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Joe Hill, Strange Weather

Manchmal wünschte ich, ich hätte nie erfahren, dass Joe Hill Stephen Kings Sohn ist. Aber dennoch - nach diesem Buch mehr denn je - fange ich allmählich an ihn als eigenständigen Autor zu sehen. Alle vier Novellen in diesem Buch übertrafen meine Erwartungen noch bei weitem. 'Snapshot' erinnerte mich vom Stil her noch am meisten an Stephen King und weckte Erinnerungen an "The Sun Dog", aber die anderen sind ganz eindeutig Hill. Besonders 'Loaded' fand ich so verstörend (und bestürzend aktuell noch dazu) dass ich mich am Ende fast zwingen musste keine Sätze zu überspringen. "Aloft" war wie gemacht für den SF-Fan in mir und "Rain" ist ein besonderes Apokalypse-Scenario mehr. Bleibt zu hoffen, dass das nächste Werk nicht lange auf sich warten lässt ...
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The operating theory - lacking any other credible explanation - was terrorism. The president had disappeared to a secure location but had responded with the full force of his Twitter account. He posted: "OUR ENEMIES DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY STARTED! PAYBACK IS A BITCH!!! #Denver #Colorado #America!" The vice president had promised to pray as hard as he could for the survivors and the dead; he pledged to stay on his knees all day and all night long. It was reassuring to know our national leaders were using all the resources at their disposal to help the desperate: social media and Jesus.

(Joe Hill, aus: Rain, 2017)

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Most of my favorite stories as a reader come at this length. Short novels are all killer, no filler. They offer the economy of the short story but the depth of characterization we associate with longer works. Little novels aren't leisurely, meandering journeys. They're drag races. You put the pedal to the floor and run your narrative right off the edge of the cliff. Live fast and leave a pretty corpse is a shitty objective for a human being but a pretty good plan for a story.
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You want to be able to read such stories in just one or two sittings. You want them to feel like a hand on your throat.

(Joe Hill, Strange Weather - Afterword, 2017)

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