Canadian author Rio Youers has written a short novella (I'd call it a novelet at just over 15k words) that touches on themes of love, loss, grief, and revenge. It's a frank and humorously realistic tale (with a speculative element) titled Old Man Scratch and recently released by PS Publishing in the UK. Look for my review at Tangent Online. Also, read some of these reviews from:
+ Amy Dodge at Mass Movement Magazine
+ Andrew Monge at Horror Drive-In
+ Dan Reilly at Horror World Book Reviews
+ SFRevu
+ And this interview at Monster Librarian
UPDATE Jan 16, 2010: My review is now up at Tangent Online. Check it out. Here's my one sentence summary:
"Old Man Scratch" is not a complex tale, but it is a nicely developed one. It is a slightly speculative but immanently human story of love, hate, relationships, frustration, and revenge.In other words, I recommend you discover Rio if you haven't already.
