Iuniverse

Reviewed by Annette Gisby, author of Silent Screams and Writing the Dream

Like any short story collection, there are bound to be some that you really love and some you're not so keen on, and some that you find a little interesting. My favourite stories in this collection inlcuded "The Magic Bicylce" about a young boy's yearning to escape his real life existence where his mother goes off with any man who will pay and a father who uses his fist and a raised voice to get what he wants in life.

The boy dreams of a magic bicyle which will take him away from everything and when one day the bicycle magically appears, he gets taken away, but not in the way that he intended. It's very reminiscent of a fairy tale and you feel for the boy and his plight.

"The Love Goddess" was a strange one, not quite sure whether it wanted to be a love story, a mystery or horror. Maybe it was all three and an interesting story anyway, although the ending was a little bit flat.

"The Confession" was excellent, about a man writing in his cell, convinced that he couldn't possibly have comitted the crime he's been accused of and soon will die for. As his written confession goes on, you're invited into the mind of a madman, who even till the end professes his innnocence. Did he do it or not?

"The Mask" is a Gothic horror story of a young servant's dabble in the occult to try and win the heart of her master, but things don't go according to plan and her life is in danger. A well written tale, though again the ending could have been improved a little.

In "The Village" a man searches for and thinks he has found paradise, but is he the one who has brought corruption to them?

All in all a good little collection of stories, tales to dip in and out of and read again.

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