IOD Jewels – Page 1 – Creativity Hacker

Rust: Season One

Jefferson Smith — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 20:22:43 +0000

After being pushed in front of the subway, Kimberly Archer finds herself in an impossible town with a husband she's never seen before and a life she can't remember. The rain never stops, the phones don't work and the doctors think she's delusional. And that's on a good day. Imagine Stephen King siring a love-beast upon the dead and moldering remains of HP Lovecraft. That's Rust. Right from the opening scene that leaves us questioning just what is real and what is not, Ruz plunges us full-screaming into the chaotic afterlife of one Kimberley Archer, who is either single and dead, or living in hell, unable to escape the devoted husband and child she has no memory of ever having met. This one will creep you out completely. – Jefferson Smith

Check out the IOD Report here.

Catskinner’s Book

Jefferson Smith — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 20:34:00 +0000

My most gripping reads are almost always the ones where the very premise itself grabs my attention in a choke hold, and such is the case here. Long-time loser James Ozwryck finally has a life: a small apartment, a regular job, and a steady income. There's even plenty of time for video games. It might not be much, but it's his. And to keep it, all he has to do is let a demon borrow his body from time to time. You know, to kill people. It's a pretty sweet deal. – Jefferson Smith

Check out the IOD Report here.

The Girl at the End of the World

Jefferson Smith — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 20:51:36 +0000

For her fifteenth birthday, Scarlett wanted to see a movie. What she got was the apocalypse. Now, with her family dead, and the city a graveyard, Scarlett has no choice but to survive. Find food, find shelter, and maybe someone to help share the burden.

Unfortunately, not everyone who survived is looking for company.

Check out the IOD Report here.

Pilgrim of the Storm

Jefferson Smith — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 21:07:58 +0000

Everyone loves an underdog story, but those usually involve human underdogs. This time however, our hero is a lowly insectoid boy named Sidge, born into a race of slaves but valiantly trying to make his way in the world of his human "betters." Instead of being lauded for his efforts to fit in though, his impurity has only made him a target of derision and abuse. Surely that will fade once he proves himself, right? All he has to do is to survive a dangerous cross-country journey at the mercy of the very people who seem to hate him most. – Jefferson

Check out the IOD Report here.

The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree

Jefferson Smith — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 21:32:44 +0000

When a famous writer is murdered, his estranged son Ross returns for the funeral and is quickly plunged into the unfamiliar community of fantasy geeks and role playing nerds. And when he learns that the fantastical world of his father’s fiction actually exists, Ross quickly crosses over to hunt the killer down, but soon realizes that he may have jumped the gun, because now he’s lost in a world of gunslingers and monsters where the rules make no sense. And he hasn’t read the books.

Second Skyn

Jefferson Smith — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 21:44:51 +0000

We've all seen the story of the hero whose consciousness is backed up on a computer drive and later re-animated into an unfamiliar world of the future. But what if he's reanimated the Tuesday after his death and charged with the murder of his wife? And then, what if later that same day he's reanimated again, only this time under his secret porn identify, and given the chance for revenge? I'll tell you what happens: awesome happens. Two versions of the same man, both investigating the same murder from different ends. And only one of them can live. – Jefferson

If you enjoyed Altered Carbon, you'll love this.

Strictly Analog

Jefferson Smith — Thu, 20 Sep 2018 23:53:24 +0000

In a decaying world where even your pet ferret has a live-to-net video feed, some problems require a guy who couldn’t leave a bit-trace if he tried. In that case, you go to Lomax. Ex-military, tough as nails… And strictly analog. A compelling world that I couldn't help but slip into. It's a believable future with touches of grunge and decay that give this noir detective story a real bite of authenticity. Lots of fun. —Jefferson

Check out the IOD Report here.

Malus Domestica

Jefferson Smith — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 21:57:11 +0000

Most horror stories are lost on me. There are so many buckets of blood being shed by so many barely-glimpsed strangers that nothing resonates. Real horror, to me, is when terrible things happen to people I know and like. Especially if I can clearly see the long, slow, but inevitable arc of their lives sliding straight toward the wood chipper. I loved Hunt's Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree, but would he hold up in horror? Well, it turns out I need not have worried, because the man is no quick-slash artist. He knows enough to give me an early taste of the stakes and then settle in to let me get cozy with the family before bringing out the knives. And the result was chilling. Forget the hags of Eastwick and Oz. If you want your witches to be really scary, put 'em right there in your home town and have them serve cookies to your kids. – Jefferson

Check out the IOD Report here.

Crimson Son

Jefferson Smith — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 16:35:46 +0000

In a world where government-manufactured super-heroes have replaced war and terrorism as the world’s greatest threats – and it’s only source of salvation – there’s only one thing that sucks worse than having no powers at all. And that’s being the powerless son of the greatest hero of them all, and a prisoner inside the family fortress of solitude. For his own protection, you understand. Well, Spencer Harrington, son of the Crimson Mask, has had enough. He’s tired of playing by dad’s rules, and this time, he’s going to do things his way. On one level, a straight-up adventure story, on the other, a fascinating tale about fathers and sons divided by their incompatible expectations of each other. Came for the action, stayed for the angst. — Jefferson

Check out the IOD Report here.

The Somniscient

Jefferson Smith — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 22:16:11 +0000

I'm a sucker for the science fiction of ideas. Give me a thought-provoking concept and wrap it up in a compelling story about the people affected, and you've got me halfway there already. Enter, The Somnicient. Have you ever wanted to be able to control your dreams? Maybe even write the script? But if that became possible, who would bother to write their own? In this chilling exploration of the near future, an entertainment technology giant dominates every facet of human life: from the dreams you dream, to the apps you use to talk about them. They even control the very currency of exchange. So the burning question now is: when dreams are big money, who will be allowed to sleep? – Jefferson