Customer Reviews

The View from Hell

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Although the beings doing the "experiments" aren't extraterrestrials (they're probably your neighbors), what Mr. Shirley has written in "The View From Hell" is absolutely true. The next time there's a "tragedy" in your vicinity, look very closely at the crowd watching the festivities--some or all of them probably used the telepathic link that most humans seem to possess to create the circumstances that led to the fire, shooting, drowning, etc., either out of boredom or to see themselves on the evening news. Thank you, Mr. Shirley, your graphic descriptions of these monsters' crimes were awesome!

John Shirley has never been funnier, or more profound, in his dark comedy "A View From Hell", which could be seen as a rock and roll version of Dante's "Inferno" with bits of cyberpunk prose added for some memorable passages. This is a terse tale about how those who commit evil deeds find time in an earthly Hell devised by two ethereal beings. Needless to say, it provides Shirley a unique podium for commenting on humanity's frailities. Shirley's latest is a limited edition book deserving of a wide readership.

I suppose this book could be construed as some sort of commentary on human depravity but to me, the whole thing read like a bad Twilight Zone script. Thoroughly disappointing considering the wonderful stories in Heatseeker. Extradimensional being f**ks with some humans for kicks. The end. There. I just saved you the trouble of reading the book.