Review: STRANGE WEATHER by Joe Hill

Publisher Orion
Length 14hrs 34mins
Format audiobook
Published 2017
Series standalone
My Copy I bought it

Strange Weather is a collection of 4 novellas all linked by strange weather events (hence the title), however each story couldn't be more different:

Snapshot
This was narrated by Will Wheaton, the same guy who narrated Ready Player One and his performance was excellent. Snapshot got off to a great start, but I found the time-hops detracted from the strangely surreal abilities of the mysterious Polaroid Camera which took the memories of people one picture at a time. The antagonist didn't last the journey either which was a bit of a let down, I would've preferred the story focus on the adolescent kid who encounters the creepy guy with the camera. All an in, not a bad way to start the collection but not the strongest.

Loaded
Wow. What a great story, if this is what Joe Hill can do with crime fiction then I sure as hell hope he puts his mind to writing more. Loaded is brutal, quick (despite being the longer of the novellas in the collection), character driven, and a damn fine read (or listen as is the case here). 

Aloft 
What a cool concept. Aloft sees a young man who is afraid of heights take to the skies to attempt parachuting, one to impress a woman, and two, to hopefully cure his phobia. It doesn't turn out well. At all. The plane experiences a malfunction and the thrill-seekers are forced to jump early, only to have their downward plunge earthward stopped short. By a cloud, with mass - from there it's surreal territory all the way. Fun and inventive.   

Rain
Rain has more emphasis on character with a slight sojourn feel similar to Swan Song (linked by the apocalyptic event and various wandering crazy people). The concept is straight forward weirdness; deadly crystal rain hails down on Boulder, Colorado instantly killing many people and injuring others. The story explores themes of social prejudice, terrorism, and the good in people. A crafty way to end the thematically linked stories of the collection. 

My rating: 4/5 stars. I loved the fact each story was narrated by a different person which resulted in a distinct 'feel' to each novella. Loaded is by far the pick of the bunch for me. Recommended.