Scan barcode
raven88's review
4.0
I will be the first to admit that I am not normally a huge fan of the short story form, so this was a jolly good wake-up call to my previous avoidance of them, maybe having read too many bad ones- so thank you contributors! What strikes me most about this collection is the sheer quality of writing on display, and the imaginative mix of ideas on show, to fulfil the remit of crossing genres in such a condensed writing form. I have a personal mission this year to read more ‘crossover’ crime so found this collection a perfect start to my year of discovery, and the neat con-struction of these strange and satisfying tales will certainly encourage me to read more short fiction. A tales of the unexpected for a new generation…
It is hard to single out the best of this collection, as I genuinely enjoyed the dark depths of all these stories,and the clever manipulation and resonance of classic noir, melded with supernaturalism. If pinned to the floor by a raging succubus in fear of my very life, I may concede that the ones I particularly enjoyed were ‘Black Moon Rising’ by Paul D. Brazill, featuring werewolf P.I. Roman Dalton, Andrez Bergen’s ‘East of Ecarte’ which made me feel that I’d wandered into the darkest recesses of Raymond Chandler’s imagination, and Hector Acosta’s ‘Across The Border’ which tapped in perfectly to my morbid fascination with anything to do with border crossings from Mexico. Overall, a brilliantly tough talking, visceral and disturbing collection, and what’s even better a whole batch of, certainly to me, new authors that I will be keen to read again.
Weird?
Oh yes.
Disturbing?
That too.
But in an insanely enjoyable way…
It is hard to single out the best of this collection, as I genuinely enjoyed the dark depths of all these stories,and the clever manipulation and resonance of classic noir, melded with supernaturalism. If pinned to the floor by a raging succubus in fear of my very life, I may concede that the ones I particularly enjoyed were ‘Black Moon Rising’ by Paul D. Brazill, featuring werewolf P.I. Roman Dalton, Andrez Bergen’s ‘East of Ecarte’ which made me feel that I’d wandered into the darkest recesses of Raymond Chandler’s imagination, and Hector Acosta’s ‘Across The Border’ which tapped in perfectly to my morbid fascination with anything to do with border crossings from Mexico. Overall, a brilliantly tough talking, visceral and disturbing collection, and what’s even better a whole batch of, certainly to me, new authors that I will be keen to read again.
Weird?
Oh yes.
Disturbing?
That too.
But in an insanely enjoyable way…
More...