Review: Evil or Justified?
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 30, 2012
It has been an experience to read Women and Other Monsters by Bernard Schaffer. This collection contains lots of darkness and cruelty, a good dose of satire and some surprising tenderness. Each story evokes different and sometimes conflicting emotions.Room Service - A down and out recovering addict takes revenge on the vampire who killed his girlfriend.A dark, vengeful story with a make you grin ending. No sparkly vampires here.The Reluctant Death - No matter how many times Clarissa dies, a supernatural creature brings her back.An eerie tale of African folklore, poignant but chilling.Codename: Omega - A soldier comes back from the dead with extraordinary powers and is enlisted to take out Nazi SS soldiers.Complex and unique, with plenty of action. I was urging him on all the way!)Cold Comforts - A wife takes out her revenge on her unfaithful husband.( Deeply disturbing and scary. Understood her rage, but cringed at her wrath.Nazareth - Two alien researchers use us as experiments and change the course of our history.Funny and gruesome, this thought-provoking tale makes me more certain than ever that I do not want to meet an alien, ever!Digestif - Different and revealing.You are treated to wonderfully written passages that evoke a longing to be there, in the pages. It had a lasting effect on me, like an echo. It felt familiar.I entered the world of Bernard Schaffer at my own risk. I left it knowing I had to have more. And I am going to be reading other books by this author.