Review: Cousin Calls by Zeb Haradon

My review: 3.75⭐

Weird. This is the first word that comes to my mind about this book. Not a bad weird really, just weird. And if you read it you’ll know what I mean. To be honest ~ I probably never would have read this book if the author didn’t reach out to me (no offense, Zeb), but I am not mad that he did.

There are 5 different stories, within the story, that were unique and kept me engaged. It’s obvious there was some research that went into the writing of this book.
Elements of sci-fi, extraterrestrial life and politics.

We start off with Harold, who arrives in a self driving car to the Coffin Bar. He is there to meet a cousin he didn’t know existed. When it looks like she is a no show, he stays there for many hours and many drinks listening to other peoples stories about their own ‘cousin calls’.

My thoughts on each story:
Annie
Annie and Gaelen fly to Texas for a big family reunion chili cook-off.
Gaelen is quite the tool from the start and throughout the whole entire story. There was not one point at all that I thought he was an okay character.
Do Texans really say ‘howdy’ so much?

Ward
I’m not sure if a hippocampal prosthetic is a thing, but the author made me believe it could be if it’s not.
It’s so easy to get swept up into craziness when there’s debt involved and you just keep digging a hole for yourself.
I got stalkerish vibes with this guy and wowza with his fetish ~ is this real too?

Gordon
Gordon is a Private Investigator and he gets the grossest case in history of all grossness that could ever be.

Alex
I liked this interesting perspective from a deer.
My takeaway ~ one mistake, whether it’s from territorial possessiveness or jealousy, can lead to a lifetime of hurt.
Mortimer has some really deep thoughts to share.

Jane
Jane is a single mother to 9 year old Chase, who has ADHD. They live above Douchebag Dave and have problems with him from the start and it dragged on and on and on.
This was my least favorite story.
I did not care for the current events and political aspect at all.

All in all, these stories were very unique and well thought out.

*Thank you Zeb for the complimentary copy. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review*

Book blurb:

A college student reluctantly attends a family chili cookout that turns into a never ending nightmare. A man desperate for job skills uses a brain implant to help him learn, but it malfunctions and leaves him sexually attracted to shadows. A private investigator is hired to discover who keeps befouling the walls of convenience store bathrooms. Two deer engaged in combat find that they are unable to unlock from one another’s antlers after the fight is over. A single mother spends 2020 battling an evil landlord, a fascist neighbor, national political chaos, and a global pandemic. These are the strange stories told by regulars at the local bar on Christmas Eve, stories which each began with a phone call from someone who announced “you don’t know me, but we’re cousins.”