Was she an angel from above, or a walking time bomb of doom?
His life having crumbled, Blake Gladstone returns to his hometown of Santa Fe, and tries to settle back into the unsatisfying life he'd had before he left for Florida. When he meets Denise, a pretty young blonde with a bag full of tricks, his sad routine breaks, and the more they get to know each other, the more Blake can't figure out if he's on a road to salvation, or a road back to hell.
"Trent Zelazny is off and running. I have someone new to admire." --Joe R. Lansdale "
Trent Zelazny has already begun to carve out his own genre niche. He's got the right stuff to make fiction both engrossing and literate." --Tom Piccirilli
"A gift for storytelling is in Trent Zelazny's genes." --Charles Ardai
"Trent Zelazny will surprise you, entertain you, and take you places you've never been before." --Warren Lapine
"Obtain Trent Zelazny's Fractal Despondency. It's your only hope of escape. Break out! Read the book!" --John Shirley, author of Black Glass
"Passion. Power! Fear! Zelazny is a force of wonder . . . and darkness!" --Joseph S. Pulver, Sr.
{"itemData":[{"priceBreaksMAP":null,"buyingPrice":6.99,"ASIN":"1617203904","isPreorder":0},{"priceBreaksMAP":null,"buyingPrice":11.69,"ASIN":"1617200743","isPreorder":0},{"priceBreaksMAP":null,"buyingPrice":14,"ASIN":"1596879203","isPreorder":0}],"shippingId":"1617203904::XX3fenknzLT7DzPvc7phFvHP%2BVHXK1KZyS36U31ztvnL6i64bRqqPXpDiIvE7ry3B%2BHMk1HxoDSCijvxydr7ETTM0ohgnq9u1LXX21EesA5mcs%2BHtHproQ%3D%3D,1617200743::pF5aGURFpGQwooYl7kPIMWmL%2F%2BqrxsY3d8hvhrXlg4aewtlBQ65aTI2d%2FnBGQte4gT4UIfiKvq0FElIykpkOqhCLkO79KwN4LbXn6bzfdVnHApO7E3bOpA%3D%3D,1596879203::vq2mbltbnq0yVs1zDwOovETRSxt9E6kAW7Qf1BPnH9%2Fu4EzkJ%2BpNbZ7P8D7eeI1F4xwil6YfBOwqUMAphHsKEn17E59iTMu2wapmmg%2BFy3MYd%2F8WugfJQg%3D%3D","sprites":{"addToWishlist":["wl_one","wl_two","wl_three"],"addToCart":["s_addToCart","s_addBothToCart","s_add3ToCart"],"preorder":["s_preorderThis","s_preorderBoth","s_preorderAll3"]},"currenyCode":"USD","shippingDetails":{"xz":"same","yz":"availability","xy":"availability","xyz":"availability"},"tags":["x","y","z"],"strings":{"showDetails":"Show details","differentAvailabilityAll":"Some of these items ship sooner than the others.","addToWishlist":["add to wishlist","Add both to Wish List","Add all three to Wish List"],"shippingError":"An error occurred, please try again","differentAvailability":"One of these items ships sooner than the other.","preorder":["Pre-order this item","Pre-order both items","Pre-order all three items"],"addToCart":["Add to Cart","Add both to Cart","Add all three to Cart"],"showDetailsDefault":"Show availability and shipping details","priceLabel":["Price:","Price for both:","Price for all three:"],"hideDetailsDefault":"Hide availability and shipping details","hideDetails":"Hide details"}}
Trent Zelazny is the Nightmare Award-winning author of To Sleep Gently, Destination Unknown, Fractal Despondency, Shadowboxer, The Day the Leash Gave Way and Other Stories, A Crack in Melancholy Time, Butterfly Potion, and his latest, Too Late to Call Texas. He is also an international playwright, as well as the editor of the anthologies Mirages: Tales From Authors of the Macabre, and Dames, Booze, Guns & Gumshoes.
He was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, has lived in California, Oregon, Arizona, and Florida. He currently resides back in Santa Fe.
He is the son of the late science fiction author Roger Zelazny.
He has a son named Corwin.
He also loves NBA basketball.
PRAISE
"A powerful and good writer...someone who's been through hell and come out, I hope, the other side." --Neil Gaiman, winner of almost every literary award on the planet
"Trent Zelazny's work is as powerful as a .45 slug and as memorable and pleasing as a scar obtained during feverish sexual activity. One of the best of the new breed of writers." --Joe R. Lansdale, Edgar Award winner and eight-time Stoker Award winner
"Trent Zelazny has already begun to carve out his own genre niche. He's got the right stuff to make fiction both engrossing and literate." --Tom Piccirilli
"The raw honesty of Fractal Despondency heralds Trent as a talent to watch, and I plan to be reading him for years to come." --Mark Ordesky, Executive producer of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy
"Trent Zelazny is the best hard-boiled noir writer of this generation!" --Sarah L. Covert, Editor of She Never Slept News and Reviews
"Some people write from the heart, but Trent Zelazny leaves his blood on the page." --Erin Underwood, Underwords
Keep an eye on Trent Zelazny. He's going places. This book was a harrowing read and I couldn't put it down. I liked the main character very much and his "girlfriend" definitely kept me guessing until the very end. I highly recommend this book.
Two broken people, Blake and Denise, meet at a bad time in Trent Zelazny's brilliant novella, Fractal Despondency. We've seen this setup before, but not like this. Not with this level of intimacy and insight. The love story here isn't between Blake and Denise. But this is, make no mistake about it, a love a story. A very dark, very haunting, very touching love story. They type of love story that leaves permanent scars on your flesh and blood stains in the carpet. It hurts. It's real. It's the type of literature we need.
I don't write reviews often. Don't really have time to. If something entertains me, great; move on to the next. But this one will stick with me for a long time. Hell, I want to read it again. I almost never feel that way. Can't remember the last time I did.
When I finished Fractal Despondency, I hugged the book. Not because I pitied Zelazny's tragic characters, as I might have if the story had been told by a lesser author; rather, because I cared about them.
This is the first time I've read Zelazny's prose. His writing is better than good. Better than great. It's downright masterful! I'll be back for more.
There isn't a lot that can be said about this book that hasn't been said already. It's an amazing book that keeps you guessing. The author has a heck of a way with imagery. The way the story is told, I can see everything in my head as if it had happened to me too. I can't recommend this book enough!
