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liisp_cvr2cvr's review
4.0
This was a quick, creepy read!
The further the story gets the darker turns it takes and it's all wonderfully connected.
The further the story gets the darker turns it takes and it's all wonderfully connected.
whatmeworry's review
4.0
This review first appeared on scifiandscary.com - copy provided by the author for review consideration
Writing reviews of short stories is hard, because they’re, you know, short. ‘Call Drops’ by John F Leonard is no exception, I polished it off in about half an hour and enjoyed every page (not that there were many of them). It's not deep or complex, but if you like your horror humorous and not too explicit, and you fancy a quick read, I think you’ll enjoy it too.
Like Leonard’s story ‘Doggem’, which I reviewed here a while ago, ‘Call Drops’ is a fairly gentle tale. It’s certainly dark and not lacking in cruelty, but it’s also amusing and quite charming at times. It uses the classic horror trope of a found object (here, it’s a mobile phone) passing on mysterious messages. In this case, the protagonist, Vincent Preece, is given insights into wrongdoings being committed by people he knows. Wrongdoings he feels compelled to act on.
It’s reminiscent of the kind of narrative device Shirley Jackson or Roald Dahl (in his adult fiction) might use. That’s high praise, as they’re my two favourite short story writers. Leonard never quite manages to be as good as either of them, which is probably to be expected, as they set a very high bar. He does, however, share their concern for character and has a deliciously nasty imagination.
Those are the strengths of ‘Call Drops’. Preece is an engagingly bitter man, humorously contemptuous of others and enjoyably unpleasant. The first of the crimes he uncovers is somewhat benign, but the second is wonderfully horrific. So much so that it’s impossible not to delight in the justice he delivers. All of this is told through the same lovely prose that Leonard displayed in ‘Doggem’. He really does write a nice sentence, and as a result the book is a real pleasure to read.
‘Call Drops’, then, is another brief delight. Funny, nasty and satisfying, it’s a quick read but one that will leave a smile on your face.
Writing reviews of short stories is hard, because they’re, you know, short. ‘Call Drops’ by John F Leonard is no exception, I polished it off in about half an hour and enjoyed every page (not that there were many of them). It's not deep or complex, but if you like your horror humorous and not too explicit, and you fancy a quick read, I think you’ll enjoy it too.
Like Leonard’s story ‘Doggem’, which I reviewed here a while ago, ‘Call Drops’ is a fairly gentle tale. It’s certainly dark and not lacking in cruelty, but it’s also amusing and quite charming at times. It uses the classic horror trope of a found object (here, it’s a mobile phone) passing on mysterious messages. In this case, the protagonist, Vincent Preece, is given insights into wrongdoings being committed by people he knows. Wrongdoings he feels compelled to act on.
It’s reminiscent of the kind of narrative device Shirley Jackson or Roald Dahl (in his adult fiction) might use. That’s high praise, as they’re my two favourite short story writers. Leonard never quite manages to be as good as either of them, which is probably to be expected, as they set a very high bar. He does, however, share their concern for character and has a deliciously nasty imagination.
Those are the strengths of ‘Call Drops’. Preece is an engagingly bitter man, humorously contemptuous of others and enjoyably unpleasant. The first of the crimes he uncovers is somewhat benign, but the second is wonderfully horrific. So much so that it’s impossible not to delight in the justice he delivers. All of this is told through the same lovely prose that Leonard displayed in ‘Doggem’. He really does write a nice sentence, and as a result the book is a real pleasure to read.
‘Call Drops’, then, is another brief delight. Funny, nasty and satisfying, it’s a quick read but one that will leave a smile on your face.
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