Seven Story Publishing

1. Title: Calling Fire From Heaven
2. Author: Gregg Voss
3. Genre: Paranormal Fiction
4. Summary: How does the young Hollywood tabloid reporter survive when she learns the secret behind a technological advance that will thrust mankind into an immortal nightmare? And what ever happened to poor Molly at the vile hands of Miss Kroupa’s cult of Patience in Edmund, Kansas? Or when a murderer is faced with one of his victims years later in a trial? And what happened to Little Nicky after he held the plane in The Crash? From wars in Vietnam and Germany, kids messing with the outcome of a high school football game, and into New York where young Eli from The Borderland tries to escape transcendental thugs, your mind will be plunged into disturbance.In Calling Fire From Heaven, Gregg Voss, brings forth a new collection of thought-provoking stories—including remarkable sequels from The Valley of American Shadow—based on the obscure lives of American people throughout the country, history, and time.In many of the stories, true events are weaved so masterfully within the paranormal, supernatural, and tech-thriller style of Voss, that you won’t be able to discern truth from fiction.
5. Publisher: Independently Published
6. Publication Date: May 23, 2023
7. Page Count: 360

General Review

1. Description and Imagery– The author does a fantastic job of painting a picture of the environment the story is set in and allowing it to influence the characters’ actions throughout. The author provides just the perfect amount of description to place you in the setting but not too much that it would have the reader fatigued and bored.
2. Relatability of MC– The main character is Courtney from Edmund, Kansas. A country girl trying to make it as a journalist in L.A. The author captures the transition of the character well and takes the reader inside of her mind, weaving her past and present together to present a cohesive person people from all walks of life can relate to.
3. Pacing– This short story is evenly paced and a bit long, but the length is necessary to make the story truly compelling. The attention to detail regarding the story’s setting truly bring the world to life and move the story in a way to create suspense, leaving the reader breathless as to what is going to happen next.
4. Perspective– This short story is written in third person. This allows the reader to have an aerial view of what’s happening in the story, This perspective allows readers to dive into the characters and gain a clearer picture of what’s happening and how the characters feel as it is happening.
5. Vibe Check– This collection requires being in a contemplative and subdued mood. Not something that breeds excitement and a sense of adventure. This story is more on the mysterious and suspenseful side of things which I’m only interested in at certain times. Overall, this is not an auto-buy for me but something that I might return to during the fall or a season that calls for suspense.

Personal Review

This short story dragged on a bit longer than I would have liked. I typically prefer shorter short stories due to a need to complete things within the shortest time possible.

This short story, The Last Sad Days of Max Gordon, is a slow burn introduction into the collection that centers around Courtney, a Kansas native trying to make it as a journalist in LA when she comes across the story of the century.

The story is that the CEO of a social media company plans to take over the world through mind uploading, meaning taking people’s consciousness and uploading it into a database so they can live on forever.

My interest was piqued throughout the first half of the story; however, after the CEO was killed in the final showdown, everything else seemed irrelevant. It was necessary toward wrapping up the story but the pacing toward the end was too slow for my taste.

The perspective of a journalist trying to make it in the big city is a worn one but this author captures it pretty well. I was particularly interested in Courtney and her past experiences in college and her relationship with her late professor that transitioned her into the presence of a celebrity that opened the curtain to some bizarre affairs related to transcendentalism.

Overall, The Last Sad Days of Max Gordon is a well written short story that is only one of many in the collection, Calling Fire from Heaven, and those that like paranormal, supernatural, and/or suspense will have a ball reading such a story.

Rating: 4/5 stars

About Gregg Voss

Author bio: Gregg Voss (born 1969) is an American author who released his first book, a collection of short stories titled The Valley of American Shadow, on July 4, 2019. He was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, before moving to the Chicago area in 2011 after meeting his wife, Dorothy. He is the Vice President of Media Relations for a major East Coast virtual marketing and public relations agency, and also covers high school sports in Chicago’s western suburbs. In the past, he has worked as a journalist, a trade publication editor, a PR account executive, a cemetery groundskeeper, a groundskeeper for the Milwaukee Brewers baseball club, and both a dishwasher and busboy. His fiction writing has been featured in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Social Media

1. Instagram: @greggvoss
2. Website: http://www.greggvoss.com/