Richard Thomas’ debut novel Transubstantiate is billed as a neo-noir thriller.  The literal translation of neo-noir is “new black,” and though, in literary terms, that may be just, it seems to be selling its audience short.  Transubstantiate is like a crazy, breakneck-paced fusion of Stephen King’s The Stand, George Orwell’s Nineteen Eight-Four, and the TV show LOST.  The six central characters, part of the book’s seven separate narratives, are habitants of some unnamed island in the not-so-far-off future.  Most of them murderers, they were selected along with a hundred or so others to be part of a new government experiment on prisoner life.  If they cooperate, the promise is the hope of a new beginning.  Every month one of them will become eligible for parole.  If the board deems them worthy they will be set free.  The rules are simple:  Play your part and don’t screw up.  Or else.  Almost immediately though the central six see this society, this second chance, for what it is: a sham. Someone is watching their every move, listening in on their conversations, monitoring their digital diary entries.  There is talk of some who got out, but the postcards bearing their names all have the same person’s handwriting.  As Bob Dylan sang, “It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there.”  And that’s just the beginning of it.  Years pass by, a plague has wiped out most of humanity, and whether the central six are playing witness or cause to the apocalypse is still up in the air.  Danger is always looming; the foul scent of death is always hanging close in the air.  Marcy, one of main characters, sums it up, “They say cats have nine lives.  I’m down to eight now.  I hope we don’t need them all today.”  Wolfhounds run rabid through the streets; genetic-defective cannibals called Blisterheads prowl the shadows.  And then there’s the more urgent concern of not knowing which, if any, of the other survivors they can trust.  With Transubstantiate, Thomas has managed to incorporate elements of fantasy and horror writing that would normally turn the casual, non-genre reader off, and give them a pulse that caters to any reader’s tastes.  It’s a page-turner, pure and simple; every time you go to set the book down, something else happens where you can’t.  Answers only lead to more questions, betrayal and dead-ends are everywhere.  Is there any hope left for humanity, or is it all going to end?  It’s worth the $14 to find out.

For a more in depth review written by Jason Kane go HERE.

To order Transubstantiate from the publisher you can go HERE.  Or, to read up more on Richard Thomas, head over HERE.

More on this front to come soon!

I’ve got a new CD review up over at Oxyfication.  The review is of blueVenus second release Grin.  The album was hard to describe, another hybrid of so many different influences/genres.  But it’s undeniably fun.  Right now, I’d put it on the Honorable Mention list of My Favorite albums of 2009 with a chance to crack the Top 5 by the end of the year.  If you like smart pop, light jazz, or stellar guitar work, Grin is for you.  You can check out more about blueVenus over HERE.