Editorial Content for Relentless Melt
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Reviewer (text)
I confess to not being familiar with Jeremy P. Bushnell or his prior work, but the description of his latest novel was so interesting that I was immediately drawn to it. I have a penchant for good horror, supernaturally based tales that have more going on than just blood and guts. To say that this book met that need would be an understatement. RELENTLESS MELT is horror with a healthy dose of historical and speculative fiction thrown in for good measure.
The year is 1909, and the setting is Boston. But this is not the same Boston we know, and it’s this original take that makes the book so dynamic. When we meet Artie Quick, she is at the YMCA's Evening Institute for Younger Men studying Criminal Investigation. Her teacher, Professor Winchell, is a top-notch detective whom she respects. After class, he makes her aware that he knows she’s a woman posing as a man for the sake of blending into the course, but he allows her to stay.
"Expertly crafted by Bushnell, this relentless read creates some great chills and unforgettable plot twists that show off his talents in the best of ways."
We then see Artie in her day job as a sales clerk at the legendary Filene’s Department Store in the heart of Boston. She puts her recently acquired detection skills to good use by being extra alert and studying her customers closely. Theodore, her best friend and fellow misfit, comes into the store and tells her about a potential mystery they can investigate involving a scream that was reported at a local park.
Little do Artie and Theodore know that this scream is just a small piece in a much larger puzzle in which they are about to become embroiled. During their self-run investigation, they are attacked by a man brandishing a knife who they find accosting a young woman. They have no idea what kind of danger they’re getting themselves into. It gets so serious, in fact, that Artie reaches out to Professor Winchell and persuades him to help them in their Scooby-Doo adventure, which is now starting to resemble a tale penned by Edgar Allan Poe.
Theodore fancies himself a novice magician, and this is where the otherworldly version of Boston comes into play. The city is beset by powerful magicians, both good and evil. When Theodore’s mentor turns up at a suspicious location in an alley where they’re investigating the disappearances of young ladies, the connection is made. Why is this master magician at a place populated with elderly and infirm women surrounded by a handful of nurses? It’s akin to a sort of weird hospice. That’s the conundrum for our junior sleuth and her magical friend. The answer, once uncovered, is a thing of brilliance.
In RELENTLESS MELT, you will find murder, dark magic and an evil presence beneath the streets of Boston that threatens the life of every inhabitant living on the surface. Expertly crafted by Bushnell, this relentless read creates some great chills and unforgettable plot twists that show off his talents in the best of ways.
Teaser
By day, Artie Quick holds down a job as a salesgirl in women’s accessories at Filene’s. By night, she disguises herself as a man to pursue studies in Criminal Investigation at the YMCA's Evening Institute for Younger Men. Artie sets out in search of something to investigate with her pal Theodore, an upper-crust young bachelor whose interest in Boston's occult counterculture has drawn him into the study of magic. Their journey begins on Boston Common --- where the tramps and the groundskeepers swap rumors about unearthly screams and other unsettling anomalies --- but soon they uncover a series of violent abductions that take them on an adventure from the highest corridors of power to the depths of an abandoned mass transit tunnel, its excavation suspiciously never completed.
Promo
By day, Artie Quick holds down a job as a salesgirl in women’s accessories at Filene’s. By night, she disguises herself as a man to pursue studies in Criminal Investigation at the YMCA's Evening Institute for Younger Men. Artie sets out in search of something to investigate with her pal Theodore, an upper-crust young bachelor whose interest in Boston's occult counterculture has drawn him into the study of magic. Their journey begins on Boston Common --- where the tramps and the groundskeepers swap rumors about unearthly screams and other unsettling anomalies --- but soon they uncover a series of violent abductions that take them on an adventure from the highest corridors of power to the depths of an abandoned mass transit tunnel, its excavation suspiciously never completed.
About the Book
"Stranger Things" meets the Golden Age of Detective Fiction in a rollicking supernatural detective thriller that introduces Artie Quick, a sales assistant at Filene’s in Boston, who moonlights as an amateur detective.
The year is 1909, and Artie Quick --- an ambitious, unorthodox and inquisitive young Bostonian --- wants to learn about crime. By day, she holds down a job as a salesgirl in women’s accessories at Filene’s; by night, she disguises herself as a man to pursue studies in Criminal Investigation at the YMCA's Evening Institute for Younger Men.
Eager to put theory into practice, Artie sets out in search of something to investigate. She's joined by her pal Theodore, an upper-crust young bachelor whose interest in Boston's occult counterculture has drawn him into the study of magic. Together, their journey into mystery begins on Boston Common --- where the tramps and the groundskeepers swap rumors about unearthly screams and other unsettling anomalies --- but soon Artie and Theodore uncover a series of violent abductions that take them on an adventure from the highest corridors of power to the depths of an abandoned mass transit tunnel, its excavation suspiciously never completed.
Will Theodore ever manage to pull off a successful spell? Is Artie really wearing that men's suit just for disguise, or is there something more to it? And what chance do two mixed-up young people stand up against the greatest horror Boston has ever known, an ancient, deranged evil that feeds on society's most vulnerable?
