I don’t read many short stories. When I do, I pledge to read more, and then don’t until an author I enjoy reading releases a short story collection, such as A Sliver of Darkness.
With varying horrors as the theme, this collection ventures into the dystopian and fantastic. I confess to being lukewarm to the bulk of them. In The Lion at the Gate, the text doesn’t always fit the story. The four teens were gathered together with the scenery described as: “The leaves had lost their fragile grip on the trees.” While I appreciate the flowy text, it doesn’t work well when the story involves 4 teenagers.
Final Course was a blast. It was creepy, and the post-apocalyptic vibe happening makes it my favorite of the stories. I like the introduction to each story, giving the reader a bit of background about where or how the story originated. It provides some insight into the author’s inner workings.
Overall, this was a fun read. The stories were just short enough that you could read a few in one sitting and set it away for another time. Thank you, Random House/Ballantine, for sending this along!
Book Links (releasing November 8th)
About the Book
Time slips. Doomsday scenarios. Killer butterflies. C. J. Tudor’s novels are widely acclaimed for their dark, twisty suspense plots, but with A Sliver of Darkness, she pulls us even further into her dizzying imagination.
In “The Lion at the Gate,” a strange piece of graffiti leads to a terrifying encounter for four school friends. In “Final Course,” the world has descended into darkness, but a group of old friends make time for one last dinner party. In “Runaway Blues,” thwarted love, revenge, and something very nasty stowed in a hat box converge. In “Gloria,” a strange girl at a service station endears herself to a coldhearted killer, but can a leopard really change its spots? And in “I’m Not Ted,” a case of mistaken identity has unforeseen fatal consequences.
Riveting, macabre, and explosively original, A Sliver of Darkness is C. J. Tudor at her most wicked and uninhibited.
Rae's Reading Lounge 
Wow, this does sound different!
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