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daveversace's review
4.0
Dan O’Shea’s put together a kickarse collection of his short fiction here. O’Shea has a real storyteller’s sense of pacing and language – it’s easy to imagine them narrated by your favourite uncle, say. Most of these yarns are crime stories, often of the brutal and/or grisly variety, with a smattering of more speculative pieces towards the end.
All of them are worth a look, but I have a few favourites. ‘Thin Mints’ is a nasty little piece about a meth-fuelled stickup gone predictably awry. ‘The Blood of the Lamb’ is a loony character portrait with a Dahl-esque punchline. ‘Shackleton’s Hooch’ is gloriously melancholy. And no review should fail to mention the rather unflattering portrait of Wm. Shakespeare painted in ‘The Bard’s Confession on the Matter of the Despoilment of the Fishmonger’s Daughter’ – cold and bitter, but beautifully written. At three bucks for the Kindle version, this is another bargain. Recommended.
All of them are worth a look, but I have a few favourites. ‘Thin Mints’ is a nasty little piece about a meth-fuelled stickup gone predictably awry. ‘The Blood of the Lamb’ is a loony character portrait with a Dahl-esque punchline. ‘Shackleton’s Hooch’ is gloriously melancholy. And no review should fail to mention the rather unflattering portrait of Wm. Shakespeare painted in ‘The Bard’s Confession on the Matter of the Despoilment of the Fishmonger’s Daughter’ – cold and bitter, but beautifully written. At three bucks for the Kindle version, this is another bargain. Recommended.
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