Good evening Horde,
I finished up Steve
Vernon’s Sudden Death Overtime today. At
first I was kind of iffy about the whole thing.
But it turned out to be a very inventive novella. I don’t know anything about hockey, but Steve’s
first chapter set a great stage for what he describes as Paul Newman's Slapshot
thrown in a blender with Steven Niles 30 Days of Night. I think that mixed treat has a hefty serving
of 1987’s Lost Boys in a geriatric sort of way.
I was immediately drawn
in by the mentality and setting of Labrador.
The hard living style of the washed up old hockey players made them dam
ready for the mysterious black bus of hell spawn, vampires that drove into
town.
The down side of this
story for me was a far too simple plot for what I wanted. You could say the visiting team was a bunch
of blood sucking assholes that disrespected a home team player, so the locals got
very fucking rough on the ice to teach the bastards a lesson. The novella felt like a straight line to the
ending. We got a lot of back story on
the guys, but they didn’t do anything.
Everything just fell into place a little too easily.
For me this book was
all about the beginning and the end. We
got a great atmosphere and a cool image of the bad guys rolling into town. Then we get the showdown. The ending could have been more satisfying,
but even so, I never felt like putting it down.
However, I never had any doubt either.
It almost felt too easy when our washed up old hockey players took on
the role of the Frog Bothers from Lost Boys and whipped ass.
Steve’s got a lot of
books, and I have no doubt this is not his best one. I cared enough that I will read more. As a matter of fact, I’ve already pestered
him for more.
I give Sudden Death Overtime by Steve Vernon
three severed heads stomped off by hockey skates.
Heads Will Roll,
Everette Bell
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