Review: A great short from the PsyCop series.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 31, 2012
Unlike the twee valentines to loyal readers that many shorts are, Price's short stories always pack a punch. Like her novels, they have heft, and accomplish a great deal with few words.Even if you are not a gibbering, rabid, hopeless, PsyCop fan, but have read the series, you will enjoy this Halloween short about Vic and Jacob in their offtime. Since the novels concentrate on their work, this story about Vic and Jacob at a party reveals more of why they are such a successful and committed couple. Vic, unwillingly dressed in a suit, observes that the swanky party has little to offer him except some enticing meat-filled pastries and a few glasses of champagne. One of the hosts, Kenny, is a former lover of Jacob's. Vic is his usual deadpan self when he comments on how long it takes Jacob to tell him that some of his friends were once much more.Vic examines his moral responsibility here--surprising depth for a short story. He knows that his work as a medium has purpose, as he helps one of Price's blood-curdling, spine-chilling, heartbreakingly horrific ghosts find peace. Jacob is an enthusiastic and solid support for Vic, a touching contrast to Vic's profund isolation in earlier stories. Vic and Jacob are a mature and satisfying couple, but they are never dull, and this story gives us a glimpse of what makes them click. How does all this happen in a short, you might wonder?Vivid descriptions, keen dialog that propels the story, and ironic, first person POV that lets us know the character based on his responses. Vic has a great "voice," and Price does not waste one word of it.