The Shattered Wig Review
Issue #28 (Shattered Wig Press)
It's been awhile since Rupert Wondolowski put out a Wig issue, but it was worth the wait. When a labor-of-love lit journal takes an unplanned hiatus, it's usually due to cash-flow problems, health troubles, quarrels with contributors, or an acquired aversion to Kinko's. But the 50-year-old Wondolowski—in a witty and reflective introductory note—attributes the delay to a force of nature: He was "blindsided," he says, by "a hurricane of love." It's worth noting because various Wig contributors address maturity and mortality with sparkling results. The gravitas of aging seems to have sharpened sensibilities, and this work isn't merely edgy—it cuts much deeper. Pieces by Wondolowski, Blaster Al Ackerman, Mark Hossfeld, Robert Schreur, Batworth, Eleanor Lewis, and David Beaudouin reflect exactly that. And Wig #28 shows that this generation of the lit scene is growing up and becoming a force of nature in its own right.
Stephen Hunter
Dead Zero (Simon & Schuster)
Hunter writes so convincingly about handling guns and shooting human targets from great distances—his protagonist, Bob Lee Swagger, is a legendary sniper—that anyone giving him a negative review might want to think twice about walking past windows or strolling casually through parking lots. But I can honestly report that Dead Zero is more than just another page-turner in the Swagger saga—it includes some great Baltimore references and a plot twist that figures to intrigue longtime fans and further the franchise. It's a blast. Really.
