The Workaholic as Critic

The Internet is a funny old place, if only because it allows us to interact with people we might never otherwise meet. For instance, one guy I’ve communicated with for many, many years--but only via e-mail--is Bev Vincent, who last year launched a new Web site called Onyx Reviews, which I have found to be a useful resource, especially since Vincent and I seem to share similar reading tastes.

I thought I was a busy guy, but that was before I got to know Vincent. He makes me feel like a pathetic slacker. You see, Bev Vincent’s a writer and reviewer, as well as a columnist with Cemetery Dance, a Maryland-based magazine that covers horror and dark suspense fiction. He also writes a special Stephen King news page for the CD Web site. (Vincent, you may know, is the author of The Road to the Dark Tower: Exploring Stephen King’s Magnum Opus [2004], which was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award.)

Vincent launched Onyx Reviews as a forum for his own crime-fiction criticism, as well as a place to install occasional author interviews. Currently, the site features his exchanges with Tabitha King and Owen King, both of whom--as you might expect--are related to a certain other writer named King. Elsewhere on the site, you’ll find detailed reviews of Hollywood Station, by Joseph Wambaugh, The Naming of the Dead, by Ian Rankin, Hannibal Rising, by Thomas Harris, and Echo Park, by Michael Connelly. Vincent’s critiques are always insightful, honest, and well-written, demonstrating his knowledge of mystery, horror, and general fiction. (More of his reviews can be found here.)

I’m exhausted just trying to list everything Bev Vincent does. Oh, and did I mention that he’s also become a blogger? Where does he find the time?