Shoutout: J.H. Glaze

Been a minute since I posted. I've been editing the proof for Nightmarescape and seized with an manic outburst of poetry writing. Please forgive me. Or don't. As always: If you hate it, perfect. Fuck off.
After that if you're still here, you might be interested in this post; a shoutout to fellow local Atlanta author J.H. Glaze.

I met Glaze at Days of the Dead back in February of this year and he has helped me with navigating the waters of self-publishing as a fantasy writer. During our first meeting, he became excited upon hearing about my background in police work and hooked me up with a copy of The Spirit Box.

This book begins a series chronicling the adventures of Detective John Hazard, who is willing to bend the rules a bit while being a complete shit magnet for strange situations. The story begins with Hazard investigating a brutal double homicide in a somewhat small midwestern town. While that's going on, people begin to turn up missing...an irregular occurrence for such an environment.

Well it turns out that lonely loser Walt has located an powerful artifact in his dead mother's antique shop. It is none other than the entitled spirit box, and it's possessed by the soul of an ancient king who is hungry for more souls. The box offers promises of power to Walt...and who is he to refuse...

Insanity and mayhem ensue from there as the town seems to go crazy as Hazard attempts to keep a lid on all of it.  Eventually, the story concludes in a pretty epic showdown between the mortal and the supernatural.

Throughout it all, this book is simply dripping with atmosphere. From the heavy oppressiveness of the hot summer streets, to Walt's lonely neglected apartment, to the haven of lost souls known as T's Diner, the settings are strong and shove your ass right down in their constituent environments.

Character development is on full display here as well. Glaze does an excellent job of illustrating the back stories for his main characters while also breathing a lot of life into his supporting cast. In short, there's nobody in this story who lacks reason for what they do and everyone has a strong believability.

Walt is the star of this show. Glaze paints him as a lonely frustrated man in his 40s who is alienated, dejected, and frustrated. His frustrations and feelings of failure roll off the pages heavily and into the reader's mind. When the box comes calling, how can someone like him resist its promises?

Check out the Spirit Box. You'll be glad you did. I also picked up Glaze's second book with Hazard: Northwest. Give me some time and I'll write about that one too.