Review: Incredible Premise
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 10, 2014
This is a short story that starts with an incredible premise. There is weirdness in the beginning that is wonderfully blended into the everyday life of an everyday man. A stranger approaches, swears he knows you, wonders why you don't know him, and then seems to haunt your next actions. Things spiral out of control, and as the story progresses, the weirdness turns a bit supernatural. The technique here is done well, and the horror label might not fit as much as magical realism. The author describes the main character's dive into delirum with some wonderful imagery. What worked so well was the 'calmness' and dead-pan approach of that which haunts the main character.There was a payoff to the endgame of this spiral that was plenty satisfying, but perhaps not mind-blowing. If this were an assignment for an english class, I would probably give it a reread to examine the finer implications, but as a reader and reviewer, there just wasn't a strong enough urge to do so. This also seems to be a short story marketing the upcoming novel by the author, "Axe to the Face" which would certainly be one to check out by an author who has a mastery of his craft.