A review by motherhorror
Bones are Made to be Broken by Paul Michael Anderson
5.0
Thank you to the author for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.
I've read at least 20 different short story collections in the last 2-3 years. I will always be a rabid fan of the short story format. I truly believe that if an author is worth one's salt, they will be able to tell a a full story in 50 pages or less.
Sometimes, I don't *feel* like reading a novel. Sometimes I want the reading pleasure of finishing a story in one hour--the satisfaction of an ending with no bookmark added.
Some authors are more adept than others and it's my opinion this comes from two, natural (difficult) abilities or talents: developing strong characters and editing ruthlessly.
Paul Michael Anderson carries such talents and wields them beautifully in this diverse collection of stories.
Right out of the gate, the story, "Crawling Back to You" is a unique twist on vampire lore and it scared me. I knew I was in capable hands.
After this classic horror story, the tales range from a SciFi-Horror blend, "A Nice Town With Very Clean Streets" to the unusual, "The Doorway Man" to a spicy 'rom-com', "Love Song for the Rejected". I think Paul is extremely versatile and can genre-shift with the best of them.
My favorite was the heaviest and the longest; the title story: Bones Are Made to Be Broken.
A very emotional story told through the perspective of an unreliable narrator, Karen, battling guilt and depression in the aftermath of divorce. With every page, I felt myself investing in this troubled woman's plight to be a 'good mom'. I worried about her. I worried about her young son. I felt the sense of foreboding as the story wound down to it's shocking conclusion. I cried.
This is storytelling at its most powerful--to be able to leave readers with that literary hangover we all crave-the inability to leave the words on the page so we pick them up and store them in our hearts like a piece of ourselves we found and need to keep.
I'll be recommending this collection forever and I can't wait to read a novel. Horror fans & Short Story Lovers: This is a must have!
I've read at least 20 different short story collections in the last 2-3 years. I will always be a rabid fan of the short story format. I truly believe that if an author is worth one's salt, they will be able to tell a a full story in 50 pages or less.
Sometimes, I don't *feel* like reading a novel. Sometimes I want the reading pleasure of finishing a story in one hour--the satisfaction of an ending with no bookmark added.
Some authors are more adept than others and it's my opinion this comes from two, natural (difficult) abilities or talents: developing strong characters and editing ruthlessly.
Paul Michael Anderson carries such talents and wields them beautifully in this diverse collection of stories.
Right out of the gate, the story, "Crawling Back to You" is a unique twist on vampire lore and it scared me. I knew I was in capable hands.
After this classic horror story, the tales range from a SciFi-Horror blend, "A Nice Town With Very Clean Streets" to the unusual, "The Doorway Man" to a spicy 'rom-com', "Love Song for the Rejected". I think Paul is extremely versatile and can genre-shift with the best of them.
My favorite was the heaviest and the longest; the title story: Bones Are Made to Be Broken.
A very emotional story told through the perspective of an unreliable narrator, Karen, battling guilt and depression in the aftermath of divorce. With every page, I felt myself investing in this troubled woman's plight to be a 'good mom'. I worried about her. I worried about her young son. I felt the sense of foreboding as the story wound down to it's shocking conclusion. I cried.
This is storytelling at its most powerful--to be able to leave readers with that literary hangover we all crave-the inability to leave the words on the page so we pick them up and store them in our hearts like a piece of ourselves we found and need to keep.
I'll be recommending this collection forever and I can't wait to read a novel. Horror fans & Short Story Lovers: This is a must have!