Francis Burger

This is a collection of 20 tales (not the 18 suggested by the cover) of varying quality and originality, but all entertaining in a way that I can't quite put my finger on. Some of the writing is a bit odd; some of the grammar is suspect; some of the plotting is thin and some of the stories take disorientating hand-brake turns from one situation into the next. I wouldn't consider any of the stories particularly original, but they do try to go in unexpected directions – some more successfully than others. Despite all that I did enjoy the book, the stories provided enough intrigue, quirks and strange turns to ensure they remained entertaining throughout. The collection had the feel of both The Twilight Zone and EC Comics with different combinations of creepiness and weirdness and the occasional gross out moment. I particularly enjoyed "Revenge is Very Sweet" (one man's war with bugs); "Nightmare on Walrus Island" (an hallucinatory ghost story); "The Black Box of Sumeria" (mostly for the tricksy ending that the author had to explain); "Devil's Tower" (for its pulp fiction feel and touches of Lovecraft) and "In the Company of Geese" (a genuinely funny tale about the trials and tribulations of a flock of geese). Not the greatest or most original anthology, but one that still had enough suspenseful, whimsical and entertaining moments to get around some of the more stilted elements of the prose. Oh! and the cover of the book is an absolute cracker.… (plus d'informations)