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Into Shadow #5
Undercover
When a stranger comes to town, secrets are sure to come out. New York Times bestselling author Tamsyn Muir spins a twisty—and twisted—short story of revenge and survival.
A fresh-faced newcomer arrives in an isolated, gang-run town and soon finds herself taking a job nobody else wants: bodyguard to a ghoul. Not just your average mindless, half-rotted shuffler, though. Lucille is a dancer who can still put on her own lipstick and whose shows are half burlesque, half gladiator match. But the stranger is no stranger to this particular ghoul. Both women are undercover in their own way. And both have something to lose if their connection comes to light.
A fresh-faced newcomer arrives in an isolated, gang-run town and soon finds herself taking a job nobody else wants: bodyguard to a ghoul. Not just your average mindless, half-rotted shuffler, though. Lucille is a dancer who can still put on her own lipstick and whose shows are half burlesque, half gladiator match. But the stranger is no stranger to this particular ghoul. Both women are undercover in their own way. And both have something to lose if their connection comes to light.
59 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 15, 2022
About the author
Tamsyn Muir
41 books13.8k followersTAMSYN MUIR is the bestselling author of the Locked Tomb Trilogy, which begins with Gideon the Ninth, continues with Harrow the Ninth, and concludes with Alecto the Ninth. Her short fiction has been nominated for the Nebula Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, the World Fantasy Award and the Eugie Foster Memorial Award. A Kiwi, she has spent most of her life in Howick, New Zealand, with time living in Waiuku and central Wellington. She currently lives and works in Oxford, in the United Kingdom.
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November 16, 2022joining the war on toxic lesbian representation on the side of toxic lesbian representation
November 15, 2022
tamsyn muir continues to corner the market on fucked up lesbians
December 16, 2022
4.50 Stars. Loved it! Dark, bloody, and the perfectly gripping 2-hour Audible nugget. I have never read anything by Tamsyn Muir. If you follow my reviews, you might find that surprising as Muir normally writes about dark paranormal lesbians so that could not be more up my alley. Not to mention if you asked me what my favorite book-ish things are, the geek in me would immediately say either Dragons or Necromancers and considering Muir has a whole series about the often-overlooked necromancer, it would seem like a match made in heaven. Truth is I’m waiting. I’ve purchased her books but am waiting to binge them since the cliffys sound too painful, so I have been missing out on Muir’s writing all this time. I’m happy to say that is not the case any longer, and in just 2 hours Muir has won me over and now I really can’t wait to read her Locked Tomb series.
Just a reminder that this novella and audio is free if you are an Amazon Prime member. This is the 3rd book I have read in the Into Shadow Amazon series and it is my favorite. I have also read The Six Deaths of the Saint by Alix E. Harrow, which comes in a close second. It was a tough choice as both are so good, but Muir won me over by a quarter star. And finally, I also enjoyed What the Dead Know by Nghi Vo. It wasn’t quite on the scale of the other two stories, but it was entertaining and a fun read. I got to listen to all three on Audible, since they were free for Prime members, and it just took the experience of these stories to another level that reading them didn’t feel quite the same. I highly recommend listening to the audio if you can.
Just a reminder that this novella and audio is free if you are an Amazon Prime member. This is the 3rd book I have read in the Into Shadow Amazon series and it is my favorite. I have also read The Six Deaths of the Saint by Alix E. Harrow, which comes in a close second. It was a tough choice as both are so good, but Muir won me over by a quarter star. And finally, I also enjoyed What the Dead Know by Nghi Vo. It wasn’t quite on the scale of the other two stories, but it was entertaining and a fun read. I got to listen to all three on Audible, since they were free for Prime members, and it just took the experience of these stories to another level that reading them didn’t feel quite the same. I highly recommend listening to the audio if you can.
November 20, 2022
tamsyn is insane, thank god
December 31, 2024
me: *laments the lack of books featuring zombie showgirls & fucked up lesbians*
tamsyn muir: hold my beer/the widower’s ice water
tamsyn muir: hold my beer/the widower’s ice water
December 8, 2023
In a Nutshell: A twisty fantasy-horror short story. Plenty of surprises and also shocks. Too gross for my taste! But might work better for the right reader.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Story Synopsis:
This short story is a part of ‘Into Shadow’, described by Amazon as ‘an enthralling collection of dark fantasy stories about the lure of forbidden knowledge.’
Y’all! What did I get myself into with this work? 🤢
When I was checking out the ‘Into Shadow’ collection on Prime, I saw that three of the stories had good ratings on Goodreads, and decided to stick only with those. Plus, I have heard much about this author and I found the premise of this tale interesting - what blurb that mentions both ‘burlesque dancer’ and ‘bodyguard to a ghoul’ can be ignored!?
Should have been a memorable work then, right?
Well, it was. But in many of the wrong ways! 👀 I should have taken the word ‘ghoul’ more literally instead of assuming that the blurb writer was being dramatic. What we have in this story is a ghoul. A flesh-eating ghoul. A human-flesh-eating ghoul. Who also eats lizards! Aargh, my poor queasy stomach! 🤢 It’s going to take me a long time to forget the image of a lizard being… let me not describe it else I’ll start grossing myself out once again! It sucks being a visual reader at such times.
As a short story, the plot is pretty appealing. The characters range from underworld gang lord (gang lady, actually) to bodyguards of zombies to… ahem… burlesque ghouls. There is a great lesbian rep in the tale, which is as dark as this author’s works are reputed to be. The relationships are all as twisty as an Indian jalebi.
The title seems innocuous enough, until you realise just how well it suits the story. Quite a few characters are ‘undercover’ in this work, thereby adding a complicated layer to the already tricky plot. It also matches the theme of the ‘Into Shadow’ series well.
I never would have expected a little 59-page story to spring so many surprises. Though it takes a while to figure out the proceedings due to the many characters and the changing narrative point of view, the story is fascinating once you get a handle on things. However, the second half seems to have some big jumps in the plot flow. So much so that I am not even sure I understood the story entirely because I am left with plenty of questions.
I think this was too ambitious for a short work. It has tremendous potential to work at least as a novella, if not a novel. The concept, the characters, and the writing all would have worked better if they had more page space. Of course, I must also admit that were it actually a novel, I would have never read it. Me no do zombie novels. 👀
All in all, excellent imagination, great storyline, good writing, few plot gaps. Might work very well for those built with a strong stomach. The rest of you, go ‘undercover‘ and hide from this little story of horrors!
Hitting the midway mark because I know this just wasn’t my cup of tea but it had its impactful moments.
3 stars.
This standalone work is the fifth story in the ‘Into Shadow’ collection, and is currently available free to Amazon Prime subscribers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Story Synopsis:
Starr, a newcomer to town, is appointed by a dangerous crime boss to be a bodyguard to her ghoul. The ghoul however turns out to be atypical for her kind, having awareness and control of her surroundings.
I really can’t tell you more. The twists begin very early and it’s better you experience it for yourself.
The story comes to us mostly from the limited third person perspective of Starr.
This short story is a part of ‘Into Shadow’, described by Amazon as ‘an enthralling collection of dark fantasy stories about the lure of forbidden knowledge.’
Y’all! What did I get myself into with this work? 🤢
When I was checking out the ‘Into Shadow’ collection on Prime, I saw that three of the stories had good ratings on Goodreads, and decided to stick only with those. Plus, I have heard much about this author and I found the premise of this tale interesting - what blurb that mentions both ‘burlesque dancer’ and ‘bodyguard to a ghoul’ can be ignored!?
Should have been a memorable work then, right?
Well, it was. But in many of the wrong ways! 👀 I should have taken the word ‘ghoul’ more literally instead of assuming that the blurb writer was being dramatic. What we have in this story is a ghoul. A flesh-eating ghoul. A human-flesh-eating ghoul. Who also eats lizards! Aargh, my poor queasy stomach! 🤢 It’s going to take me a long time to forget the image of a lizard being… let me not describe it else I’ll start grossing myself out once again! It sucks being a visual reader at such times.
As a short story, the plot is pretty appealing. The characters range from underworld gang lord (gang lady, actually) to bodyguards of zombies to… ahem… burlesque ghouls. There is a great lesbian rep in the tale, which is as dark as this author’s works are reputed to be. The relationships are all as twisty as an Indian jalebi.
The title seems innocuous enough, until you realise just how well it suits the story. Quite a few characters are ‘undercover’ in this work, thereby adding a complicated layer to the already tricky plot. It also matches the theme of the ‘Into Shadow’ series well.
I never would have expected a little 59-page story to spring so many surprises. Though it takes a while to figure out the proceedings due to the many characters and the changing narrative point of view, the story is fascinating once you get a handle on things. However, the second half seems to have some big jumps in the plot flow. So much so that I am not even sure I understood the story entirely because I am left with plenty of questions.
I think this was too ambitious for a short work. It has tremendous potential to work at least as a novella, if not a novel. The concept, the characters, and the writing all would have worked better if they had more page space. Of course, I must also admit that were it actually a novel, I would have never read it. Me no do zombie novels. 👀
All in all, excellent imagination, great storyline, good writing, few plot gaps. Might work very well for those built with a strong stomach. The rest of you, go ‘undercover‘ and hide from this little story of horrors!
Hitting the midway mark because I know this just wasn’t my cup of tea but it had its impactful moments.
3 stars.
This standalone work is the fifth story in the ‘Into Shadow’ collection, and is currently available free to Amazon Prime subscribers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
November 30, 2022
Now this is what I expect from a collection called "Into Shadow". Completely messed up in too many ways, bloody and gross enough that I felt kind of weird eating meat afterwards. So I don't know what it says about me to claim that I liked this, lolz.
I haven't read the Locked Tomb series yet, mostly because I'm easily scared by horror, and the blurb (of the first book at least) gave me a strong coming-of-age vibe that I don't like. But I'm too tempted to put more of Muir's books on my shelf now. Can anyone tell me how similar those books are stylewise to this short story?
I haven't read the Locked Tomb series yet, mostly because I'm easily scared by horror, and the blurb (of the first book at least) gave me a strong coming-of-age vibe that I don't like. But I'm too tempted to put more of Muir's books on my shelf now. Can anyone tell me how similar those books are stylewise to this short story?
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December 29, 2023Source of book: KU
Relevant disclaimers: None
Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author.
And remember: I am not here to judge your drag, I mean your book. Books are art and art is subjective. These are just my personal thoughts. They are not meant to be taken as broader commentary on the general quality of the work. Believe me, I have not enjoyed many an excellent book, and my individual lack of enjoyment has not made any of those books less excellent or (more relevantly) less successful.
*******************************************
This is another one of those short stories that it’s impossible to talk about without negatively impacting the reading experience for others.
Put it this way, though, Undercover is quintessential Muir: oblique worldbuilding that gradually coheres into something meaningful, toxic lesbians being gloriously toxic, a general air of wilfully unaddressed horn, a twist you saw coming and then a twist you didn’t. Moreover (like The Six Deaths of the Saint) the story is expertly crafted to use its own form and structure to advantage: it feels right for its length, rather than straining at the limits of it.
In other words, I enjoyed the godalmighty fuck out of this. It didn’t fully blow my socks off the way Saint did, but my socks were definitely left in a highly precious position by the final pages.
Relevant disclaimers: None
Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author.
And remember: I am not here to judge your drag, I mean your book. Books are art and art is subjective. These are just my personal thoughts. They are not meant to be taken as broader commentary on the general quality of the work. Believe me, I have not enjoyed many an excellent book, and my individual lack of enjoyment has not made any of those books less excellent or (more relevantly) less successful.
*******************************************
This is another one of those short stories that it’s impossible to talk about without negatively impacting the reading experience for others.
Put it this way, though, Undercover is quintessential Muir: oblique worldbuilding that gradually coheres into something meaningful, toxic lesbians being gloriously toxic, a general air of wilfully unaddressed horn, a twist you saw coming and then a twist you didn’t. Moreover (like The Six Deaths of the Saint) the story is expertly crafted to use its own form and structure to advantage: it feels right for its length, rather than straining at the limits of it.
In other words, I enjoyed the godalmighty fuck out of this. It didn’t fully blow my socks off the way Saint did, but my socks were definitely left in a highly precious position by the final pages.
February 18, 2023
I think this tries to take on too much for such a short novella. There's lore, ghouls and gangsters that individually are all really interesting, but when combined, also really confusing. It would have been helpful to get some world building and context to really help that twist get a bigger payoff. However, overall this is a pretty cool story that had a lot of potential to be something bigger (and longer).
February 13, 2023
5 bloody stars
"It's a hellish world."
Tamsyn Muir's niche genre is writing fucked up zombie lesbians and she excels at it. This was very dark and had a lot of gore and bloodshed (can it be a Tamsyn Muir book without bones and gore?), and makes the other stories in this collection feel pretty tame. I found The Six Deaths of the Saint pretty dark, but Undercover is multiple leagues ahead.
I love how Muir's books are always a huge puzzle waiting to be solved. This one has its fair share of twists but being a veteran reader of her Locked Tomb books I was able to figure it out pretty early on. despite that, it was fun to spot the clues and gaslight myself 😂😂.
Definitely my favorite along with Alix E. Harrow's short story. Can never go wrong with either of these authors.
"It's a hellish world."
Tamsyn Muir's niche genre is writing fucked up zombie lesbians and she excels at it. This was very dark and had a lot of gore and bloodshed (can it be a Tamsyn Muir book without bones and gore?), and makes the other stories in this collection feel pretty tame. I found The Six Deaths of the Saint pretty dark, but Undercover is multiple leagues ahead.
I love how Muir's books are always a huge puzzle waiting to be solved. This one has its fair share of twists but being a veteran reader of her Locked Tomb books I was able to figure it out pretty early on. despite that, it was fun to spot the clues and gaslight myself 😂😂.
Definitely my favorite along with Alix E. Harrow's short story. Can never go wrong with either of these authors.
November 30, 2022
tamsyn muir is a fucking weirdo, and i mean that with all respect.
May 8, 2023
What?
I have no idea what I just read. Very strange. Gory. Gross. Thank goodness it was free. I believe I saw some good ratings so maybe someone likes this book? 🤷🏼♀️
I have no idea what I just read. Very strange. Gory. Gross. Thank goodness it was free. I believe I saw some good ratings so maybe someone likes this book? 🤷🏼♀️
July 20, 2024
perfectly set up and descriptive in such a small amount of pages, loved it
in my short story arc rn apparently
in my short story arc rn apparently
December 18, 2022
The dancer moaned and scrabbled at the cage mesh. She made guttural honks of frustration and excitement. The raspberry mouth opened to reveal the long black tongue and pointed pink teeth. It was a lot of noise and fuss, but nothing especially frightening. Nothing new, right up until the ghoul's cold pupils fixed on her - fixed, then suddenly transfigured. No mindless hunger. The badly painted lips peeled off those sharp pink teeth.
"Amy," the ghoul panted. "Amy, I still dream about you."
Tamsyn Muir takes a departure from the Ninth House series to write us a short about toxic lesbians and the undead - hang on a second. But more seriously, I loved this, and while there's a little of her trademark obscurity at the start, hang in there and you'll have a clearer picture by the end.
"Amy," the ghoul panted. "Amy, I still dream about you."
Tamsyn Muir takes a departure from the Ninth House series to write us a short about toxic lesbians and the undead - hang on a second. But more seriously, I loved this, and while there's a little of her trademark obscurity at the start, hang in there and you'll have a clearer picture by the end.
July 15, 2023
This
is the literary form of a roller coaster ride. Strap in ladies and gents, things are gonna get wild in Undercover. Try not to count the plot twists, you might get distracted and miss another plot twist!
Thank you Tamsyn Muir for enriching my life with batshit crazy kick-ass lesbians. 🥰
Thank you Tamsyn Muir for enriching my life with batshit crazy kick-ass lesbians. 🥰
April 22, 2023
➥ 3 Stars *:･ﾟ✧
I did go into this knowing that others label this author's work as strange and insane, but ultimately consuming, and...I agree? To an extent? I've been dipping my toes into horror recently, because I enjoy its thematic elements. I don't like being horrified or terrorised, but I enjoy a gritty atmosphere and plotline.
I'm left feeling somewhat indifferent about this one though. The atmosphere was there, as was the writing, I might add. But it was a bold attempt to try and pack such a punch into a novella.
Like others, I do relish the relative insanity this author infuses into her work, but I think the intensity of it could be included in other elements. I mean maybe it was wishful thinking but I was hoping for some homoeroticism (though I knew not to expect romance). This was the closest to that:
I think they could have toyed with each other a little bit more, been more morbidly playful. I felt it could have fit with the plotline and made it even juicier. And that's what this was. Juicy. Meaty.
The gangs, the ghouls, the gore - I liked it. But it's potential exceeded its execution so I can't help but feel a little disappointed. The revelations came slowly, and when realisation hit you would be nodding, but you'd still be squinting and your forehead would still be twisting in confusion.
In its packed form, the plot, though rich, felt like it didn't reach a depth I'd have liked. I wasn't as immersed in the story as I'd like to have been, and the characters themselves weren't thoroughly characterised either. Muir also seems to be known for her "toxic lesbians" - consider me sold - but the fmc's (lack of) attitude was not one I'd gush about.
Also, the time period for this work was unclear. The cover and synopsis nudged me towards assuming it would have a similar feel to Lapvona, but it wasn't really that 'historical' in a sense. Not modern by any means though, either. The actual settings were unclear too. There was description of "portholes" and "deck[s]", so at one point I believed they were on a ship, but the next moment there's a description of an all-"cement" club/bar? Or of a metal mesh across a stage?
I can see how some may not be bothered by the murkiness, but I like to feel steady on my feet while reading, at least somewhat understanding what's going on, rather than feeling like I'm speeding up my forehead's wrinkle-acquisition.
Overall, this had enticing themes and a meaty premise but would have benefitted from a longer length, for the sake of character development, and more clarity, for my sake - to avoid giving me a headache. I think I'll try another Muir (Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower), but I was left desiring more dramatic queerness. Maybe I'm reading the wrong thing if that's what I'm looking for, but "toxic lesbians" is something I want to see, especially within a context/concept as interesting as this one, but was ultimately a potential left untapped. Sorry if there are typos, it's 1am and I can't be assed to reread this review.
He offered her a tranquiliser gun and didn't like it when she refused.
She said, "Her blood's not circulating quick enough for this. She wouldn't drop for half an hour."
"Won't save you, sure. Might slow her up enough that some of us get away."
She said, "Keep it. I'm not a humanitarian."
━━━━━━━━━━━ ♡ ━━━━━━━━━━━
I did go into this knowing that others label this author's work as strange and insane, but ultimately consuming, and...I agree? To an extent? I've been dipping my toes into horror recently, because I enjoy its thematic elements. I don't like being horrified or terrorised, but I enjoy a gritty atmosphere and plotline.
I'm left feeling somewhat indifferent about this one though. The atmosphere was there, as was the writing, I might add. But it was a bold attempt to try and pack such a punch into a novella.
Like others, I do relish the relative insanity this author infuses into her work, but I think the intensity of it could be included in other elements. I mean maybe it was wishful thinking but I was hoping for some homoeroticism (though I knew not to expect romance). This was the closest to that:
I think they could have toyed with each other a little bit more, been more morbidly playful. I felt it could have fit with the plotline and made it even juicier. And that's what this was. Juicy. Meaty.
The gangs, the ghouls, the gore - I liked it. But it's potential exceeded its execution so I can't help but feel a little disappointed. The revelations came slowly, and when realisation hit you would be nodding, but you'd still be squinting and your forehead would still be twisting in confusion.
In its packed form, the plot, though rich, felt like it didn't reach a depth I'd have liked. I wasn't as immersed in the story as I'd like to have been, and the characters themselves weren't thoroughly characterised either. Muir also seems to be known for her "toxic lesbians" - consider me sold - but the fmc's (lack of) attitude was not one I'd gush about.
Also, the time period for this work was unclear. The cover and synopsis nudged me towards assuming it would have a similar feel to Lapvona, but it wasn't really that 'historical' in a sense. Not modern by any means though, either. The actual settings were unclear too. There was description of "portholes" and "deck[s]", so at one point I believed they were on a ship, but the next moment there's a description of an all-"cement" club/bar? Or of a metal mesh across a stage?
I can see how some may not be bothered by the murkiness, but I like to feel steady on my feet while reading, at least somewhat understanding what's going on, rather than feeling like I'm speeding up my forehead's wrinkle-acquisition.
Overall, this had enticing themes and a meaty premise but would have benefitted from a longer length, for the sake of character development, and more clarity, for my sake - to avoid giving me a headache. I think I'll try another Muir (Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower), but I was left desiring more dramatic queerness. Maybe I'm reading the wrong thing if that's what I'm looking for, but "toxic lesbians" is something I want to see, especially within a context/concept as interesting as this one, but was ultimately a potential left untapped. Sorry if there are typos, it's 1am and I can't be assed to reread this review.
━━━━━━━━━━━ ♡ ━━━━━━━━━━━
November 15, 2022
tamsyn needs to be studied under a microscope
[slaps roof of story] this bad boy can fit so much weird in it. Gangsters, ghouls, gays, gore, what more is there to say? Another banger from Tamsyn here to make us all a tiny bit more Unwell and we love her for it.
[slaps roof of story] this bad boy can fit so much weird in it. Gangsters, ghouls, gays, gore, what more is there to say? Another banger from Tamsyn here to make us all a tiny bit more Unwell and we love her for it.
September 8, 2024
it’s a hellish world indeed! as per usual with tamsyn muir, I had no idea what was going on - but I was as riveted as I was disgusted. well done!
December 22, 2022
I listened to the audio and this was pretty good if you are into ghouls and supernatural books.
October 4, 2023
I love bad gross weird decomposing evil lesbians :)
December 23, 2022
Not bad at all. Damn creative and gross, but felt a little cramped by its restraints as a short story. I think I would have enjoyed it more with additional character development and world building - a novella maybe?
Still. For a free short story, you could do a whole lot worse.
Still. For a free short story, you could do a whole lot worse.
January 25, 2023
Ok, I was expecting better? But I guess you can't beat the third story in the collection which set my expectations too high.
2.5
2.5
July 22, 2024
Splatterpunk Dystopia
Review of the Amazon Original Kindle eBook (November 15, 2022) released simultaneously with the Audible Original audiobook (November 15, 2022)
Splatterpunk is not my genre, but the worldbuilding of this one was really terrific. Much of this was due to the author not describing everything in detail but letting the reader fill in the blanks, a flattery of the reader, which I always appreciate. We are in a future dystopic world where a criminal empire is housed in a moving gargantuan vehicle (its caterpillar treads are described as being six stories high) travelling through a Mad Max style desert landscape. This is admittedly a bit of a steal from the moving cities of Mortal Engines, but it is only a small element.
Into this setting we meet an agent who is "undercover" and takes on the job of minding the pet "ghoul" of the criminal mastermind. The ghoul has secrets of their own which are only gradually revealed, but their blood-soaked appetite is on display quite early. Ghouldom seems to be an extension of the vampire genre into cannibal territory. Again much of the mythology is left to the mind of the reader. Gore isn't my thing, but I admired the setting and imagination of this.
New Zealand's Tamsyn Muir is a science fiction, fantasy and horror writer who has published several novels and short stories. Her most popular novel is Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb #1) (2019).
Undercover is the fifth of seven Amazon Original Kindle eBooks/Audible Audio audiobooks released on November 15, 2022 as part of the Into Shadow Collection of short stories where "Some truths are carefully concealed; others merely forgotten. In this spellbinding collection, seven acclaimed fantasy authors create characters who venture into the depths where others fear to tread. But when forbidden knowledge is the ultimate power, how far can they go before the darkness consumes them?"
Trivia and Link
You can watch for current and past Amazon Original Kindle short stories which are usually paired with their Audible Original narrations at an Amazon page here (link goes to Amazon US, adjust for your own country or region).
Review of the Amazon Original Kindle eBook (November 15, 2022) released simultaneously with the Audible Original audiobook (November 15, 2022)
One ghoul versus a hundred men with guns was no contest. It was like a shark going through bait. You could barely see her. You could see where she’d been a heartbeat before—a cloud of red mist—you could see where she was going, when a man suddenly exploded outward.
Splatterpunk is not my genre, but the worldbuilding of this one was really terrific. Much of this was due to the author not describing everything in detail but letting the reader fill in the blanks, a flattery of the reader, which I always appreciate. We are in a future dystopic world where a criminal empire is housed in a moving gargantuan vehicle (its caterpillar treads are described as being six stories high) travelling through a Mad Max style desert landscape. This is admittedly a bit of a steal from the moving cities of Mortal Engines, but it is only a small element.
Into this setting we meet an agent who is "undercover" and takes on the job of minding the pet "ghoul" of the criminal mastermind. The ghoul has secrets of their own which are only gradually revealed, but their blood-soaked appetite is on display quite early. Ghouldom seems to be an extension of the vampire genre into cannibal territory. Again much of the mythology is left to the mind of the reader. Gore isn't my thing, but I admired the setting and imagination of this.
New Zealand's Tamsyn Muir is a science fiction, fantasy and horror writer who has published several novels and short stories. Her most popular novel is Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb #1) (2019).
Undercover is the fifth of seven Amazon Original Kindle eBooks/Audible Audio audiobooks released on November 15, 2022 as part of the Into Shadow Collection of short stories where "Some truths are carefully concealed; others merely forgotten. In this spellbinding collection, seven acclaimed fantasy authors create characters who venture into the depths where others fear to tread. But when forbidden knowledge is the ultimate power, how far can they go before the darkness consumes them?"
Trivia and Link
You can watch for current and past Amazon Original Kindle short stories which are usually paired with their Audible Original narrations at an Amazon page here (link goes to Amazon US, adjust for your own country or region).
June 19, 2023
"You are what you eat", said Lucille.
Зомби vs мафия vs копы на диком западе.
Кровавый паззл с ненадежным рассказчиком.
Четыре звезды, потому что мало, хочу трилогию.
Аннотацию не читать, проспойлерит половину.
Романтики нет.
Зомби vs мафия vs копы на диком западе.
Кровавый паззл с ненадежным рассказчиком.
Четыре звезды, потому что мало, хочу трилогию.
Аннотацию не читать, проспойлерит половину.
Романтики нет.
January 25, 2023
Kindle Unlimited.
A really twisted, horror-filled novella, that keeps you guessing and freaked out!
TW: Blood and Gore.
A really twisted, horror-filled novella, that keeps you guessing and freaked out!
TW: Blood and Gore.
February 17, 2023
I ❤️ cannibalistic horror
May 28, 2023
4 Stars
To say the least, this was a densely packed 59 pages with a surprising reveal. As with most short stories, the reader is dropped smack dab in the middle making one infer all that came before as well as making one want to know more after the last sentence.
So, if you want a noir-ish ambience with a big spoonful of horror, all intermixed with a nebulous post apocalyptic setting that’s ruled by various gangsters vying for power, then this just might pique your interest!
Currently free for Amazon Prime members
To say the least, this was a densely packed 59 pages with a surprising reveal. As with most short stories, the reader is dropped smack dab in the middle making one infer all that came before as well as making one want to know more after the last sentence.
So, if you want a noir-ish ambience with a big spoonful of horror, all intermixed with a nebulous post apocalyptic setting that’s ruled by various gangsters vying for power, then this just might pique your interest!
Currently free for Amazon Prime members
January 15, 2023
So, take a little bit of noir, with gangsters and showgirls, add some light sci-if elements, add a huge dollop of horror with zombies and gore and for the chefs kiss, add in a couple of lesbian kickass characters and you have a recipe for an excellent read by Tamsyn Muir, who doesn’t do anything by half measures.
December 23, 2022
Well, I will be reading Gideon and Harrow and Nona, et. al. now that I know Tamsyn Muir can write like that. Rollicking and ghoulish and funny and awesome.
January 14, 2023
tamsyn is a FUCKING genius
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