Heath Stallcup describes himself as born in California and raised in Oklahoma, he joined
the Navy shortly after junior college and after his second tour he attended
East Central University and obtained BS degrees in Biology and Chemistry.
If
that wasn’t enough service to his country and fellow man he went on to serve
ten years with the State of Oklahoma as a Compliance and Enforcement Officer
while moonlighting nights and weekends with the local Sheriff's Office.
He
continues to live in the small town of Tupelo, Oklahoma with his (long suffering)
wife and three of his seven kids (although the older ones move in and out like
we have a revolving door!). Professional grandfather to five and cheerleader
for his, beloved, girls.
Oh yeah, and
he is an avid lover of English Bulldogs, but every time they try to add one to their
family some evil SOB dognaps him.
You can find him on FB or hanging around on Twitter or annoy the socks off of him by commenting on all his blogs HS blog.
Author of the Monster Squad series he has also written Whispers a beautful, yet scary ghost story set partly in the Old West and in modern day.
But before we get to my review here are some silly questions I made him answer, and it only took a few thumb twists!
What is your favourite sandwich? Drink? Chocolate/candy bar?
(you can just pick one if you like!)
Oh, you want to get
personal, eh? LOL, okay. Favorite sammich is anything with
pastrami. A Rueben, a Pastrami &
Swiss on Rye. Pastrami with spicy brown mustard
on a hard roll. Wow, now I’m hungry.
Favorite drink is COFFEE. Favorite cold
drink would be sweet iced tea.
Candy bar? I’m not really a sweet eater,
but…I’d have to pick a Payday.
Do you have a favourite place to write?
I have this dream of
eventually getting my den back and putting my brand new desk in there and
making the whole room into a sort of pseudo man-cave. I have to share it with my wife though. She’s a music teacher and has collected a TON
of instruments over the years. And I
have to put a futon in there for my son to crash on when he’s home from
college. But, eventually, hopefully, it
will be my quiet place to write. Before
that, it was the dining room table.
Since we moved, the dining room is open to the living room and with seven
kids and five grandkids, the TV is always going and turned WAY too loud. Writing has suffered. Miserably.
Who or What is your personal favourite character/novel?
My favorite has been
Whispers. I can’t put my finger on
exactly ‘why’. Maybe because fans and
friends volunteered to be characters in the book. Maybe because it wasn’t part of a
series. Maybe because it started in the
Old West. I don’t know, but it was my
fave. My wife will tell you that Caldera
is her favorite. You’ll have to wait until
March to find out who is right.
If you had a theme track, what would it be?
Toccata and Fugue in D
Minor. Either that or ‘Kiss the Girl’
from The Little Mermaid…
If you were to write
your “memoirs” who would play you
and key members of your life in the televised series?
If John Candy hadn’t
passed in 1994, I’d have chosen him. I
guess now I’d have to choose another big, sweet, funny blonde(ish) guy…wait. This is Hollywood and they always screw stuff
up. Let’s go with Chris Hemsworth. Yeah.
Chris Hemsworth. He’s me.
And back to silly, if you could have any supernatural power
what would it be?
Just one? Wow.
Way to be stingy. Can I be
Superman? That way, I’m fast, strong,
have x-ray vision and can fly. We can
just do away with the whole ‘kryptonite’ thing…
I always enjoy the forward and dedication but this one was
funny and heart felt; it explains that all the characters are real names are of
fans, friends or family, hopefully nowhere near their real personalities but it
does give some bite to the reading.
The opening chapter has to be one of the most heart rending
ever.
Set in the Old Wild West, the local Sheriff and his
sweetheart are caught up in a gang issue; the final paragraph sets the scene as
you are thrust into modern day Texas.
The basic premise of love lost and a vengeful ghost is not
something I would normally have picked up, but this author is so brilliant in
his other books I had to give it ago and oh boy am I glad I did.
HS characters have such a depth to them that they feel like
real people, they have flaws, they show feelings and you can believe in them.
There are several groups that HS sets out very well from the beginning
and then slowly brings them altogether for the final by then each have their
own dynamics and focus on the goings on.
Roger and Casper are the local drug addicts, grave robbers, criminal
dimwits and comedy act! If Burke and Hare were to do a comedy show, this would
be them!
Jerrod Miller is an arsehole and HS gets his “snob” element
so perfectly.
The local law enforcement team draws you into their comradely
and HS excels in giving you some lingo without confusing or boring you.
Late into the story come the Scooby Doo club and they were my
favourite group in how they all interacted, the sexual tension was fabulous and
the love scenes were great, notice I say love scenes and not sex, there are
some of those but the love is definitely foremost.
The odd random, stand-alone character is there to just round
out the edges.
The opening chapter sets the scene for the book, from there
you are brought forward to some horrific murders and HS does not shy away from
describing them in awesome, gory detail.
As a reader I was able to see the
whole picture but not have all the reasons why, so it was intense reading to
see how all the characters reacted to the bits they could see or control.
As the information is given to you piece by piece the tension
mounts as to what will happen next, who is next on the kill list.
The little side issues were great add ins and I really enjoy
when the local Dr rips and rants at the elected nobody about 2/3 in!
My only grrr moment was lifting the tomb stone off, it took
five big, strong policemen the second time but only two skinny drug addicts the
first? But for a book that took me over
6hrs to read (in two sittings) to only have one gripe is rather amazing.
I was enraptured throughout, HS has a way of making you lose
yourself and time into another world.
The ending was expected but with a few last minute twists and
great follow up chapters. I shut the
book with a feeling of relief for all my favourite characters but sadness that
it was all over.
