Review: Grim and Gritty Tales Set in the Underbelly of Baltimore
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 19, 2013
Bar Scars is a collection of grim and gritty tales set in the underbelly of Baltimore. The stories are written so well with such interesting characters that I wish some of them were full length novels.Take HAYMAKER for instance. It's about a fighter who gets taken out of his upcoming fight by a couple of mean cops long before the battle goes down. Another one I like is THIS WILL ALL END WELL. I remember this from the anthology Warmed And Bound. It's about a guy who walks in on his girlfriend after having sex with another man, but it's the outcome of this revelation that will take you by surprise. GLASS BUBBLES is an interesting story written in a non-linear style. ALEX AND THE MUSIC BOX is another favorite. A man breaks into his ex-girlfriends apartment to get back a music box his grandmother left him. While he's there the ex comes home with another man and he has to hide under the bed in order not to get caught. But trust me when I say the tension doesn't end there.Now, there were one or two that didn't really land well for me but it doesn't detract from the collection at all.Korpon has a fluid writing voice that is clearly noir, but leans heavily on the literary side. Bar Scars is a good sampling to get acquainted with his body of work. Pick up Old Ghosts and By The Nails Of The Warpriest to get a bigger taste of what Nik Korpon has to offer.