Disturbing and yet deeply captivating.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy.

There was much to enjoy here, but I found I couldn't connect with it. I'd read more from this author in the future though.

This is a collection of stories that will seriously be burned into my brain forever. They are all so disturbing, so unflinching, and unique!

A truly bizarre collection of stories that at times turned me quite green. I originally was going to rate this book lower because of some of the icky stories that churned my gut and grossed me right the eff out. But the more I thought about, the more I realized that was exactly what I was looking for when I requested this collection from Netgalley, so I can honestly say that JRJ fully delivered.

-League of Zeroes – An over the top short story about insane body modifications including (but not limited to) the surgical removal of lips from face and the replacement of skin with vegetation. Completely bizarre and completely entertaining.

-The Sleep of Judges – I would classify this story as fantasy mixed with magical realism. It’s the story of the aftermath of a burglary and a creepy neighborhood house. I honestly can’t go into the story more than that because it ultimately wouldn’t make sense. It was one I could’ve read a longer, probably novella length, version of.

-The Gravity of Benham Falls – A very classic ghost story feel. A girl is on a date with a boy and they are making their way up to Benham Falls. What follows is a sad, but fulfilling story of loss and reparations.

-When Sussurus Stirs – At the beginning of this review, when I talked about stories making me green and sick, this is ultimately the top candidate for the cause. A parasite insinuates itself in a man, and ultimately does what parasites do. But in this story, the man consciously decides to become one with the parasite. The results are grotesque, disgusting, disquieting, and stomach-churning. And yet, probably one of the most well-done stories I’ve ever read. I really must give kudos to JRJ. I honestly can’t remember ever having read something that provoked such a visceral reaction.

-Persistence Hunting – A runner sets to breaking into homes to provide some excitement. The results are obvious, and are meant to be apparent throughout the story. When you know a train wreck is coming and there’s nothing you can do about it.

-The Oarsmen – This was a strange and ethereal read. A group of monks decide sing the end of the world into being, while the world watches.

-Flood of Harriers- Driving through an Indian reservation ends badly for a boyfriend and girlfriend going out to Burning Man.

-Trigger Variation – Straight edge gone super violent.

-Swimming in the house of the Sea – A teenage brother overwhelmed by the responsibilities of taking care of and transporting his learning-disabled brother between their divorced parents’ homes. This was a hard read, and possibly the most harshly realistic story in the collection. This one really grabs at the heart-strings. Sad and hopeful.

-Dissociative Skills – This story reminded me of those old PSA announcements/commercials about marijuana. When two friends get stoned and one remarks “I’m so high! Nothing can hurt me!” and then he puts a gun in his mouth and shoots himself. This is essentially that commercial, but instead of weed, its much hard stuff. And instead of a gun, it’s a knife.

-Saturn’s Game – Another sad but possibly realistic look into mental illness and how it can warp an individual’s reality and provoke actions that wouldn’t normally be taken if the person could get the right kind of help, and have the right kind of network of support.

-Snowfall – Another extremely surreal read from the POV of deaf kid who wakes up and sees that no one is home and no one is outside but there is a strange snow falling. One of those epically sad, haunting and beautiful stories that really stays with you when it’s over.

-Luminary – A story of familial love, and selfless giving. A little girl’s brother uses his miraculous abilities to protect those he loves.

-Cathedral mother – A mother goes into redwoods to collect samples in hopes it will save this stretch of land. She finds a pool in the center of tree and goes for a dip. Only to come out happy and ecstatic as well as having a toxin in her system. I really liked this one. It was so sad from the aspect of watching it happen from the outside, but reading from this mother’s POV who is overcome with a “happy pill” gives the whole thing a much more intense and tragic feel.

-The Sharp-Dressed man at the End of the Line – A man makes a suit of live cockroaches to survive nuclear apocalypse and ends up killing a very important person in a suit of twinkies.

-States of Glass – In the wake of the tragic death of her husband, a widow finds she has unexpected physiological needs in the immediate time after the death.

Thank you Netgalley for providing a copy of this anthology in exchange for an honest review.

Having read JRJ's cult-classic <em>Angel Dust Apocalypse</em> many moons ago, his latest collection—which features several stories from that earlier collection alongside some newer additions and an all-new novella—felt something like a homecoming, like a run-in with an old disease, dredging up memories only accessible via fever-dream.

It's hard to pin down exactly what makes these stories so brilliant (and they are brilliant), or precisely why they're impossible to put down, except that they're more than the sum of their parts, far more than bizarro-fiction or horror fiction or any of the other attempts to pigeonhole his work by way of a paltry genre tag. No, JRJ writes about real people and big ideas; even when those ideas are so absurd you can barely stand it, they lead to consequences for his flawed characters that we've somehow come to love, even as they continually disappoint themselves and those around them. It's a fine trick.

Familiar themes of drug abuse, parasites, body horror, and mental illness abound. The tone vacillates between absurd, almost schlocky shock-fiction, more subdued horror, and even a certain plaintive realism. Pain features heavily in every story, and I wouldn't recommend this to anyone with a weak stomach, but the extremity always serves a purpose, even at its most outrageous. If you've never read JRJ, this is as fine a sampling of his work as you'll find.

I enjoy weird fiction, but I don't really care for things that are disturbing or controversial when it seems that they are so for the sake of it. The writing in Entropy in Bloom was good, but the stories just left a bad taste in my mouth. I believe that people who like Chuck Palahniuk will enjoy this.

This title fits perfectly for this strange collection of disturbing stories, for which the author has the courage not to almost never propose a happy ending. Starting with a few ideas not exactly new (I speak for example of atomic radiation suit made of beetles), Johnson brings the use of the classic 'what if ...' foundation stone of the whole genre fiction, whatever it is the genre, at the extreme limits, and then even goes further. I'm honest, I do not know which of these stories I liked more.
Thank Skyhorse Publishing / Night Shade Books and Netgalley for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

An incredibly unique collection of short stories. If you are interested in dark, twisted and interesting stories I would 100% recommend this collection!
My highlight of the book was the opening story; The League of Zeroes. Grabbed me from the opening sentence and I was just as hooked when I read the last word. Hugely talented writer.