Review: Good Stories, But Predictable
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 8, 2012
As an avid reader, published author, and some one like Brosky, who has an MFA; and is currently promoting indie authors on Twitter as @krautgrrl, I'm giving this book five stars with the caveat that 1) there are some typos and 2) some stories are predictable. I was browsing through the free books on Kindle the other night on krautboy's account and this book was suggested, so I thought, what the heck, I loved old Stephen King.When I mentioned I read a lot, I mean that I read over five books a week, and this took me two hours. The stories and my commentary are below (never say as follows, it's a writing taboo!)The Desolation Will Consume You: Super predictable, but creepy enough to keep you thinking, oh man this guy can write! Tightly woven plot along with solid characters. No Hollywood ending here. The energy/calorie correlation was pretty cool.Ashes to Ashes: Again, predictable, but creepy enough to keep you reading. Because of the oddness of the old man, and how no one works out in his crematorium, the ending is abundantly clear. However, you do root for the new employee and hope he can "hack" the job.High Stakes: Since I all ready sound like Sir George Solti with Beethoven's Ninth on repeat, I won't reiterate. This story isn't so much creepy, as it is eerie; the Gambler a man you'd want to meet, but not challenge, ever.Enjoy Your Job!: Poor child is what I thought when he raised his hand joyously at the kitchen table to his mother's query of, "Who wants to vacuum...?" The child's disappointment is palatable, and while he seems happy at the end, you know it's manufactured and can't help but feel like that is what America could turn in to one day.The Four Who Drowned: I couldn't help but wonder, in this world of realty TV, and college kids (did they go to Marquette or UWM, my brain kept wondering), Brosky is spot on, this is where we are headed. The college students reality is brighter than the TV show "contestants," but after some scary bits of fancy and near death we get a Hollywood ending.Ten-Four: The Dakota's are a scary wasteland, not as bad as Indiana, but up there on the creepy scale to begin with, regardless of current tourist attractions. This is the only story I went, no way, it ended like that? That stunk. I actually re-read the ending because I couldn't believe it. Definitely not predictable, but too perfect.Over-all a nice little foray into fiction, with a sci-fi twist, but I wouldn't label this short story collection horror. Brosky is an author to watch, and read more of, although I'm not sure about the whole Michele Bachmann thing. Ha.