Review: 8 POUNDS: Eight Tales of Crime, Horror and Suspense, Chris F. Holm

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 294 KB
• Publisher: Poisonville Press (October 13, 2010)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0047742P6
• Source: I bought it 

Synopsis (Amazon)

These eight tales run the gamut from small-town horror to old-school, whiskey-slugging noir, with a touch of coming-of-age adventure thrown in for good measure. We're talking over a hundred print pages of pure pulp perfection that'll cost you less than the paper it ain't printed on.

My take

This little collection of pearls is available on Amazon for 99 cents. I bought it over 12 months ago and the title ensures that it lurks at the top of my Kindle library if I'm browsing by title. And they really are enjoyable gems. The beaut thing about short stories is that they are quick to read, almost fitting in the ad. breaks on TV, or just the thing when you are waiting at the dentist's or the doctor's.

Each one of these eight tales is very different, although many of them are written in the first person.

• Seven Days of Rain
• A Better Life
• A Simple Kindness
• The Toll Collectors
• Eight Pounds
• The Well
• The Big Score
• The World Behind

And I enjoyed them all. Often when you read an anthology you find some are better than others. I really couldn't rank these. Each had it's own little quirky twist. If you click on the cover image you should be transported to Amazon where you can sample the first Seven Days of Rain for yourself. The Well sticks in my mind as definitely the most gruesome.

Chris Holm says these stories represent his output 2007 to 2009, and that sadly some of them are now out of print. You may have read some of them:

• “Seven Days of Rain” first appeared in Demolition Magazine, September 2007. 
• “A Better Life” first appeared in The Feral Pages, October 2009. 
• “A Simple Kindness” first appeared in Spinetingler Magazine, January 2008. 
• “The Toll Collectors” first appeared in Beat to a Pulp, February 2009. 
• “Eight Pounds” first appeared in Thuglit, December 2009. 
• “The Well” first appeared in Flashes in the Dark, February 2009. 
• “The Big Score” first appeared in The Back Alley Webzine, July 2008. 
• “The World Behind” first appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, June 2007.

My rating: 4.3

About the author
Chris F. Holm wrote his first story at the age of six. It got him sent to the principal's office.
He'd like to think that right then is when he decided to become a writer.
Since then, Chris' stories have appeared in a slew of publications, including Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Needle Magazine, and Thuglit.
He's been a Derringer Award finalist and a Spinetingler Award winner, and he's also written a novel or two, which are currently out on submission.
You can visit Chris on the web at www.chrisfholm.com.