Eldritch Prisoners: A Cthulhu Mythos Anthology

H.P. Lovecraft fans looking for originality will be delighted by this eerie anthology of four novelettes. Conyers’s recurring character, Peel, a 21st-century soldier, finds himself on the edge of the galaxy in standout tale “Broken Singularity.” Peel’s depicted regaining consciousness multiple times as part of a baffling process in which he and several cyborg companions are dispatched to gather information—missions that always end badly. Matthew Davenport sets “The Prisoner from Beyond” in an alternate Reconstruction-era U.S. as two members of the Esoteric Cavalry investigate a disease afflicting a small western town. David Hambling’s psychic investigator Harry Stubbs hunts grave robbers in 1920s London–set “Body Snatchers.” In “Leng’s Labyrinth” by John DeLaughter, a student turns fugitive after witnessing a murder. The variety of eras and settings make this a welcome respite from the umpteen Lovecraftian pastiches set in spooky New England towns, and Easter eggs linking the stories add to the appeal. The resulting whole is greater than the sum of its parts. (Mar.)