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TRAINS TO NOWHERE
By R. David Fulcher
1st Books Library 0-75962-3597
Trade $9.95"Trains to Nowhere" is a novella plus two short stories that is slightly off center.
In "Trains to Nowhere" Chris Burton's life is a mess. He is beginning a divorce with his wife who claims he is not there for her and her son, he can't take care of himself on his own, he drinks heavily, and he's screwing up at his job, losing accounts and making enemies.
To make matters worse, Chris is also having visions. He would be at a business meeting, wide-awake, and hallucinate about a concentration camp in Nazi Germany back in WWII. The focus of Chris's visions is a young soldier at the death camp named Hans who does not fit in with the Nazi movement.
Chris, with the help of his good friend George, discovers that the hallucinations are memories from a past life, that Chris has been reincarnated from this Nazi soldier. Does that make Chris evil? The answer to that question lies in a mysterious scroll that Chris finds one night (delivered by a ghost perhaps).
"Trains to Nowhere" is a well written piece with interesting set pieces of Nazi Germany and the horror that ensued there, complementing and off-setting the present Arlington, Virginia that Chris lives in. It has much to say (educating), but as related to the story, it seems to fall short. When you find out about the secret of the scroll, what it has to do with Chris and his current misery is still not resolved. Does the answer put his marriage back together? Does it make him stop drinking? Granted, I feel a thin threat of a story about guilt, but it is thin.
"Haarth the Hunter" is set during WWII Germany where Sergeant Drake leads his squad through battle. They soon run into slaughtered bodies and (in a Predator fashion) discover a supernatural giant created by the Nazis.
The story is fast paced and packed with action and gore. A nice break from the heaviness of the previous story.
In "Barbarossa Diary", an old Friedreich tells young Michael about his youth and being a Nazi soldier during the taking of Russia. Friedrich, not emotionally close to the Reich, explains his mental separation and how he deserted his country to hide in Russia where he met his wife and started his family.
Review by Mike Purfield
Critical Raves for Mike Purfield's "Dirty Boots."
"If you're looking for a good read, something you've never experienced before, then this is the book for you." Paul Kane of Terror Tales.
Rated 3 out of 4 by Unhinged Magazine.
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