Review: Three great little stories
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 24, 2011
I was so pleasantly surprised by these three stories.  For a free download for the Kindle, I didn't expect them to be this good.  The author has had these stories published mainly in Canadian publications and some books of his short stories.The first one, ACTIVE READER, begins in Noble Books as Kim puts an armful of books on the counter to buy.  She uses her store discount card, which is the Active Reader card and Douglas, the bookseller takes it and scans it, rings everything up and gives her the receipt for her purchase.  He notices with very much pleasure that Kim with the pretty eyes loves horror and reads a lot of it. Douglas happens to be a horror fan himself and he has a large collection of horror books.  However, it isn't just horror books that he collects.  This isn't going to be Kim's best day, thanks to that Active Reader card. A very creepy story.The second short story is BROWSERS. All three of these stories are a little bit disturbing and this one is no exception.  The narrator tells a tale of going into a bookstore marked only with a sign saying BROWSERS on the front of the store.  As he goes in, he notices that there is no one there to help him and there doesn't seem to be anyone working in the store, at least no one who is visible at the moment.  He decides to go into a room to the right, which isn't that big, and then our bookstore browser sees more doors and more rooms. Soon he's lost. Very odd things start to happen with the books.  Some areas of ink are missing in some books and other books leap out as if to capture his attention.  Will this man ever find his way out of this very odd and unusual bookstore?  And why did this happen?Third is Distractions.  I think this is my favorite. I love this story.  Maxwell has written a novel that was published and now he wants to write another in the series.  His problem is that he has so little time to write, and when he does try to write, there is always some distraction, no matter how small. Maxwell discovers a new self-help book and he uses this as his motivation to rid himself of the stress of the annoying distractions so that he can write.  The author's name is Andy Robinson and he has a lot to say to Maxwell about getting rid of these pesky distractions that keep Maxwell from writing his book.  Maxwell takes matters into his own hands as Robinson's book becomes more than just a guide for him, and his methods of dealing with interruptions take on sinister means.Although the stories are short, there seems to be a lot packed into them.  And they are very creepy and/or disturbing.  I did notice a few typos, but the author's style of writing is one that lends itself to this kind of story very well.  Great free read!