Randolph "Dilda" Carter

Weighed down by two below average (The First Law and Mannequin Man and the Plastic Bitch) and one truly bad (Hell) novella, this collection of six novellas by Lebbon just doesn't deserve more than an average rating. The one standout is White, a quite excellent supernatural eerie and truly uncanny post-apoc. affair.

The fare is mostly of the post-apoc. subgenre with one exception that might as well be (First Law). Uniformly depressing except for the final story, between the uneven quality and the dreary nature of the tales it took me forever (for my speed) to finish this no matter how I soldiered on. I actually considered abandoning it when back-to-back stories just weren't giving me any optimism about the rest of the book. The story notes were a waste of time giving almost no insight.

I had considered Lebbon to be a more solid writer but my experience was strictly shorter stories up to this point. I guess I'll keep the jury out until I read more of his stuff.