Bright Burning Things is a quietly beautiful novel that delicately handles the pressures of addiction illness. Sonya, a complex and kind character, pursues a path of recovery when her role as a mother to Tommy is questioned. What follows is an intense and considered portrayal of family life, highlighting strained relationships and darkened pasts. We
I am a huge fan of Myers’ work having read many of not all of his published works and I was delighted to hear that he was releasing a short story collection with Bloomsbury Books and when I could I requested that book. Ben Myers is one of my favourite British writers, his work on
The End of the World is a Cul De Sac by Louise Kennedy is a varied short story collection, there is a remarkable gift here and there is no denying that there are flourishes of brilliance in her prose and the structure of the stories; but it’s a collection that I didn’t really get on
Set in the barren hills of the countryside, this sinister dystopian novel is a compelling read that explores the power of words. When everyday life has been thrown to the wind and an existence rooted in violence and survival takes over, The Last Good Man is a gritty look at what happens when a community
George Saunders, lauded for his short stories and winner of the 2017 Man Booker Prize for Lincoln in the Bardo, has been a teacher on the Syracuse University MFA creative writing program since 1997. This book is based on one of his Syracuse courses on Russian literature. A Swim in a Pond includes seven classic
An author that I’ve read a lot of previously in horror anthologies, Israel Finn, releases his very first short story collection and boy was the wait worth it. This collection is truly masterful. I loved everything about this collection. Finn has collated twelve stories that will entertain you, shock you, beat you down and then
Subverting genres and challenging expectations, Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi is the ultimate fantasy-mystery hybrid. The reader gathers information as Piranesi uncovers secrets about himself and the mysterious place he inhabits. Clarke blends classical iconography with a fresh, lyrical prose. The novel is immersive and addictive, and I finished it in just two sittings, struggling to tear
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that Zero Saints, in my humble opinion, is just that little bit better than Coyote Songs. I bloody loved Coyote Songs, but this one is just off the chain, crazy good! Please don’t hit me in the face (I know Coyote Songs holds a
Little Paranoias is a short story collection form horror author Sonora Taylor, a collection that is gripping, original and bang on the money for those that prefer the dark slice of horror. What I loved about the collection is that it is a mixture of short stories and flash fiction and this device that is
‘Some people were born just so they could be buried.’ The Devil All The Time is a sprawling, gritty, powerhouse of a book that follows the lives of a handful of characters as they fight to survive in the town of Knockemstiff and the surrounding towns of Ohio and West Virginia. The opening of this
