 hour news crew would have followed in lurid, saturation, detail- as would most every other media outlet in the Western world- yet the press is virtually absent in Dog Days. Setting aside objections as to the "reality" of the larger world of Dog Days, McKinney's novella works as a quirky coming of age tale, an examination of adolescent male vulnerability and tendency to outrageous risk-taking. This is dramatically enhanced in this story of boy/man vs. savage, naked, inarticulate cannibal, a deadly struggle in which the civilized youth , growing to responsible manhood, overcomes the brute monstrosity of the bestial "hairy man."

[kmt01_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have read the other books in the Journal Stone’s Double Down series and prefer them to this edition. The two books involve monsters, a werewolf type creature that chases down people after a hurricane in Houston in one, and a monster creature haunting a slave ship in the other. The characters and settings are well developed, but I am just not into horror stories and definitely not these type horror stories. In the first story, I found the whole idea of something coming out of the swamp post hurricane and coming after someone interesting and scary enough, as well as the involvement of the main character, Mark, whose father just happens to be a policeman with the Houston police department. In the second story, the setting on a slave ship carrying human cargo, who seem to be mysteriously disappearing is fascinating and shows some level or originality. This story also reaches out on a higher level, by touching on men who trade with human flesh. I enjoyed reading the two stories, but, as I said, they were not for me. I think anyone who enjoys good horror stories will enjoy them a lot. The two authors write extremely well and tell a good tale of horror and misery. I received this from Library Thing to read and review.

[karen.lea · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"Dog Days/ Deadly Passage" is a 'Doubledown' book. This means that each is a separate story, in the same book, but accessible via opposite covers. Therefore each has it's own cover art, which, in both cases, serves as a teaser as to the story line, I suppose, in lieu of there being a back cover to tease with :) At any rate, I do enjoy the concept, as each story is less than 150 pages, perfect for reading in little time clips. I found "Dog Days" to be a charming tale, as it was set in, and fairly true to, my own childhood years. A rather simplistic tale, the horror lies not in the unknown, but in the assumed. Looking at the story from a modern vantage point, the scary bits wouldn't have happened, as, with cell phones etc. we are so connected, that perhaps we are never truly alone? The sheer freedom of being loose, without an electronic leash, made the characters fascinating, and their fear became gripping, as the tale progresses. It is a fast paced read, that held my interest from the beginning. "Deadly Passage" the opposite cover, was less appealing to me, than "Dog Days". Set on a slave vessel, the story unfolds amid a very visceral description of the deplorable conditions of the captives aboard. The feeling was very dark, as was intended, and the parallel between the slaves, and their captors turned prisoners themselves, plays into the desperation. The creature that stalks the living on the ship, is a unique creation, not terrifying, but certainly gripping. For such a short story, reading it took a while, as the back drop of the slave quarters was uncomfortable to read about, and it led me to do some thinking about the very realistic description, and the very depressing nature of it's having been real, creature or no. But I digress, the story itself evoked emotion, and had a twist at the end that I really didn't see coming, which I appreciate. To conclude, I enjoy the books I have read in the 'Double down' series, this volume included. They are perfect companions, for a quick read. The authors are unique, and the stories entertaining. The material is plausible, making the characters more relate able, and the twists more unexpected.

[labrat35 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I received a free copy from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed both books and would recommend them to YA readers. Both books share a common theme (monsters), yet are very different.

[toades_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the second Journstone Doubledown book I have read, and I enjoyed it almost as much as I did the first. It is great to have 2 distinct stories to read by 2 different authors. I especially liked the Dog Days by Joe McKinney involving some youth who get entangled with a brutal killer fallowing a hurricane. Deadly Paassage by Sanford Allen involves slaves, a deadly beast in the bowels of the ship and a free black crewman who must decide between caring for people and the dream he has of owning property.

[birdie54 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Dog days - enjoyable fast paced read, not too gory. Mark, a 14 year old boy deals with his parents marital stress, bullies and comes face to face with a brutal kilker.Deadly Passage - there's a killer aboard a slave ship to add to the gastly conditions. More gory than Dog Days, but an exciting read.

[mclane_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the third installment of JournalStone Press' Doubledown series, and the best so far. This series incorporates two short horror novels in one volume. This publication includes Deadly Passage by Sanford Allen and Dog Days by Joe McKinney. Both have similar themes: that of a young man being hunted by an unknown but deadly monster who seeks to slaughter him. In Deadly Passage, the young man is a free black man on a slave ship in the 1780's; in Dog Days, the young man is a teenager in a post-hurricane southern town in the 1980's. Both stories are very well done, with elements of terror, suspense and psychological trauma. Recommended.

[pallandavid · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Here are two Young Adult Short Stories - kinda scary. In both stories, young men face their inner fears to defeat a foe who is literally devouring those around him. One story ends happily and the other bitter-sweet. Both are fun quick reads with morals - very thoughtful stories which (as I have no children of my own) I shared with three neighbor children (13,14, and 15 years of age - stairsteps : ) ). They all loved the stories and asked me to share more if I ever got them. Wonderful selection!

[deborahdavis-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

There are two books here: the first one is Dog Days by Joe McKinney and the second one is Deadly Passage by Sanford Allen.Dog Days by Joe McKinney reminded me a lot about the mystery novels that I used to read when I was a teenager. The horror was good enough to keep me really interested in the plot and the human monster(s) seemed quite real to me. The main character, Mark, faces more than one kind of monster and he succeeded in overcoming his fears. I will definitively recommend this book.Deadly Passage by Sanford Allen hit me really hard on my core. My great-great grandmother was a slave in Jamaica and my great-grandmother was set free when the island abolished slavery. The mere thought of what the slaves went through during those dark years and the vivid description of the miserable way they were transported and treated were sometimes unbearable. The dark and mysterious company that is aboard and that hunts both slaves and crew just added more horror and just enough nasty details. If you can stand the crude parts, go for this book.

[bracey85 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Dog Days – Deadly Passage contains two different horror stories that I enjoyed. I would recommend both stories.Dog Days is a horror / modern coming of age tale involving a beast with a taste for human flesh.Deadly Passage is set on a ship back in the times of the slave trade. Whilst the ship is making its journey to America both crew members and slaves begin to mysteriously die. They are not alone on the ship.

[sjthszn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Two very different books offered in one package. Both are monster stories, but that's where the similarities end. Dog Days involves a young (14) boy, a few of his friends, and his dad who is larger than life in the eyes of his son. A fast moving story, a bit predictable but overall good. Deadly Passage's monster stows away on a slave ship making its way across the ocean. The monster is nothing compared to the vile descriptions of the way people can treat other human beings. I found myself several times not wanting to continue because of the ghastly details of life on board this ship. If you want to feel rotten about humans as a race, this book is for you.

[josephlyoung · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

These are two separate books, distinct and unrelated. Dog Days is about young teen boys living their lives as friends and facing the challenges of coming of age and discovering the allure of girls as they mature before the boys. This group has mean high school age bullies that seek them out to torment them and even though they are much younger have endured this relationship for two years without involving their teachers or parents. What could have been an idyllic summer between junior and high school, is broken up by a killer who hunts and kills while nude and extremely hairy, eating his prey and tearing them apart with his claws and teeth. The local law enforcement (one of the principle characters father is a police detective and heads the local K-9 unit, with a trained dog living with his family. The son, Mark treated the K-9 (Max) as his own personal pet, taking it on trips into the local swamp with him and his friends and loving and feeding and caring for him as his own.Things were scary as dead bodies started being found randomly throughout the community. The mutilations of the dead contributed to the fright the local community shared. Mark's mother was a doctor at the local hospital and his father and mother both worked long hours that frequently required them to be apart with no time for each other or Mark. Mark became a latch key kid and spend his free time getting into trouble by playing with his dad's weapons and sharing them with his friends. On one outing, he crossed the bullies and they chased him into the swamp much further than he had ever traveled before. He discovered an old broken down cabin that smelled bad and had lots of bones scattered about the yard and inside the house. Mark discovered a sleeping hairy man (or boy) in the corner of the house and immediately turned to run. His motioned woke the hairy beast who charged Mark. The K-9 dog, Max, charged the man and distracted him sufficiently for Mark to make an escape although Max lost an ear in the beast/dog fight and Mark was scratched and banged up but only enough to scare his mom and dad. The police went to the cabin in the swamp with Mark but although they found evidence of the hairy man, he was no longer in the cabin. The next morning, Mark's mother found the bully boys dead along side their drive with a bag of eggs. They had apparently came to Marks house to splatter it with eggs and were accosted by a hungry, hairy guy who ripped off their arms and a leg or two. There were more encounters and against all reason and very strict warnings from his parents, Mark again took his father's pistol from the gun locker and went out hunting for the hairy monster. Mark encountered the beast again at the cabin but, the beast was too fast and escaped when Mark tried to shoot him by running out onto the old rotten porch. The monster charged Mark again and they bounced on the rotten porch, knocking out the roof support and landing on the porch under the fallen roof with the monster, losing his fathers gun in the process.The second book is based on a slave ship traveling during the mid 1800's. The principle character is a freed slave who gained his freedom after working as a carpenter and impressing his master with his skill and industrious nature. He spoke and wrote English, an accomplishment in this era. He took a job as a sailor on a slave ship and traveled to Africa to pickup a load to be returned to America. As the only black member of the crew, he had a difficult time adjusting to the role of carpenter and jailer and not becoming absorbed by the distrust of the crew of white sailors, especially as the ship became a hunting ground for a creature that hung from the ceiling and sucked breath and life from both chained slaves and white crew that came into his hunting area. In the day, the creature hid in the space between the hold and the hull of the ship. Much of the ship was rotted and the creature just broke the wall between the hold and the bulge space adjacent to the hull. Initially, only the slaves saw the creature who hung inverted, like a bat, until it dropped upon a victim to feed. As the crew started to be preyed upon, the captain and mate started armed search parties to try to seek out the monster but, many of the search party became dinner. This story as well as a great site for a horror story, pointed out the many abuses of the slave trade against the slaves who were simply chattel, animals to be made a profit upon by the transporters. The captain and mates became more concerned as their profits were threatened by the killings that they couldn't explain or remedy. Eventually, the freed slave, George Bell suggested that the slaves be freed so they could participate in the search and elimination of the killing creature. All the white crew and most the slaves were killed before the remaining few were able to kill the creature. The two slaves who survived, took it upon themselves to move the body of George Bell from the stinky ship to land where they stacked rocks on it to protect it from roving scavengers. It was a very depressing part of our history but, worth while understanding even if the monster is a limited part of the story. The nature of man's cruelty to fellow man is highlighted to good effect in this engrossing story.

[viennamax-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A young boy tells us how his dad-supercop (actually the author?!) is fighting a strange beast which is murdering like hell, no: like a werewolf ... And a freed slave on board of a sailing vessel is telling the story fighting some sort of ultra-large and ultra-aggressive bat. Well, the shorter one (the ship-story) was way better than the longer. But, on balance: Two thrillers that really didn't thrill at all.

[tory_m-394351 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book features two very different horror stories.Dog Days by Joe McKinney is a modern coming of age story with the added stress of a serial killer in the mix. Mark is a 14 year old boy having to deal with discovering his parents aren't perfect, that his friends aren't the people he thought they were, dealing with bullies and the sudden appearance of a serial killer in his neighborhood. The characters' reactions to life are very realistic and understandable. I found this a very enjoyable read.Deadly Passage by Sanford Allen is a historical horror story. A monster wrecks havoc on a slave ship. The realities of a slave's life are almost more horrifying than the monster. While I found the plot predicatible, the writing and pace were excellent. A nice debute story for this new author.

[polypsodd · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed both stories in this 'Double', though preferred 'Dog Days', which I found reminiscent of Stephen King in it's subject matter. I found this 'coming of age' tale realistic and involving. I like the ambiguity of the 'dog-man's' origin, identity and true nature never really being revealed.'Deadly Passage', as already described, is a monster stowaway on a slave trading ship. I always enjoy straight-up monster tales but was also interested by some of the 'Lite' exploration of the slave trade and the murky, ambiguous and changing interests of the various characters.

[saginawhorror · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed both dog days and deadly passage. I think I enjoyed deadly passage more. I don't think I've ever read any other books that take place on a slave ship. I would happily read other books by Joe Mckinney and Sanford Allen. All in all I highly recommend this book.

[copefiend2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not too much to complain about with Journalstone’s 3rd installment in their Double Down series. This book provides a little different story from Bram Stoker winner, Joe McKinney, and a traditional but very good tale from newcomer, Sanford Allen.In Dog Days from Joe McKinney, we are given a short tale that is part horror, crime, and coming of age. The story begins with a well written atmospheric description and introduces us to someone or something that has a taste for human flesh. I liked this tale as it showed some nice human emotions within a short story. The lead developed and as I mentioned, grew up within one stormy and traumatic summer break. On the flip side of the book, we are introduced to an African boogeyman and a crew of slavers courtesy of author Sanford Allen. This tale is gruesome, fast paced, and shows a nice juxtaposition between a black slaver and his human cargo. I enjoyed this tale quite a bit and loved the familiar creature feature feel to it. This was a well-written story with many bad guys to hate. Nice double feature book and created a few nights of restless sleep for me. I enjoyed both stories and greatly appreciate Journalstone’s putting together fun books like this.

[lexiesmom-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Dog DaysThis book is part of Journal Stones Double Down Series and is paired with Deadly Passage.After riding out a brutal storm by seeking shelter in a closet a cop takes his son Mark out to view the damage. A neighbour makes a grizzle discovery and appeals to Wes, a detective in the Houston police department, for help. Knowing that it is likely not to be a pleasant experience Mark is told to stay at home. But being a kid of course he doesn't listen and joins a friend in a canoe to follow them. The storm has tossed a shrimp boat into a tree and when Wes checks it out he finds that the crew has been partially consumed. This sets the stage for a summer of terror as their is some types of beast running wild eating human beings.This was an exciting book. The events were so well defined that I felt like I was watching a horror movie unfold. Things happened quickly and I found I couldn't turn pages fast enough. I had to finish the book in one sitting because I couldn't put it down. All is not well on the home front. Mark's parents are fighting, Mark has lost his father trust and the monster has consumed his best friend's sister. This is the summer Mark turns from being a naive child into being a man.This book offers something for everyone. The younger crowd will like the excitement, the mystery buffs will like the intrigue and the romantics will want to know if Mark's parents remain together and save their marriage..I enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it to a friend. Deadly PassageThis story takes place on a ship that is bringing slaves to America. A black man who has purchased freedom is a member of the crew. His payment for working on the ship is his own slave.George Bell is dispised by everyont on the ship. To the captives he is viewed as a traitor and by the crew he is deemed less than human because of the color of his skin.While at sea the crew begin to find bodies, intact but drained of their blood. There is a monster aboard the ship and no one is safe.This book is interesting and exciting. The scenes are vivid and the emotion is real. The language is sometimes raw and some may find the use of the N word offensive. But to stay true to the plot and the era of the story that word is acurate.The book has a wonderful and surprising ending. In my opinion this was a good book and one that would spark discussion should it be chosen by a book club.I received this book for free in exchange for this honest review.

[rmhidau · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very enjoyable read. Dog days was very good. The narrative carried you along, and the pace was just right. The characters were well developed for a short story, and helped to centre the action.Deadly Passage was not as strong, but it was easy to read and the action kept you involved.

[scot2-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Dog Days and Deadly PassageDog Days by Joe McKinney, as the title suggests, is about a long hot summer as experienced by a fourteen year old boy. Mark, the narrator of the story, is looking forward to his summer break from school and hanging out with his friends. However, his summer is turned into chaos when a series of violent murders occur in his town. Mark’s mother seems to spend a lot of the story in tears questioning her marriage. Also, fourteen year old boys tend not be quite as sensitive to others ‘feelings as Mark is. However, he is a likeable, and mostly believable, main character. The story is exciting and keeps you turning pages until you have discovered what happens next. Deadly Passage by Sanford Allen is set on a slave ship. The main character is Bell, a freed slave. He is working as a carpenter on board ship to earn money to buy land. The story explores Bell’s feelings about how the slaves are treated when he had been one himself. These feelings are brought into question when it is discovered that a mythical African monster/creature has crept onboard and is causing chaos among both the slaves and the crew. There was a moralistic tone to this story. Possibly pride goes before a fall. Anyway, I wasn’t too keen on the ravenous beast but the story was also an exciting one. Both stories are worth reading.

[runner56_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Dog Days/Deadly Passage as the name implies is a combination of two short books in one easily read volume. The first is by far the superior and is a great coming of age novella by Joe McKinney.Mark Eckert becomes involved in a brutal murder hunt with a killer who is growing in strenth and seems to be affected by the full moon.....I do wish Dog Days had been a longer read, it was sharp and witty with some great touches of teenage angst and brutal horror. In "Deadly Passage", the slave ship Lombard sets off from Africa, beginning its brutal passage to the New World. Unknown to the crew an evil presence is also aboard the ship and intent on the total destruction of all. The two stories combined are a fast read and one I did enjoy, I did consider awarding 3 stars but the Joe McKinney element gives an instant promotion to 4!!

[gaga112-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found both of these stories to be enjoyable. Dog Days is the story of a young man's finding his manhood in the bizarre events following a hurricane. The story has elements of coming of age as well as horror and the apparently supernatural. Although it started slowly, it built well to its climax, and provided a goodcouple hours reading. Deadly Passage is the more horror oriented story of bizarre events on board a slave ship bound from Africa. It does a good job of describing conditions on these ships as terrible at their best, and as the gore mounts up, things only go downhill for everyone aboard. The conclusion was a bit of a surprise, but it was appropriate, though I found myself wishing it had turned out differently.

[joannemonck · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Both Dog Days and Deadly Passage were a little too gruesome for me. In Dog Days the hero is a young boy. After a hurricane leaves destruction in its wake, a boat is found in a tree and a bloody scene (headless & dismembered remains) are found on the boat. After that murders continue to happen - all the victims are attacked and partially eaten by something that resembles a man but is hairy and walks like an animal. Shades of sasquatch. But I run ahead. It is not sasquatch. The boy becomes a man and the end is well done. In Deadly Passages a black freeman is an officer on a slave ship travelling from Africa to America. Not only are the slaves on board but also a deadly force that is growing stronger with each new person it attacks. The freeman assists the slave in a last stand. Good ending.

[s.kay.nash · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Dog Days: Deadly PassagesJoe McKinney and Sanford AllenDog Days by Joe McKinney is the first of this two-part offering from JournalStone.The day after Hurricane Alexis pounds the Texas Gulf Coast, 14-year old Mark and his family find their neighborhood flooded and damaged by debris. Mutilated bodies are discovered on a shrimp boat washed inland by the storm surge. Mark’s father, a police sergeant, is one of the first on the scene. A day later, the killer has struck again.As the police investigate the gruesome murders, Mark and his friends embark on their own journey to find the killer. Is it a supernatural killer, driven by some bestial instinct to kill during the full moon? Or is it something no less frightening?The first few paragraphs of Dog Days had me hooked. Anyone who has ever huddled in their house during a catastrophic storm, hoping the roof stays put, knows the feeling. When the storm is over, the world has changed. Everyone is stressed here - families ravaged by the loss of loved ones, marriages under strain, a community trying to deal with brutal attacks from both the weather and something darker.I was happy to see a 14-year-old character making some spectacularly 14-year-old decisions. The tone of the character’s narration seems like an adult looking back on a past event. In a few spots the tone gets a little too adult and veers into finger-wagging. I particularly enjoyed that the big question as to the nature of the killer was never definitively answered. The author lets us draw our own conclusion. It’s a good readDeadly Passage, by Sanford Allen, is, the second half of the book. This story deals with multiple horrors on several levels. The first horror we confront is a mysterious creature with a hunger for human blood. The second is the spectre of slavery and the third is the greed and cruelty of the men who trade in human lives.George Bell, a legally free black man from Barbados has taken a job on a slaving ship moving “cargo” between Africa and the Americas. He hopes the coin he earns will allow him to tempt his lover to run from her plantation. He believes that if he has land and a profession, she will come to him. After the slave ship takes on its human cargo, mysterious deaths among the slaves perplex the crew and terrify the survivors.As the creature begins to hunt its prey, the evil within the hearts of the captain and crew become as vicious as the African demon that plagues the ship. As Bell discovers, the white crew clings to hollow words and vicious brutality rather than listen to a negro, even a free man who had earned his worth as a member of the crew. They must stand together or die. This was a hard story to read, but it was my favorite of the two. Bell’s transformation was a little too predictable, but given the subject, I wouldn’t have expected anything else. The author doesn’t shy away from the disgusting state of a slave ship or it’s inhabitants. The story may be a bit gory for some and a few scenes may have you dabbing a bit of perfume on your hanky to drive away the reek of the the cargo hold that you’re certain you can smell.Both stories are a fast read and kept my interest over a weekend and a couple of lunch breaks at work. I’d recommend the e-reader version; it was entertaining but I wouldn’t want to take up shelf space with it later.

[sarahlou2709 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

got given this to read in exchange for a review. i found both stories good but dog days was by far the best,the story line was good gave me the shivers once or twice i couldnt wait to see how it ended. Deadly passage was an ok read but i found it a bit disappointing after reading dog days,

[philantrop-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I don't like horror stories and I don't like "supernatural" nonsense. That said, I actually enjoyed these two short stories which are basically from the horror genre and are bordering on "supernatural".If only "Dog Days" was to be reviewed, I'd rate it with four stars because it's clearly the much better story. The set up is (mostly) believable and its characters likeable and, at least when it comes to the primary protagonists, well-written. You can relate to the young hero and - in part - to his friends and enemies. The rest of the characters are not too far off to accept them. All in all, the story is intrinsically sound and enjoyable. Of course, there are a few issues, e. g. with the timeline - it's end of June and on the 19th of July something is expected to happen and the hero thinks that's in "less than two weeks". Not *quite* right but nothing that really spoils the experience.There's a ghost that pops up twice for no good reason at all and should just have been cut out of the book - we never really get to know why it comes, what intentions it has or what happens to it - it's just passingly mentioned and immediately forgotten.There are few typos and other errors as well but nothing greatly aggrieving. So, all in all, a nice short story, worthy of reading even for those who don't like the genre.Unfortunately, "Deadly Passage" didn't quite live up to my expectations after "Dog Days". If it was only this story to be rated, I'd give it a merciful two-star-rating. The basic idea - a couple of people hunted down by something on a ship - appealed to me but, alas, the story took some time to get going, the "hunter" (or "beast" as it's called from the very beginning) is portrayed to be more human than animalistic which simply not necessary for the story and instead of taking down one victim by another, the whole thing descends into slaughter rather quickly.There were quite a few gory scenes which didn't really help in any way either - subtle horror is so much better than describing intestines falling out of a body. This is exactly the kind of story I'm not eager to read more of.Even though both stories have their weaknesses, both were hard to put down - I really wanted to know how the stories progress. That's a good sign and one of the reasons I'm rating the book with good three stars.

[jimv_18 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed both of these short reads. The first story was my favorite of the two ... good characters and good storyline