The Poe Consequence - Where Horror and Street Fiction Collide! By Keith Steinbaum...

The Poe Consequence

                                                                         

Swat rubbed his face and flinched
at the surprising swelling circling
his right eye...his fingers seemed
to touch melted wax...he felt
disturbed by the gauze=like
fuzziness of his vision...
~~~

By Keith Steinbaum

English: Edgar Allan Poe.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia

                                                                                    

Are you a fan of Edgar Allan Poe? Do you enjoy the dark, the macabre? Have you by chance read The Tell Tale Heart? A vid is provided if you'd like it as background. Even if you don't listen to it all, play a little and set the mood... For you are about to learn of a contemporary novel based upon his works... Can you get too involved with Poe? Some have and have learned of the

Consequences...

Read on only if you dare...

They were both there that night... 

All the Diablos were looking for was their enemies...it had been reported that The Lobos would be there. It was time for some payback... Tonight was the night. They saluted Apache and went searching...

Their enemy was worried about something far less than respect for a fallen one...They were out of beer! No money...guess they had to get it the usual way...just where would they go tonight...

In the cool, reflective silence, as the six other Diablos
surrounded the candle's meditative flame, Face turned
to contemplate the ultimate legacy to Apache's artistic
 gift...Carlos had come to represent victory over the
enemy,,,
...But Face sensed the possibility of another spirit. A
different  kind of warrior. An uncommon type of war.
~~~

It happened to be the same store that a certain professor was headed for... for a quick stop that would, unfortunately, end that night!

Warren and Kevin, twins, had bonded early and remained close, although not necessarily with the same interests.

Warren had loved the works of Poe 

Seizing the last can of Bud, King walked through the
darkness to the other side of the park...From his first day
in the gang, two things were made clear: You could die
any day, so every moment you're alive, live it as a Lobo.
And because you could die any day, if you wanted something
bad enough, do whatever the fuck it takes to get it.
Miguel "King" Ruiz had learned his lessons well, and
tonight he wanted to get drunk and party like a Lobo--
no matter what it took...
Either way, man or woman, somebody was gonna be his
bitch tonight.
~~~

and had carried that love and interest in literature into his professional decisions and became a professor. 

While in New Orleans, Warren planned to take advantage of the location and visit a psychic. Kevin enjoyed launching into his usual tirade about con artists. But nothing would dissuade Warren.

Although when he got back, he didn't want to share what he had been told...

In fact he had run out of her place before she had finished the last card in his Tarot spread... 

Can't say I blame him--she was telling him a lot of strange, eerie stuff!

Still, there was no reason for Warren to connect that fortune with stopping at a corner store that night. The Lobos were already there, getting ready to get that beer for the party to come. When the Diablos learned where they would be, they planned a drive-by...

But Warren and his son got in the middle and when one grabbed Warren's son, he ran to get him and was shot in the back. Face had yelled, trying to ensure nobody hit the boy, but they didn't realize that Warren also was an outsider...

Dean had long ago accepted the general populace's ignorance concerning most of the depressing bullshit that cops see every day. Dean just wanted to do whatever he could to keep the lid on the ever-simmering cauldron of violence, but he hadn't been doing a good job of it in recent weeks. There had been a total of seventeen reported deaths between the Lobos and Diablos over the last two and a half months and eight of them were diagnosed as heart failure. Eight massive heart attacks striking young men with no previous history of heart problems...
and why only to those two gangs...
~~~
  

It is amazing to realize that this is a first novel for Steinbaum... He brings the literary horror message from Poe, and in particular The Tell Tale heart, and adds it to Street Lit gang banger activities directly from the LA streets! No wonder the police have no idea how to deal with the deaths that began to happen...There was no physical evidence, no witnesses, no reason for death, at least until the autopsy showed what was inside each body.  Of course each of the eyes were affected as well.

Only when an enterprising police officer started a matrix connection was it clear that once a member of either of these two gangs killed somebody, then that individual would be killed the next day... Kevin who had worked on a set of gang-related articles was even brought in by the police, hoping he could add info from his early meetings...

There are a couple of paranormal issues thrown into that mix that really spices up the adventure for readers. Got to say I loved the concept, the story line and the implementation merge of today's world with the one present during Poe's time.  Whew! The Poe Consequence is scary, eloquent, weird, literary writing at its finest and a story worthy, in my opinion, of being a followup to Poe's classics!

GABixlerReviews

About the Author

As a professional lyricist, Keith Steinbaum has co-written songs that have been heard throughout the world. His poetry has been published in various anthologies, and he received an International Poet of Merit award from the International Society of Poets. This is his first novel.