Kafkaesque isn t a term that s used often or even lightly So when it finds itself tied to any modern day author you know you ll be in for a real treat And that s just what we ve come to expect from Steve Rasnic Tem His work often embodies the same nightmarish quality that authors like Kafka inject into their own writing However in Tem s stories the situations are even nihilistic His environments are inhabited by droogs and degenerates lost or forgotten whose stories up until now have had no voice But in a world overrun by an abject and apathetic populace Tem provides his characters with all the voice they need Thus it s no surprise that violence is the wallpaper that lines Tem s squalid hallways Stories like Facing It and Rough Justice portray a dog eat dog world where little bastards are held in check and accused baby killers receive their just deserts But keep a look out for irony knocking on the door it provides all the epiphany our flawed anti heroes would ever wish to meet In Rat Catcher an infestation of rodents in one family s home leads to an anguished plea for help But the man who arrives leaves their children unsettled and like the nightmare the father endured as a child a horrific manifestation has been resurrected Just as deplorable is The Stench in which Riley is continually hampered by foul odors found in ordinary people places and things forcing him to avoid them at all costs But one man s trash is another man s treasure and for Riley the stench he so admonishes may in fact be our windfall Tem shows that there may be a glimmer of sentiment lurking inside one that needs its door slammed shut Love Letters features a man traveling cross country in the hopes of recovering his ex s love notes No matter what their nostalgia they pull him further from reality and further from the closure he so desperately needs Daddy s an Actor and My Daughter is Here feature two distinct father daughter depictions one that surrounds a fascination with the art of acting and the other with end of life care Their faux relationships may be teetering on the brink of collapse but thankfully their daughters are there to swoop in and help as needed in their own little maladjusted ways Unlike the noir driven exploits from your father s time these forty three tales of crime and deception run the gamut from high altitude capers to back alley brouhahas You ll meet obsessives and connivers goons and scoundrels You may find it uncomfortable or even disturbing but you ll never be lonely or bored locked inside Tem s Kafkaesque amphitheater With nearly 500 pages of disturbing content it s not to be read all at once Rough JusticeSteve Rasnic Tem was born in Lee County Virginia in the heart of Appalachia He is the author of over 350 published short stories and is a past winner of the Bram Stoker International Horror Guild British Fantasy and World Fantasy Awards His story collections include City Fishing The Far Side of the Lake In Concert with wife Melanie Tem Ugly Behavior Celestial Inventories and Onion Songs An audio collection Invisible is also available His novels include Excavation The Book of Days Daughters The Man In The Ceiling with Melanie Tem and the recent Deadfall Hotel.