Extended Review is on The Review Board.

There was plenty of conflict to go around with each of the stories. The conflict presented in each story did contribute to moving each one along. In the majority of the stories, I could actually feel as if I were there. This served as a plus for the author. The author’s quirky sense of humor is sprinkled throughout the collection. My quirkiness could connect with the humor rather well.

Yet there were plenty of chances for improvement with this write. With the majority of the stories, I felt like I was catapulted in the middle of a strange land with absolutely no map or compass to guide me. It took a brief moment for me to get hooked in and drawn into what most of the stories (especially the longer ones) were focused on. In these stories, the author relied heavily on dialogue to carry the stories. This served as a major deterrent and made it difficult for me to get invested in the stories. Instead, the author should have incorporated more action to really make the reader seem like she was there.

Confusion furrowed my brow because one character (Alan Trente) was present in almost all of the author’s short stories. An explanation was given at the end to clarify this phenomena. This would have been better suited at the beginning of the works; however, this really subtracted from the potential of originality that could have shown with so many different scenarios being addressed.

In addition to Alan’s insertion in these stories, there was a missed opportunity to connect with other characters in each of the works. Since “Best Friend” was the very first story and the connectivity with the little boy touched my heart, I predicted the same type of empathetic flow and ambiance with the rest of the stories and the characters. My excitement soon became drenched. The connectivity became short circuited (particularly with the longer stories), and by the time I was close to feeling even one-eighth of emotion for a character, it was on to the next story.

Side Note: I do think if an editor has submitted changes that improve the read of your story (yet do not deter from the story), then an author should listen. I just find it strange for (1) The editors to not even want to be mentioned and (2) To put out an announcement if one sees editing mistakes, it’s because the editing suggestions weren’t incorporated.

Verdict: Potential is sprinkled in each of the stories. Yet lack of enhancement with character developments along with little substance to balance marathon like dialogue and action, as well as minimal interweaving of originality and recycled horror/macabre took away from my enjoyment. This is a shame because I am a huge fan of “twists”, “what if scenarios”, and macabre/horror writes. ( )