Book Bites: Say Hello to the Bad Guys

Say Hello to the Bad Guys: How Professional Wrestling's New World Order Changed America by Marc Raimondi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Say Hello to the Bad Guys is, essentially, a TV recap blog expanded into book form. Make no mistake, it’s an absolute delight for wrestling fans and grown-up nWo kids, but the bulk of the text is dedicated to recapping WCW story beats between 1996-2000, including Nielsen ratings and PPV buy numbers. The behind-the-scenes reporting is fascinating and Raimondi does well to juggle contradictory sources. There is also some analysis of how nWo fits with reality tv (and later Trumpist politics), but mostly it’s a recap of WCW Monday Nitros Past, which for those who are nWo 4-Life, should be a ton of fun.

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Book Bites (Expanded Edition): Theo of Golden

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Theo of Golden is an overlong, oversweet, novel-length parable. There is no conflict or narrative tension or character growth; the book unfolds as a series of "and then..."s almost entirely free of hurdles or consequence. Any obstacle against Theo getting to know the residents of Golden GA through the gifting of portraits is quickly hand-waved away.

The supposed lesson aims well: that if we only slow down and see one another, listen to one another, then the world becomes a more beautiful place. The execution of said message, however, is clumsy to the point that the story feels cynical (and really, Becky Chambers' Monk and Robot books hit the same morals only much, much better). There are sidelong critiques of how things are versus how things used to be, reading like an old man shaking his head and muttering, "kids these days..."  

Announcing: Cryptozoology for Fun and Profit

I am beyond pleased to announce my Horror/Comedy novel, Cryptozoology for Fun and Profit, is set for publication by Black Lantern Press (an imprint of Velox Books)! Mark your calendars! Get your pre-order fingers ready!

Cryptozoology for Fun and Profit releases to the public October 2, 2026, just in time for spooky season. Delightful cover art by the talented Drew Huff.

 

Fake hunter. Real monster. No refunds.

Helen Novacic makes a living manufacturing monsters. Through Cryptozoology, Inc., she travels to rural nowhere, plants a few fake footprints, stages a blurry sighting, and cashes the check when the local cryptid festival starts selling T-shirts. It’s legal. Mostly. Victimless. Usually.

Then a teenage township trustee hires her to put Ballville, Ohio, on the map with a Pukwudgie sighting before the town’s New Year’s Eve bicentennial bash. Helen expects an easy payday: one costume, one legend, one carefully managed panic.

Instead, she finds something already hunting the fields and bridges outside town.

Now Helen’s fake monster has competition from a very real one: ancient, armor-plated, and perfectly happy to turn Ballville’s big celebration into a bloodbath. To stop it before the ball drops, Helen will have to dodge a suspicious sheriff’s deputy, a gold-toothed loan shark, one catastrophically ambitious client, and her own chain-smoking mother—who may be the only person in Ohio more dangerous than the monster.

Book Bites: Japanese Gothic

Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Japanese Gothic is moody and atmospheric but flat. It's more style than substance. Our two main characters feel wooden. Lee, who flees to Japan after murdering his college roommate, spends much of the action self-medicating, creating narration that feels detached. 19th Century Samurai Sen exists only to please her domineering father and lacks agency. Baker sets a wonderful moody scene, built a ghost house far from civilization, but the blood inside feels token. The heart of the book sparks with Sen's and Lee's relationship, but, sadly, they only spend the last third of the book actually interacting. There's simply too much prologue here. There are themes of myth and time travel and love and loss, and Baker does manage to spin these threads into a clever denouement, but a clever ending only shines a light on Japanese Gothic's otherwise plodding narrative.

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