Oct 8, 2025 | book review, Book Reviews, Horror, Nat Cassidy, sci-fi, Spoiler-Free, When the Wolf Comes Home
The Crocodile by Fyodor Dostoevsky: humorous satire astounds in its lethal wit and sharp criticisms of ‘the Old Guard’, elitist aristocracy, Westernization, greed, and the Russian government in the late 1800s.
I hope Kurt Vonnegut read and reveled in Dostoevsky’s The Crocodile!
As a bonus, I read this book in a scintillating limited edition fine edition crafted by Century Press; I will examine this closely further down the book review.
The premise is simple enough for this hundred page novella: a man is swallowed whole by a crocodile in an aristocratic carnival-like setting and he continues to live on, albeit literally in the belly of the beast.
Dostoevsky’s tale is often labeled absurdly surreal, and it is that.
But the laugh out loud humor can also bring tears (not crocodile tears, yuck, yuck), because of the stark criticisms on display.
This book could just have easily been written for the west in the 20th and 21st centuries, as the metaphor has ferocity in The Crocodile.
Dostoevsky’s swallowed character, Ivan, represents personal struggles amidst systemic corruption in government and society, as well political and social oppression in order to retain the status quo of suffering . . . this is our fun character the silent crocodile who is slowly digesting Ivan.
It is funny how Dostoevsky pinpoints, in particular, how the old elites feel ‘progressives’ and ‘education’ were always to blame for the people suffering, even as foreign companies bought up housing and tripled prices ‘to keep the peasants’ busy in their suffering and to keep them paying into the system.
This was late 1800s Russia.
Here is a short passage on the economy and housing according to a wealthy elitist:
The metaphor is strong in this one!
The satire is thick, the humor prevalent, and I really wonder if this work influenced Mark Twain or Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Now this gorgoeous goatskin book is small but remarkable and letterpress printed for not much over a hundred Euro.
I am floored with this book – the letterpress printed linework art is incredible, the scales chapter pages superb in green and black, and the custom endpapers I was lucky to attain are tactile-wise so much fun and the visuals are one-of-a-kind amazing!
I will be keeping an eye on every book Century Press makes.
Limited to 250 copies, Century Press is proud to present a striking new edition of The Crocodile like it’s never been seen before.
A brand new translation of Dostoyevsky’s “Editorial Preface” that accompanied the original publication of The Crocodile in Dostoevsky’s journal, The Epoch. This preamble to the story will be published in English for the first time in our edition.
An annotated and revised version the English Garnett translation from Dr. Sarah J. Young, a professor of Russian literature at UCL in London, as well as comprehensive introduction of her own.
Illustrated for the first time with four pieces by UK-based illustrator Rohan Eason.
Printing and Bindery Specs
Fully bound in vegetable-tanned, cypress goatskin leather from the Hudson Valley
Two-colour letterpress printed on premium 100% cotton ‘Flurry’ paper with a 1956 Heidelberg ‘Windmill’ platen press, typeset in Academy
Italian, tight-weave, cotton ribbon bookmark
Original gold-stamped artwork on front cover, back cover, and spine by Oksana Tarasenko.
All pre-orders received a special edition of The Crocodile with handmade endsheets from master Canadian artist Susan Kristoferson.
Her stunning paste papers were exhibited by the Grolier Club earlier this year, and have been acquired by NYC’s Metropolitan Art Museum as part of their Paper Legacy Collection.
“The Crocodile by Fyodor Dostoevsky: humorous satire astounds” Was Written By R.J. Huneke.
R.J. Huneke was just interviewed on the Tilting at Windmills show to discuss his newest book of fiction ANTS WAKING coming Oct. 28th!
Watch it now here!
And yes, RJ’s newest book is almost out! What is the premise? I’m glad you asked:
Coming October 28, 2025 – For readers of fantasy, Ants Waking by R.J. Huneke is a thrilling, visceral magical realism tale about an autistic college freshman in the magical city of Cambridge racing against meddlesome gods for the means to thwart their friend’s premature death before a Dark storm consumes them.
The title novella is accompanied by Huneke’s illustrations plus bonus material: previously published and unpublished short stories and select poetry, all of which were newly revised by Huneke to provide an author’s preferred text.
STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES ON RJHUNEKE.COM TO TIMES, LINKS & DETAILS FOR R.J. HUNEKE’S ANTS WAKING BOOK TOUR 2025, INCLUDING AN EXCLUSIVE TFF AUTHOR INTERVIEW IN NOVEMBER WITH SCI-FI GREAT RUSS COLCHAMIRO!
Preorder ANTS WAKING here and get in on free signed remarqued bookplates here!
Aug 21, 2025 | book review, Book Reviews, Horror, Nat Cassidy, sci-fi, Spoiler-Free, When the Wolf Comes Home
When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy: a poignant thriller, this book is must-read weird fiction, and a fast-paced, genre-smashing classic.
Fans of great horror, fantasy, and literary fiction will not want to miss this one.
Dare I mention Ray Bradbury?
“As if the universe chose that moment to come alive for them and tell them there was nothing to worry about. As if it knew their names.”
― Nat Cassidy, When the Wolf Comes Home
Cassidy builds on accessible page-turning genre fiction and establishes endearing characters that you would give an eye to, just to see that they are okay (see what I did there?).
The boy becomes our adopted son and our endearing friend met during the hardest of times.
The following book review of When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy will be Spoiler-free.
I cannot understate how difficult it is to write a realistic five-year-old that you fall in love with, as if they were your own child in trouble.
And make no mistake, terrible trouble is following this runaway boy and leaves behind a slew of bloody wrecks that used to be bodies.
This is not a spoiler as it is touched on in the novel’s description: the boy can turn his every fear into reality.
This power is unnerving, terrifying, and awe-inspiring.
Two favorite trailblazing books of mine – two cornerstones of contemporary fiction – reverberate in my head while reading When the Wolf Comes Home: Cormac McCarthy’s The Road and Stephen King’s Firestarter.
This brilliant modern fairy tale soars to innovative heights while remaining grounded in two GREAT protagonists the reader cares deeply for: Jess and the boy.
The young woman, a failing actress with a heart of gold, and big time father issues, is also a brilliant, likable character you root for wholeheartedly.
This is one of the best books I have read this year.
If you love Ray Bradbury or Richard Matheson, do as the King says: “Sink your teeth into a classic.” —Stephen King
“The wolf lets out a tremendous, world-splitting roar. The stench is appalling: rot and decay and the promise of ruined flesh.”
― Nat Cassidy, When the Wolf Comes Home
We reviewed Nat Cassidy’s Mary too and it is also phenomenal.
“When the Wolf Comes Home By Nat Cassidy: A Poignant Thriller” Was Written By R.J. Huneke.
Dec 23, 2024 | Babel, Best Books, Best Of 2024, book review, Book Reviews, Brandy Schillace, Discworld, fantasy, Feet of Clay, fine press, Horror, Kurt Vonnegut, limited edition, Max Allan Collins, Michael Crichton, Mickey7, mystery, Phantasia Press, Quarry, R.F. Kuang, sci-fi, science fiction, Signed Limited, small press, speculative fiction, Spoiler-Free, Terry Pratchett, THE FRAMED WOMEN OF ARDEMORE HOUSE, walter mosley
Best Books of 2024 TFF To-Read Festivus Guide comes to you just in time to place some last-minute literature at the feet of your metal pole, recently taken from out of the crawl space.
Here at TFF, we are especially focused on the fiction that transforms us all, this Solstice.
So Happy Yule, Happy Holly King, Welcome Father Christmas, or whichever legends you may observe ere the New Year of 2025* comes!
*At TFF we review newly released books and also books that have been released any year, so our ‘best of list’ contains what we found and loved this year, not necessarily what was published in 2024.
Feast your eyes, Eager Readers, The Best of 2024:
The Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot’s Mustache Equals Best Mystery Award goes to the THE FRAMED WOMEN OF ARDEMORE HOUSE by Brandy Schillace.
Few can intertwine classic golden age mystery tropes with modern fiction themes, both with myriad intriguing facets, like Dr. Schillace writes in this classic.
An excerpt from our review: The witty, charming, and intelligent [protagonist] Jo is thirsty for answers . . . And despite her difficulty overcoming a not-too-distant divorce with a husband that continually reminded her of her autism and her behavioral faux pas . . . she collects herself time and again and proves to be insightful, well-read, and courageous as she presses on. [ReadTFF.com]
The Ray Bradbury Award Winner For Best Speculative Fiction Likely To Blow The Doors Off Your Mind Palace goes to…R.F. Kuang for the novel BABEL.
This book is the one that moved me the most in the entire year of 2024.
I knew as soon as I read BABEL, it would make an indelible dent in my brain.
An excerpt from our review: If you are a fan of language or translation or history or great characters being challenged beyond your wildest prescient thoughts, then you must read this . . . As with many great stories – especially in the SFF-speculative fiction realm – the character’s path needs to resonate deeply, and Kuang’s protagonist Robin Swift does this while being utterly captivating. [ReadTFF.com]
The 1984: You Made Me Cry…Twice Award goes to Philip Pullman’s The Amber Spyglass – it hurt so damn much.
If you want to buy any of the award-winning books, check them out here in my Bookshop.org List – I get a commission if you buy from there and monies are donated to local bookstores with each purchase:
The Red Death Award For A Work Most Likely To Keep You Too Terrified To Sleep Award goes to…THE CLUB DUMAS by Arturo Pérez-Reverte and Sonia Soto (Translator).
I love bibliomysteries, but this one combines a historic evil, played out in brutal fashion, against the backdrop of New York City, Spain, Portugal, and the many twists of a previously unknown The Three Musketeers manuscript pages.
THE CLUB DUMAS is utterly unique, but be careful you do not lose yourself as you strive to unravel the book’s many strands.
The Michael Crichton You Better Check Your Technology At The Door Sci-fi Award goes to…TOUCHED by Walter Mosley.
The language from one of the world’s best authors is as sharp as it comes!
The Da Vinci Ornithopter Award For Best Small Press Publication goes to…both Hard Case Crime for THE LAST QUARRY by Max Allan Collins and Phantasia Press for Mickey7 by Edward Ashton.
Quarry is the villain we love to root for, and, hell, make him an ‘antihero’ he does not give a damn as to your labels. In this book, there is an outstanding display of character growth for the would-be-retired assassin.
Mickey7 by Edward Ashton was the first in a historic Phantasia Press relaunch, as the first fine press dedicated entirely to Sci-Fi-Fantasy returns in the 21st Century with a resounding BOOM and a gorgeous limited edition.
The Kurt Vonnegut Satiric Stylin’ Society Needs Kilgore Trout To Give It An Enema Award goes to…TIMEQUAKE by Kurt Vonnegut.
You will never read anything remotely like this novel – TIMEQUAKE is genius, but I know of no sane way to describe it to you.
Last, but not least, is the Inklings Award For Best Fantasy In Fiction is…FEET OF CLAY by Terry Pratchett.
The Discworld Series continues to daunt my dreams and haunt my, well for lack of a better word, daydreams, and, well, the point is these books are so bloody good, you want to keep reading more and more about Commander Vimes of the Night’s Watch and all of the plethora of fantastically, wonderful characters that contribute to the sludge that clings to the edge of the Disc.
FEET OF CLAY is an impactful classic on multiple fronts in the fantasy genre.
Here dear readers is the list of TFF Best Books of 2024:
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The Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot’s Mustache Equals Best Mystery Award
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The Ray Bradbury Award Winner For Best Speculative Fiction Likely To Blow The Doors Off Your Mind Palace
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The 1984: You Made Me Cry…Twice Award
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The Red Death Award For A Work Most Likely To Keep You Too Terrified To Sleep Award
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The Michael Crichton You Better Check Your Technology At The Door Sci-fi Award
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The Da Vinci Ornithopter Award For Best Small Press Publication x2
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Hard Case Crime for THE LAST QUARRY by Max Allan Collins
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Phantasia Press signed limited edition of Mickey7 by Edward Ashton
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The Kurt Vonnegut Satiric Stylin’ Society Needs Kilgore Trout To Give It An Enema Award
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Inklings Award For Best Fantasy In Fiction
Buy books here:
Happy New Year, Fictioneers!
Jan 17, 2024 | book review, Book Reviews, chapbooks, Patreon, small press, Spoiler-Free
Short Fiction Serialized Chapbooks By R.J. Huneke Are Here, and they look gooooood, Fictioneers!
If you are a fan of fiction, TFF is a magazine dedicated to celebrating the art, and subscribers to our Patreon get some insane exclusives, including a new work by author R.J. Huneke, which will at the least become a future novella.
I have serialized my story so that the first three chapters are offered up – my rough draft, though edited and polished a bit, is written longhand and then transcribed.
These are all signed and numbered limited edition chapbooks.
Only the TFF Patreons and a few family members are getting these extremely limited chapbooks featuring a thrilling work of dark fantasy for all ages as I write it.
When it’s all done, perhaps it will make up a new novel to be sent off to a publisher. Maybe I will keep it on its MI6 FOR YOUR EYES ONLY designation, or Top Secret as Americans like to say.
Either way, I have a professional Epson printer that I have used to make professional archival safe lithographs, and I just found a bunch of really nice heavyweight paper with which I am printing these oversized chapbooks, so that readers have a really nice reading experience in the hand, the way many old books used to be made hundreds of years ago.
No, it is not letterpress.
Believe me, I would love that, but the difficulty in designing, laying out, and figuring out a good offset printing process is more than enough for me to handle for now.
In the future, when I have used all of my existing paper I may outsource this.
But for now, you have a piece of art I created every aspect of, except the cover art which is a gorgeous work that I found from an anonymous artist at Prettysleepy Art, and it fit the story too well to not use.
I started the TFF Patreon to ensure that I can NOT use Amazon or Google ads and instead I rely solely on Bookshop.org affiliate monies (may never happen, but I put links up) and the Patreon.
Doing this allows me to pay other writers to write book reviews for The Forgotten Fiction, and to get supplies for things related to the work at the zine – like the archival paper stock I have used in the chapbooks here.
I hope you all love the story I am writing – if you are a fan of SFF fiction then you are in for a treat!
Best,
RJH
Jun 12, 2021 | Ania Ahlborn, book review, Book Reviews, Horror, Spoiler-ful, Spoilers, The Devil Crept In
Ania Ahlborn’s The Devil Crept In is horrifyingly real and frightening enough to make readers avoid rural Oregon, or woods in general, for that matter.
I jest about the woods as I look at my own patch of dark trees in the yard at twilight and cannot help but worry what might be lurking in there; thanks, Ania.
The Devil Crept In centers around Stevie, one of the best protagonists you could ever have the pleasure to meet.
The following Book Review Of The Devil Crept In Contains **Spoilers** But Not Of The Ending
Stevie is a young boy of around eight or nine, who is likely on the spectrum, has no friends, but one – his cousin, Jude – because of speech difficulties and the missing the bulk of the fingers on his right hand a la Roland Deschain.
Despite his father’s abandoning Stevie, his mother, and his older brother, because of Stevie’s Mom refusing to treat the panic attacks and breakdowns, and despite the physically abusive step-father that is only present to pay the bills and torment his wife and youngest step-child, Stevie remains a good kid.
Sure, he goofs off, he disobeys his parent’s requests, and he goes off on unsanctioned adventures with Jude, but all that is normal kid stuff, and at his core he is very empathetic toward others and genuinely worries over animals and people alike.
The setting in Oregon, from the lush trails and old overgrown paths to the mossy-roof of what is seemingly an abandoned house on the edge of the forest is enveloping.
The characters, from the shop keeper trying to warn Stevie of the danger out in those woods, to Stevie’s horrible older brother – who makes him swear to not have seen the hand job his girlfriend was giving him at the movie theater – are too familiar.
They are too real.
The thought of Stevie’s step-father Terry, a real monster in human form, and the sound of his belt being unbuckled to whip Stevie makes me squirm.
This tale is based on a reality so solid you feel as though you could move there and lose your dog in no time as well.
Stevie worries over people being okay and seems to care for those around him with a golden ability that many young people possess, even if they hide it.
Stevie’s older cousin Jude, on the other hand, is two years Stevie’s senior, and is the small Oregon town of Deer Valley’s brash malcontent.
And for all of Jude’s harsh words, like making fun of Stevie’s speech impediment, he is the only one that has showed any desire to spend time with the boy who lost much of his right hand in a garbage disposal.
When Jude goes missing, Stevie’s world is decimated.
He feels utterly alone.
He seeks frantically to find out what has happened to his only friend, not knowing what his investigations into the long-abandoned trails in the wooded town might bring.
Around this time, he sees an animal-like creature around this time, that he describes as a yeti, for lack of any other comparable being.
But the adults in his life do not listen to him.
His are the ravings of a madman in a child’s body; a clearly disturbed boy.
Stevie learns of the missing pets in the town.
What kind of town has virtually no pets among them?
The kind of town, surrounded by woods, that is hungry.
The yeti, it turns out, was born out of a night terror rape with what may have been Satan.
A soon-to-be single mother sought refuge from a biker-run crash house, and an old Dead-head one percenter named Rasputin was too kind to grant her wishes.
One night under his care, and nine months later, the white hairy ape-like human is the result.
He is very real. He eats flesh from whatever he can chew. He is not quite human.
The lesson: listen to kids, not the town’s communal rumor mill.
The sad truth is that small towns often look away from the truth as easily as adults ignore what children say.
And children, like the truth, should be heeded.
Ania Ahlborn brings one of my new favorite protagonists, Stevie, and the reader through an agonizing range of emotions, from desperation and exasperation to fear and the internal debate over the compulsion to need to act violently to save one’s self and others.
My only critique is that I would have loved to see a little more of the bearded Rasputin, who appears a couple of times in the book, briefly.
But the imagination certainly spins, like a possessed head, with the thoughts of the possibilities that lurk in and around the character Rasputin.
In Ania Ahlborn’s The Devil Crept In, the reality is set before the reader, as if it is perched on a stone, and when it shakes or falls, the story jars us heavily.
“Ania Ahlborn’s The Devil Crept In Is Horrifyingly Real” was written by R.J. Huneke
