4.5/5 Stars.

Dim Shores Press is releasing Scanlines in a signed, limited run of 150. I'm leading with this so that you can go pre-order a copy. Simply put, Todd Keisling doesn't pull any punches in this one. I finished this novella about ten minutes ago and I'm still willing the goosebumps on my arms to go away.

The story is mainly told from the perspective of Robby, and focuses around him and his friends Jordan and Danny. In an effort to combat boredom, the boys spend an evening trying to download a Jenna Jameson video on the interminably slow dial-up connection available in the mid-1990's. What they get instead is something altogether more gruesome. Something that haunts the boys and follows them, pervading every aspect of their life.

A content warning directly from Dim Shores description of the book - this story deals extensively with suicide. If that's not something you want to handle, this ones not for you. If you're okay with that, and you're looking for an affecting story that has every intention of sticking with you, this is it.

The moments of hope are just about nonexistent here and Keisling does his best to ensure the reader that you're not in for a fairytale ending. It's hard to go too deep without launching into spoiler territory, but the first 70 or so pages build dread masterfully. The last 20-30 pages retain the bleak aspects, even ramping the atmosphere up a bit, but doing it with a haunting level of beauty that left me stunned.

Keisling has put something special together here, and honestly I'm torn on how to treat it going forward. Part of me is hesitant to revisit what's been crafted, while another part of me wants to go back, now that I know how it all comes out, and see everything that comes before in a slightly different light. Don't sleep on this one.


I received an e-Book copy of this book from the publisher for review consideration.