Violent Ends - Book Review

A Three Tale Anthology by an Under-appreciated Indie Horror Author

Way back when I still made youtube videos, I reviewed the indie horror book A Hot Dose of Hell by Steve Stark. I was pretty impressed with how well-written and polished it was.

Just recently, I finished his 2nd book, Violent Ends. A third book, Nice Bloody Work, is coming out soon.

With two entries read, I can now say that A Hot Dose of Hell wasn’t a fluke. Stark is a consistent author who can be relied upon to have his books written to a professional standard, while offering something different from what the traditional publishing industry is currently pushing, which has left many readers alienated.

Smiling Friends announcer voice: You know what I’m talking about.

Maybe I should say four entries read though, because Violent Ends is an anthology collection of one short story and two novellas.

Let’s break it down. Since this is a modern indie book, not a book that has been out for 30 years, I’m going to mostly avoid spoilers, except a few broad, obvious things.

The Cover:

Stark’s covers thus far have a consistent design theme of a skull on a dark background being subjected to some kind of massive damage, with big, bold red text for the title. He only uses his last name for an author credit.

These covers don’t show much about what the books are about, which is normally negative in my book, but they are undeniably visually striking and look good, whether at full size or shrunken to an Amazon thumbnail.

Simple but effective.

Stark’s Themes:

Stark has certain recurring themes in his books that make a Steve Stark book uniquely Stark-y. Much of the territory Stark covers is well trod horror ground: rage zombies, serial killers, man-eating demons, werewolves. What gives his stories a unique flavor is how he combines these things with the modernity of the mean streets of England and a hearty dose of ultraviolence.

Stark’s stories feature characters from a wide variety of walks of life, but there are always some street tough guys and gals in the mix: thugs, prostitutes, bouncers, drug addicts, etc. These types can be dispensers of violence just as often as the previously mentioned supernatural horrors. The wicked usually come to a sticky end, but the righteous can also be victimized. Even the actual monsters aren’t impervious to getting stomped to a pulp courtesy of a steel-toed boot.

This makes the violence in Stark’s stories delightfully tense. You’re never sure exactly which way things are going to go. A knife toting thug breaks into the home a feeble old man with a shotgun. Maybe the thug easily tricks and cuts down the old man. Maybe he gets his head blown off. Or maybe one of them turns out to be a demon in disguise. You won’t know till the scene plays out.

Note that Stark’s stories are hard-R rated. There’s some strong language and occasional sexual content (though neither feel excessive for the genre), but mostly there’s violence and gore. It never gets full into the realm of ‘extreme horror,’ but bodies do seem a bit more prone to exploding in a shower of blood than they probably do IRL. As such, Stark’s stories aren’t really appropriate for kids (though I could see a certain type of adolescent boy absolutely loving them anyway).

The Stories:

Spring-heeled Jim -

This is the shortest story of the lot, and starts out as a seemingly typical story of a serial killer stalking a woman, but turns into a delightfully clever deconstruction.

The story is told in 3rd person limited, but it’s obvious that most of it is the killer describing himself as wishes to be viewed: a highly skilled, even superhuman, badass, like the romanticized portrayal that’s so often shown in Hollywood. But as the story unfolds, as mishaps pile up and he has flashbacks to his past, it becomes more and more apparent how pathetic Jimmy actually is.

Bigmouth Strikes Again

The longest and largest in scope story in the collection, Bigmouth Strikes Again is about a sleazy business man renovating a medieval church into a nightculb, unaware that a monstrous demon is imprisoned in the wall behind the altar.

Bigmouth has a large cast of characters from different walks of life, from spoiled rich kids to construction workers and bouncers. Most of them are jerks of one kind or another (except Matt Windows, who is awesome) but in true Steve Stark fashion, even sleazy mogul Brian Fuchs gets a sympathetic scene. The buildup is slower than the other stories, but climax is probably the most gory of the 3. The ending was a bit underwhelming for me, but overall this was an enjoyable story with a bit more of a Stephen King vibe than Stark’s usual work, although the message is quite a bit different from Kings’.

Nowhere Fast

The final story in the collection follows a gang of psychopathic young thugs on a murder and robbery spree as they converge on the house of a couple having marital troubles. This one featured a group of villain protagonists who I loved to hate, and really wanted to see get their comeuppance. The ending was quite satisfying.

Pieces: An Afterward

This, as it says, is just the afterward, but I found it more interesting and entertaining than most afterwards. Stark shares his inspiration for his stories, which includes everything from the town he grew up in and people he knew, to Hollywood movies and TV, to headline news along with sharing some thanks to people who have promoted his work (yours truly even gets a mention!).

Conclusion:

I actually think I enjoyed Violent Ends even more than A Hot Dose of Hell. Three stories means more variety, and though they are naturally each a bit shorter, each feels complete and satisfying. If you liked A Hot Dose of Hell, check this one out for sure, and if you haven’t read anything by Stark, this is great place to start.

Next time: The Assassination of Richard Bachman by the Coward Stephen King: Or, the Hypocrisy of “Read Banned Books.”