Dark Excellence
I don’t often read short stories as I prefer more character and plot development than short stories can offer. But sometimes a short story collection will catch my eye, like this one did. Who could resist that title?
There are a total of nine short stories in this collection. The whole book was only about 120 pages on my e-reader so each of the stories was quite short. However, this author uses every word to wonderful effect, with no fillers whatsoever. To me, these were more mood pieces rather than stories with a beginning and ending. Things aren’t always spelled out in black or white but rather are hinted at. The author expertly sets up a dark atmosphere for each story, with subtle psychological suspense running through them. I see that the author’s first book “Darkest Day” is a book of poetry and I can certainly see the heart of a poet in this short story collection.
The next time I see a short story book, I won’t be so quick to pass it by as I very much enjoyed reading these short bursts of literary prose. I read the book almost straight through but did have to stop after each story to contemplate it a bit before moving onto the next one. Highly recommended.
I was given a copy of this book by the publisher through Net Galley in return for an honest review.
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