Barlough, Jeffrey Ernest 1953–

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Barlough, Jeffrey Ernest 1953–

PERSONAL:

Born December 24, 1953, in Los Angeles, CA; son of Ernest Eugene and Irene Barlough. Education: Loyola Marymount University, B.S., 1973; Cornell University, Ph.D. Hobbies and other interests: Paleontology, music.

CAREER:

Biologist, veterinarian, and writer.

WRITINGS:

(Editor) Minor British Poetry, 1680-1800: An Anthology, Scarecrow, 1973.

(Editor) The Archaicon: A Collection of Unusual Archaic English, Scarecrow, 1974.

Problems in Organic Synthesis, Ryder, 1974.

(Editor) Manual of Small Animal Infectious Diseases, Churchill Livingstone (New York, NY), 1988.

(Editor, with Mordecai Siegal) UC Davis Book of Dogs: The Complete Medical Reference Guide for Dogs and Puppies, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1995.

(Editor, with Mordecai Siegal and Victoria B. Siegal) UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Book of Horses: A Complete Medical Reference Guide for Horses and Foals, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1996.

Dark Sleeper, Western Lights (Los Angeles, CA), 1998, Ace (New York, NY), 2000.

The House in the High Wood: A Story of Old Talbotshire, Ace (New York, NY), 2001.

Strange Cargo, Ace (New York, NY), 2004.

Bertram of Butter Cross, Gresham & Doyle (Los Angeles, CA), 2007.

Has published over sixty research and review articles in scientific journals since 1979.

SIDELIGHTS:

Biologist and veterinarian Jeffrey Ernest Barlough's publishing career has followed two distinctly different paths. He has published numerous articles in scientific journals and helped edit several books on animal diseases and care, and he has published books on minor and archaic English literature as well as a series of fantasy-mystery novels. He has also been described by his publisher as an "armchair historian."

One example of Barlough's work as an editor is the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Book of Horses: A Complete Medical Reference Guide for Horses and Foals. Edited with Mordecai Siegal and Victoria B. Siegal, the book includes contributions from thirty-seven experts. A comprehensive guide to caring for horses, it is divided into eight sections, which include selecting a horse, basic care, nutrition, reproduction, anatomy, diseases, and geriatrics. These discussions are supplemented by an index and glossary.

Barlough's first novel to appear from a mainstream publisher was Dark Sleeper, which he had earlier self-published on a small scale. The work combines elements of mystery and fantasy fiction, as well as Dickensian description and characters. Set in a city reminiscent of Victorian London called Salthead, the story follows the investigations of metaphysics professor Titus Tiggs and his sidekick Dr. Daniel Dampe. They live in a world where large portions of the earth are uninhabited because the Ice Age has not ended. This is a place where mastodons are used as beasts of burden and highwaymen prey on travelers who leave fog-covered Salthead. When ghosts and phantom ships begin appearing to Salthead residents, Tiggs and Dampe discover that three ancient Etruscan mages have formed an evil plot against the city.

Several critics enjoyed the novel. Jackie Cassada commented in Library Journal that the author had melded "the witty detail of Dickensian fiction with the insidious terror of Lovecraftian horror." A Publishers Weekly reviewer called Dark Sleeper "captivating" and praised the author's "command of Victorian idiom and his rollicking flair for breathing life into endearingly eccentric characters." The reviewer further described the book as "avoiding sentimentality with doses of gritty wit" and a "close-knit narrative hurtling from one cliffhanger to another." And a Kirkus Reviews writer deemed Dark Sleeper to be "engagingly goofy fantasy melodrama" while finding some passages, such as the book's opening paragraphs describing the Salthead fog, to be "outright steals" from Charles Dickens and declaring that the novel "takes its time getting beyond pastiche." However, the reviewer concluded that with its amazing plot and eccentric characters, "all this glorious nonsense … marches smartly toward an appropriately bizarre resolution."

Barlough's second novel, The House in the High Wood: A Story of Old Talbotshire, wrote Rick Kleffel in the Agony Column Review, "functions as a standalone sequel to Dark Sleeper. It's set in the same territory, and the town of Salthead that is the setting for the first novel is mentioned tangentially here, but otherwise the novels do not share the same characters or settings." In the village of Shilston Upcot, the mansion of Skylingden House has proved almost impossible to lease, but that situation changes with the arrival of Bede Wintermarch. Soon the building's past (it was once a monastery housing a fraternity of mad monastics) comes to haunt local squire Mark Trench and writer Oliver Langley. Squire Trench and his associates soon become drawn into the mystery of Skylingden House, which includes a set of caverns underneath the mansion, a giant predatory owl, and an ancient plot that threatens to kill off all the characters. "Barlough," declared Roland Green in his Booklist review, "masterfully works those well-worn elements toward a horrific conclusion." He "keeps the fantasy effectively low-key," concluded a Publishers Weekly reviewer, "grounding it in the eccentricities of a large, vividly drawn supporting cast."

Strange Cargo is also set in Barlough's alternate earth, but in the coastal town of Nantle, where three stories gradually intersect: the tale of Jeffrey and Susan Cargo and their lawyer Arthur Liffey, who are seeking the identity of the person who has laid claim to a quarter of their inheritance; the story of Jane Wastefield, who has received a mysterious offer to relieve her of a troublesome magic mirror; and the career of magician Malachi Threadneedle and his flying coach-house, which has been spotted in the vicinity of Nantle. The result, stated Frieda Murray in Booklist, reads like "a cross between Dickens and Verne, spiced by a touch of John Myers Myers." His "eye for the nuances of Victorian life and his ear for the slang and idiomatic expressions of the era," declared a Publishers Weekly reviewer, "give the wildest events an authentic period flavor."

In Bertram of Butter Cross, the small town of Market Snailsby is haunted by the mysterious beasts in the adjoining Marley Wood—including, according to a Small Press Bookwatch contributor, an "ugly, malformed snake-creature," "phantom riders," and "a strange, small boy" discovered in the ruins of an old hunting lodge deep in the forest. The boy may or may not be the eponymous Bertram Longchapel, who had vanished from Market Snailsby over three decades previously. "The engaging plot and the artful writing," stated a Publishers Weekly reviewer, "elevate Barlough's work far above most other contemporary genre fiction." Frieda Murray concluded in Booklist that Barlough's "books rank among the most original recent fantasy novels."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, August 1, 2001, Roland Green, review of The House in the High Wood: A Story of Old Talbotshire, p. 2101; August 1, 2004, Frieda Murray, review of Strange Cargo, p. 1912; August 1, 2007, Frieda Murray, review of Bertram of Butter Cross, p. 55.

Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2000, review of Dark Sleeper, p. 1056; June 15, 2004, review of Strange Cargo, p. 562.

Library Journal, August, 2000, Jackie Cassada, review of Dark Sleeper, p. 167; July 1, 2004, Jackie Cassada, review of Strange Cargo, p. 75.

Publishers Weekly, September 4, 2000, review of Dark Sleeper, p. 91; July 16, 2001, review of The House in the High Wood, p. 163; July 12, 2004, review of Strange Cargo, p. 48; June 25, 2007, review of Bertram of Butter Cross, p. 39.

Small Press Bookwatch, June 1, 2007, review of Bertram of Butter Cross.