shahrun's review
4.0
Pretty solid collection of short stories. The stand out ones for me are (basically all of them):
Hardscrabble was very nice. Good twist at the end.
The Funeral was a real oops moment.
Dead Men Tell No Tales I really loved.
Old Tricks was simply brilliant!
Tell No Lies - absolutely brilliant. Right till last line
The Perfect murder was perfect. Even though I had an idea of the outcome, the journey there was fab
Bird In A Cage was very creepy and sinister - nice!
Hardscrabble was very nice. Good twist at the end.
The Funeral was a real oops moment.
Dead Men Tell No Tales I really loved.
Old Tricks was simply brilliant!
Tell No Lies - absolutely brilliant. Right till last line
The Perfect murder was perfect. Even though I had an idea of the outcome, the journey there was fab
Bird In A Cage was very creepy and sinister - nice!
nattly's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
gouldingherringreads's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
They were okay short stories. Only 20 pages each or so. Cannot really expect much in those little pages. My favourite story was The Perfect Murder. I would like more from that story
helenwhite83's review
5.0
The first of two Quick Reads that I picked up at my local library, this appealed to me because, although I was familiar with the featured authors, with the exception of CL Taylor I had not read anything by them. This book is a collection of short stories from some of the best writers of the genre. Although too short to really reel you in as a reader, I found the shorts gave me a taste of the author’s style and has given me a few new names to look for at the library! I especially enjoyed the tales from Mark Billingham, James Oswald, Jane Casey and Harry Bingham, and incidentally I thought the short from Taylor was better than the novel I recently read by her. Well worth picking up if you want to try some new authors.
iamjamface's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
dutts_87's review
3.0
This feels like a bit of a cheat, as it was a “Quick Reads” book, but actually, it’s been very good! It’s allowed me to sample eight new authors, three of which were recommended to me recently. It’s also shown me that suspense and wonder can be built and released very quickly. One of the short stories was actually very good, and if built on, would make a brilliant novel! This book showed me a lot of very good authoring techniques, and despite a cheat read, was very enjoyable!
readingwithgemma's review
3.0
I love these quick read books. I find sometimes that the stories don’t have enough time to develop, in those that have a collection of stories in them. Most of them are 20-30 pages long and some stories needing longer, but some were written so perfectly and being the length they were only made them better. Some were great, would give them 5 stars, but others weren’t so good and some just missed the mark for me, so a 3 stars overall
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