Mercedes M. Yardley

Darling by Mercedes M. Yardley brings to you story of a town, Darling. A small town with a history is definitely going to captivate you. Although, the plot took a long time to reach somewhere, still it did not lose its charisma. Cherry, a caring mother is running from her abusive husband, lands in her hometown as she has no other place to go. And, after that the plot takes many twists and turns but you need to be patient to enjoy this. The only thing I could not understand was Cherry's character. She is a caring mother, no doubt, but her relations with every other man in the town was totally a no from me. The climax was a bit different.

Definitely 4 stars from me. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an opportunity to read and review the book.… (meer)

Another fantastic Crystal Lake Publishing anthology! This collection of dark fiction short stories is in the same vein as Gutted. All of the tales within have either beautiful writing, an interesting twist, or something to say about our shared humanity - many of the stories contain all three. Every story is well-written, and a few are quite creepy and/or disturbing. My only single complaint is that a few stories pile on the emotional descriptions a little too heavily for my tastes. I'd rather have one effective gut-punch sentence than several pages to describe someone's pain. However, I also see this as a generational thing. I think it is the younger authors that tend toward the emotional overload, which I believe reflects the times we live in, in which everything has to be exaggerated in order to even be noticed. In horror, it's the modern version of overdosing on gothic melancholia, and in that light I respect it. Either way, this book in totality was an extreme pleasure to read. Highly recommended for anyone who digs the dark side of poetic prose.… (meer)

For a novella, this little book packs a punch.

Happy Marie becomes Grim Marie when her daughter Aleta is forced to face things a child should never have to face. Then Grim Marie becomes something far worse than Grim. I don't blame her one bit. You won't either.

Twists and turns lead you down and you won't be turning back. Neither could Marie.

Highly Recommended for fans of dark fiction and revenge tales! (Though this story is WAY more than your average everyday revenge tale.) Bravo!… (meer)

4.5 Stars!

A ghost named Blank with Xs for eyes, and a ghost named Shultz-these are the only friends of Detritus; and they both know the "Opposite" is coming. What a strange, sad and surreal story this was. I'm not quite sure what to make of it, other than that I loved it.

Detritus is a young man who has nothing in life, not even a nice first name. With a meth head for a "mother", (which, believe me is using the term loosely), and whoever her boyfriend is for the week, Det's life in the trailer is barely tolerable. It's really no wonder that he has ghosts for friends.

But time with his spectral buddies is limited because they all know/feel that the Opposite is coming and he's coming for Det. For everything lovely in Det's life the Opposite chalks up something horrible in his life. It's some kind of insane world balance. But the Opposite NEEDS Det, or at least he believes he does, and this is where the story lives.

I want to mention the use of language, it was often just gorgeous. I loved this passage when Det was telling Blank how he felt about her:

"He told her he had a hole in his heart just her size. He told her all those things lonely people long to hear, and they were scented lavender words."

Doesn't that pull on something inside you? It does for me.

I loved this novella, somber and dark though it was, and I urge you to try it out for yourself. It's a surreal, shadowy little treat and even though you might have questions, I bet you'll enjoy it just the same. Sometimes it's best to leave some things to the imagination.

Highly recommended! Buy your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Detritus-Love-Yardley-Mercedes-M-ebook/dp/B01M0I3DQX/chas...

*I was provided a free e-copy of this novella in exchange for my honest review. This is it. In addition, I do *know* John Boden, (on-line only), and consider him to be a friend. This has not affected the outcome of this review.*… (meer)