Review: Great stories with the occasional poke in the eye!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 19, 2012
I agree with everything author Claude says in her opening note regarding the place of the short story in our modern, fast-paced and digital world. This collection is fast and up-to-date, even futuristic and highly recommended.The style is demanding the readers attention and 'pokes you in the eye' with surprises and twists in these well constructed stories. Characters have to be formed quickly in this shorter form of the art which Claude Nougat achieves with great success. She also produces a full range of types from young to extremely elderly and handles all with success and confidence.The contents of the stories are varied but they contain  an element of menace and expectancy which is stimulating. There isn't long to establish a scene but from first to last tale you are drawn in by the compelling, readable style. Tackling the modern world of Facebook, hacking etc is appealing to a wide audience but within that arena the author also successfully addresses issues of arranged marriage, murder and care of the elderly to name but a few.Overall a very stimulating read and Highly Recommended