There is something for every horror fan here whether you enjoy dark satire, straight up gross out horror, or psychological terror. Beginning with The "League of Zeroes" which takes the art of body modification to blood curdling extremes and ending with the novella "The Sleep Of Judges" which was an unsettling tale of the aftermath of a burglary. In between is a wild ride of love, desperation and how to survive the end of the world just like the cockroaches will. This was my first time reading anything by Jeremy Robert Johnson, who in my humble opinion is a master story teller. This was an incredible collection of dark fiction/horror stories.

I received an advance copy for review ( )

This one's a tough one for me. I was essentially ordered to pick up this collection by someone who's taste I mostly admire. She was incredibly enthusiastic about it.

I was, when I first started it, incredibly less so. Let's start with all the kudos printed at the front of the book. Seriously, Craig Davidson gets two opportunities to provide accolades (one as himself, one as his pseudonym Nick Cutter)? That's duplicitous and quite frankly, bullshit.

Then I jumped into the first story, and the enthusiasm continued to drop. But, hey, let's take them one-by-one, shall we?

The League of Zeroes - utter and complete crap. The less said about this one, the better. None of the stars.

Persistence Hunting - This one was okay. Not amazing, not terrible. It was, at least, enough to give me a bit of motivation to keep reading (because that first story damn near killed it). 2.5 stars.

The Oarsmen - Again, just an outright meh at best. The best part of this one was in the author's notes where he mentioned "weaponized empathy" which is a cool idea, but when it comes to execution? Nothing to really see here. Move on. 1.5 stars.

The Gravity of Benham Falls - Just okay like Persistence was just okay. Relied awfully heavily on a coincidence, which I didn't dig. 2.5 stars.

Dissociative Skills - This is the first one I felt anything for whatsoever. It was, to my taste, gross for the sake of being gross, which I wasn't crazy about, but the underlying emotion is one I could get behind, more because I'm also the product of an alcoholic parent. So, more shared misery than anything. 3.5 stars.

Snowfall - Nope. Didn't do a damn thing for me. 1 star.

When Susurrus Stirs - And this is the first of a trend: Something infects the narrator and fundamentally fucks them up. Once again, gross for no better reason than (I'm guessing) the author was having fun with it. 2 stars.

Luminary - A strange little superhero story. Not the best of the lot, (actually quite dumb) but better than most. 3.5 stars.

Trigger Variation - JRJ's version of Fight Club, but not as good. 2.5 stars.

Cathedral Mother - Yet another that did nothing for me whatsoever, but another with an infected narrator. 1 star.

Swimming in the House of the Sea - Ding ding ding! We finally have a winner here. Nothing weird, nothing supernatural, just an incredibly heartfelt story about incredibly broken people. Well done. All the stars.

Saturn's Game - Also a good one. Once again, a narrator with an infection (albeit a mental one), but still one of the better ones. 4.5 stars.

The Sharp Dressed Man at the End of the Line - Fuck no. Negative stars.

A Flood of Harriers - Okay, this one? Yeah, I just didn't fucking get it. 1.5 stars.

States of Glass - The second, and also the last, deeply affecting story. JRJ can summon the feels when he needs to. I just wish he needed to more often. A collection of stories like this would be mind-blowing. All the stars.

The Sleep of Judges - The last story, the longest one, and, for a bit, he had me going with this one. The extreme detail of the obsessive behaviour got a little old as it carried on, but when the element of weird was solidly introduced (by a cowboy, no less), he just lost me and the story cratered. 1 star.

So, to summarize, the author is obviously capable of brilliant, deeply affecting stories, but for the most part, he just wasn't for me. I'd have to really know what I'm wading into prior to picking anything else up by him. ( )

Through no real fault of the author's, this book made me cranky and so I did not finish it. _Entropy in Bloom_ is festooned with raves from such a number of luminaries, Chuck Palahniuk included, that my expectations were unfairly raised. I'm always on the look-out for the next great horror / weird writer. Johnson, though definitely skilled, does not (yet?) fill those large, mythical shoes.

I came in expecting outrages and queasy forays into unknown realms that would leave me breathless (certainly the Introduction promised as much). Five stories in, I was still waiting. ( )

Prepare to be disgusted, amazed, occasionally confused, and constantly entertained by this diverse set of science fiction, horror, and things that are combinations of both or something else entirely. As I read story after story, I was amazed at the author's imagination, even when he took me places I definitely did not want to go. Trying to explain these stories, which involve everything from attacking people for fun to doing things to your own body that I don't want to think about, would probably make you steer away from it--but don't. This is a case where the author seems capable of taking any subject matter and making it compelling. As the introduction says, no matter how outrageous the premise, Johnson treats it with seriousness and carries it to its conclusion--most of which are convincing, and none of which are predictable. Highly highly recommended. ( )