Saturday Shorts

Saturday Shorts

 Saturday Shorts is a feature where I review 3-4 short stories that are 100 pages or less. Enjoy! 

*Books source ~ Many thanks to the authors for providing review copies in exchange for honest reviews.

Title ~ No Mercy

Author ~ Wendy Cartmell

Publisher ~ Wendy Cartmell

Published ~ 11 February 2012

Genre ~ Suspense/Anthology

My Rating ~ 4 bites out of 5

No Mercy has five short stories and an excerpt from Steps to Heaven, the first book in the Sgt Major Crane series.

Well-written and easy to fit into about 10 or 15 minutes of free time, each story is a good read.  Short stories are my Achilles Heel. I have a hard time writing about them without giving anything away. So I will just say that I enjoyed each one. I’m not exactly sure which genre they are other than fiction, but I would feel most comfortable slotting them under suspense.

I’ve read Steps to Heaven already, so I skipped the excerpt, but of the five shorts I’d say that What If…? was my favorite.

Title ~Paradox 

Author ~ Lane Diamond

Publisher ~ Evolved Publishing

Published ~ 19 December 2011

Genre ~ Sci-Fi

My Rating ~ 4 bites and a nibble out of 5

Ted is in a space capsule heading on a routine mission to Mars. He’s put into stasis and when he wakes up he’s 30 years past his arrival date. What? How did this happen? He doesn’t have enough oxygen, water or food to last him even if he could travel back to Mars or Earth. What is he going to do?

Ok, this story freaked me out. While I love Star Trek and Star Wars, I have no desire to be away from the plentiful if slightly polluted oxygen available to me here on good old Earth. Ted’s situation gave me the heebie jeebies. And the ending? Holy crap! I had to read it twice just to make sure I had it right. 

Title ~ Color Me Bad 

Series ~ Curl Up and Dye, #0.5

Author ~ Sharon Sala

Publisher ~ Sourcebooks 

Published ~ 3 September 2013

Genre ~ Humor

My Rating ~ 5 bites out of 5

Ruby Dye is not a native of Blessing, Georgia, but she’s managed to fit in just fine by opening the only beauty shop for miles around. The Curl Up and Dye is her start over following her divorce and after twelve years she’s made herself a comfortable life in Blessings. When Patty June, the preacher’s wife, and Bobbette, the preacher’s little piece on the side, encounter each other at the Curl Up and Dye Patty June sets things in motion that really shake up the small town.

This short story and prequel to the Curl Up and Dye series is a hoot. This is the first book by Sharon Sala I’ve read, but I really like her style. It’s well-written, the dialogue is great and the characters are awesome. I picked it up and then didn’t want to put it down. I am so glad I have the first book in the series ready to go from NetGalley also. I’m really looking forward to continuing with this series.

Title ~ Ghoul Goblin

Series ~ Dresden Files Graphic Novels

Author ~ Jim Butcher

Illustrator ~ Mark Powers, Joseph Cooper

Publisher ~ Dynamite Entertainment

Published ~ 17 December 2013

Genre ~ Graphic Novel/Fantasy

My Rating ~ 4 bites and a nibble out of 5

*NOTE: This is actually 152 pages, but since it's a graphic novel and not 152 pages of text, I thought I'd include it.

This is the 6^th graphic novel in the Dresden Files universe. I’ve managed to read books 1 & 2, but haven’t gotten my hands on library copies of 3, 4 and 5. This story doesn’t follow along the lines of the novels or short stories, it's not a retelling. It’s a completely new tale set after Fool Moon and one I enjoyed tremendously. Of course, I don’t think there’s a Dresden book yet that I haven’t liked.

Harry is trying to track a Black Lagoon-type creature when a small town Missouri deputy comes to his office looking to hire him for an unusual problem. People in one family are dying and in very strange circumstances. Strange in the way that Harry knows so well, by supernatural means. So Harry agrees to help and heads to Boone Mill. Unfortunately, nothing is ever easy for Harry.

Having only read books 1 & 2 in the graphic novel universe and that was a few years ago, I can’t really compare the illustrations to say if I like this illustrator better than the others. I do like the illustrations in this novel and the story was very interesting. I also liked that this was a new story in the Dresden Universe and not a retelling of a previous one. Nothing wrong with retellings, but it’s always a pleasure to read a new one about Harry since the Dresden Files is up there among my favorite series.

I’m not a huge fan of graphic novels, but I’ll read the Dresden Files any day of the week. Bring on the next one.