I only started reading Brian Keene’s work just as his relationship with Dorchester dissolved. What I read was what my brother had and a couple books my wife bought for me over the internet. A little while back he started a relationship with Deadite Press, and for fans like me this is exactly what we needed. They have been reprinting not only Brian’s mass market novels but stories that had originally only appeared in rare limited editions. So now I and so many others can easily get our hands on books and stories that diehard fans may have been dreaming about for years. Sometimes it pays to be late to the party.

The Cage intrigued me from the first time I read the premise of it. One night while closing down the electronics store a madman comes through the door. Brandishing guns and not afraid to use them, he ushers the employees into the back and locks them in a cage. This is the cage that the title refers to, it’s the area where they keep the small and expensive items. Much like the movies Phone Booth or the original Saw, the majority of this Novella takes place in this small area. One by one the intruder takes the employees to the front of the store, leaving whoever is still in the cage oblivious to his plans.
It’s best to know up front that this is a short novella, and it is not heavy on the action. One of Brian Keene’s main strengths is his characters and how he has the ability to make them interesting and real. That talent is showcased well here, with the characters being confined to this small area, wondering what is happening in the front of the store.

Besides the main story here there are three short stories included in this book, Marriage Causes Cancer In Rats, Lest Ye Become, and Waiting For Darkness. All have been previously published but like the main story, unavailable for awhile, until now. Following each of these is a few words from the author regarding how he came about writing these stories.

Overall I enjoyed this book, the main story has become one of my favorites from Keene. I would recommend it to anyone that is already a fan of his, or looking for a story to check out his work.

I read The Cage in hardback back in Jan '11. This is for the short story "Lest Ye Become" the short to contained in the Deadite Press paperback.

My least favorite Brian Keene work I've read. It's a solid enough story and the short stories are serviceable, but, it's somewhat predictable as to where it's going.

This short story grabbed me from the get-go. I was very intrigued by the bad man entering the store and his statements. As each of the workers disappeared my need to know what was happening heightened. And then the story ended. Once I think I knew what was going on it was done. It’s a little pricey for the time it took to read too.

For fans of Brian Keene this is likely to be one of those books you've been waiting a while for. Before Deadite Press released this edition it had only been released in a limited edition hardback and on a collection called Conspiracy of One - both of which are out of print and only available on the likes of e-bay for larger sums of money.[return][return]As the book description says it follows a group of electronic store employees who are locked in a storage cage in the warehouse whilst a madman goes to work at the front of the shop. He then takes the employees out to the front one at a time leaving the remaining hostages to wonder what is really going on. With a good chunk of the book taking place in the warehouse it follows the reactions of the remaining members and how they interact with each other and deal with what is happening. It also leave both them and the reader to wonder what the madman has in store for them. [return][return]Fans of Keene's previous works will enjoys the links this has with the mythos which features in his others works whilst not being too confusing for anyone who has never read a Keene book before.[return][return]Whilst the book could of happily been released on it's own both Deadite and Brian Keene have added 3 bonus short stories called “Marriage Causes Cancer In Rats,” “Lest Ye Become,” and “Waiting For Darkness” - these have been released before but are now out of print so it is good to see them being added to give readers better value and to give fans more access to his other works.[return][return]The book is a good read for fans of both Keene and horror and it's good to see his work being made more accessible so I highly recommend you add this to your books collection.

THE CAGE by Brian Keene is the third short story collection by the author under his new publisher, Deadite Press. It is my unfortunate opinion that this collection is the weakest of the three. What this collection best serves as is an early history lesson of Keene's writing.

The title story has some basis in Keene's non-writer jobs (namely an electronics store). While not a strong story it is classic Keene in turning aspects of his everyday life into a horror story. Other stories in the collection also come from Keene's early publishing forays. The fine work is interesting in in length. The story was written with the express intent of being printed on a t-shirt. It is barely a page long and solid in it's brevity. Possibly horror flash fiction before anyone knew what to call it.

I would not recommend this to someone new to the author. Check out Keene at his best in one of his full lenght novels. If you want to read some of Keene's short stories, go for JACK'S MAGIC BEANS and TEQUILA SUNRISE before you go here. This best works for hardcore Keene fans as a great snapshot of his early writing chops. It's not bad, just not his best and with good reason.

This book was reviewed for my podcast. Please refer to http://booksbeerbullshit.podbean.com Episode 1 for the podcast review.

THE CAGE is a tense story that covers a very stressful situation. Keene infuses the story with good characters and a naturalness that enables the readers to be trapped along with the characters.

The story follows the employees of Big Bill's Home Electronics as they are taken hostage. The bad guy walked in right at closing time and at gunpoint forced the eight employees into the back storeroom. Proclaiming that he only needs six of them, he then locks them in a security cage so that he can do Something up front.

With regards to the action that occurs in the story, there is not a ton more than my summary above. But, as I also mentioned the story stays tense and stressful the whole way through. I felt for these characters as they faced their challenges and mystery. However, at the same time, it was easy to feel swindled by the book. At 101 pages, it is a significant size that you expect a full story. The ending though makes it abundantly clear that there is a lot more story to be told. A lot! This is one chapter in Keene's Labyrinth: a promised multi-volume epic, the story behind how all of his books tie together into one multiverse. THE CAGE could viewed as a prologue into the epic. Or maybe it would be better to consider it as an extra scene that enriches the total story, sort of like the post-credit scene in many Marvel movies. No matter how you look at it though, fans will consider this a significant puzzle piece of the Labyrinth. New readers should go to THE RISING so that they may be properly indoctrinated and become a Keene fan.