Tom Coleman

Tom Coleman outdoes himself with Infected:Endgame. Starting the last of the series at a marathon pace, Sally Walters and her Alter Ego appear to becoming truly symbiotic.

Contrary to what Absolute Ecosystem and it's shadow shareholders believe is possible, the evolutionary experiment they've started has gone horribly and irretrievably wrong.

Racing to the end of the book , with my heart in my throat, hoping that Humankind 's goodness will out, I, well, read it and find out! You won't regret it.… (altro)

Review of eBook

People in town believe Mr. Spaulding’s house is haunted and that Sarah Turner’s family is crazy for living next door to the old man. But teenager Sarah thinks he’s just a lonely widower who likes to grow roses. Her friend, Jessica, wonders what the man does when he leaves the house at 5:00 am every springtime morning and returns exactly one half hour later.

Sarah decides to prove to Jessica that Mr. Spaulding is simply a harmless old man by taking him a blueberry pie. Invited into the house when she delivers the pie, Sarah sets the pie in the kitchen. But when she cannot find the old man to say she is leaving, Sarah walks through the house looking for him . . . and she vanishes.

Six weeks later, Sarah is still missing and Jessica is determined to find out what happened to her friend.

The opening of the story has a strange disconnect as Mr. Spaulding opens and closes the trunk of his pick-up truck. Umm . . . pick-up trucks have truck beds, but no trunks. Either Mr. Spaulding needs to drive a different vehicle or he needs to retrieve something from the truck bed rather than the trunk.

There’s definitely a disturbingly creepy factor in the telling of this tale and, although character development is all but nonexistent, this ultra-short horror story holds the possibility of being both captivating and intriguing. However, it stops well short of explaining exactly what happened to Sarah; instead, there’s a consummately-annoying “To be continued . . .” in the middle of the final page.

The author promises readers can find out what happens to Jessica [presumably in a continuation of this story], but the book offered to readers at the end of this short story contains only three stories. Two are unrelated to this tale; the third is the story we've just read here. [Presumably, the selection of this story was as a representation of these horror stories.] Here, however, at the end of the story, the author specifies that readers can find out what happens next by purchasing “Horrors Next Door 2” [or select a good deal that includes several volumes of "Horrors Next Door" stories]. It's nothing more than a blatant “buy my book” ploy guaranteed to be completely off-putting for readers.

Authors who believe the cliffhanger ending will increase their sales by forcing readers to buy the next book are in for a rude awakening. Readers count on authors to give them a complete story, even if it’s a short one. As they reach the denouement, they expect a satisfactory conclusion to the storyline that pulled them into the telling of the tale in the first place. Leaving the main plot point unresolved [unless the reader purchases another book] only destroys whatever credence the reader may have built up for the author.

This short story has the potential to be particularly good, but readers are forewarned that they must buy at least one more book to get the answers they seek.… (altro)