- Format: Kindle Edition
- File Size: 221 KB
- Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1926997050
- Publisher: Imajin Books; 1 edition (July 27, 2010)
- Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
- Language: English
- ASIN: B003XKNG3W
- Source: I bought it (Amazon .99 cents)
Product Description (
Amazon)
Thirteen stories take you from one hold-your-breath chapter to the next.
Stories included in this collection:
- A Grave Error
- The Death of an Old Cow
- Maid of Dishonor
- Atrophy
- Picture Perfect
- Sweet Dreams
- Separation Anxiety
- The Car
- Deadly Reunion
- Remote Control
- Ouija
- Caller Unknown
- Skeletons in the Closet
If you are a fan of Stephen King's short story collections, you'll enjoy this creepy collection by bestselling suspense author Cheryl Kaye Tardif.
My take
These short stories have been written over the last two decades and for a variety of purposes. Some have won awards while Caller Unknown, Deadly Reunion and Skeletons in the Closet are shorts that have never before been published or online.
In her introduction to the anthology Cheryl says
My greatest desire is to get your heart pounding, to make you jump when you hear a strange sound, and to give you at least one sleepless night. If I accomplish any of these, then I've done my job.
It is hard to say which of the stories I liked best. They were all very readable and many of them had great "hooks". Here are some examples:
A Grave Error
Myrtle Murphy had everything she wanted out of life―a dead husband, a grown son who'd moved to the opposite coast and neighbors who minded their own business. But what she didn't have was money. She needed a job. At sixty-one and living off a pittance of an early retirement pension, she had no skills to fall back on. Unless you could call slipping your husband small doses of rat poison in his evening tea for over a month a skill.
The Death of an Old Cow (Myrtle Murphy Mystery #2)
Myrtle Murphy had everything she wanted out of life―except her damned mother-in-law was still breathing. And that wasn't part of the plan. The bitch should have keeled over after drinking the three cups of tea laced with arsenic. Instead, she was passed out on the couch―snoring, of all things. And alive. Myrtle scowled. The nerve of her!
Deadly Reunion
I was just sitting down at my desk with a mug of nuked coffee and a week-old whole wheat bagel when the email arrived―the one that changed my life forever.
Caller
So now I'm an assassin. It's a job I'm good at. Hell, in this crappy economy, it's a job―period. Whenever I meet a potential client, there are no names exchanged. As far as they know, I have no name. I hand out silver-edged business cards that read: Pest Extermination Services of Toronto. P.E.S.T. for short. You won't find me in any phone book and the phone number on the card belongs to a throw-away cell phone.
So if you are looking for some entertaining quick reads, with macabre settings and endings, look no further.
My rating: 4.4
About the author
Cheryl Kaye Tardif is an award-winning, bestselling Canadian suspense author. Her novels include Children of the Fog, The River, Divine Intervention, and Whale Song, which New York Times bestselling author Luanne Rice calls "a compelling story of love and family and the mysteries of the human heart...a beautiful, haunting novel."
She has finished Divine Justice (book 2 in the Divine series), which is slated for publication in May 2011.
She also enjoys writing short stories, which has resulted in Skeletons in the Closet & Other Creepy Stories (ebook) and Remote Control (novelette ebook).
Cheryl recently detoured from suspense with her debut contemporary romantic suspense novel, Lancelot's Lady, written under the pen name of Cherish D'Angelo.
Cheryl's website:
cherylktardif.com
Official blog:
cherylktardif.blogspot.com
Twitter:
twitter.com/cherylktardif
