James Everington

A failed writer, haunted by a ghastly crippled child and treading water in a mysteriously-quarantined Mitteleuropean port city encounters his doppelgänger, whose stories seem to be able to warp reality or to shift the timeline. There are elements of horror and SF wrapped around this Auster-ish exploration of identity, guilt, and the power of narrative which makes excellent use of recurring motifs and doubled or parallel imagery. This kind of thing can go tits-up very easily but Everington handles it with aplomb. A pleasant surprise.… (meer)

I loved this collection!
There were 12 stories in this book, they were all lyrically written and quite original(which in itself is a feat). I did not care much for a few of them, but, for me, that is not unusual in a collection such as this. Finding 5 stories that absolutely knocked my socks off IS unusual!

First off, my favorite story, "A Writer's Words" was well written, concise and a pleasant surprise-very different from anything I've read before. For the main character of the story, what happened to him was an absolute horror. For me? It was glee! This story goes down as one of my favorite shorts, EVER. I think it has one of the best endings ever for a short story (which is saying a lot because I prefer shorts with a punch).

I also very much enjoyed "First Time Buyers", "Schrodinger's Box", "Some Stories for Escapists #3: The Haunted House", "Red Route" (my second favorite in this collection" and lastly "When the Walls Bend" which was a different type spin on an old theme.

I also liked the author's note section at the end. I always enjoy hearing an author's thoughts and reasoning behind a story, AFTER I've read the story. There were some interesting tidbits in there regarding how the stories came about; it was like a peek behind the curtain.
I usually like to make a note regarding any errors, typos or formatting issues. In this case, I don't have any notes to make. I noticed very few, if any, errors and lately, that's very refreshing.
I would give this book 4.5 stars if the system would let me. Since it doesn't, I've left it at 4.0. I am going to keep an eye on this author...I have a feeling that his name will be more well known in the future and I want to be in on the ground floor!… (meer)

I picked up this short novella (deliberately not calling it a novellette, see why in the afterward to this story) because I adored this writer's short story anthology [b:The Other Room|11291303|The Other Room|James Everington|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41EqWJ8OvTL._SL75_.jpg|16218746]. I was not disappointed.
I don't like to talk too much about the plot in my reviews (many a book has been spoiled for me because of reviews like that), but I will say that the story line involves 4 children taking a walk to go check out an old air raid shelter. It is reminiscent of Kings "The Body" or "It" in this way. In fact, the author gives nods to those books in his afterword. James Everington, like King, writes about children very well. You do feel as if you are traveling with them as a part of their group. You might wish you weren't as the story progresses.
I like how the story unfolds and reels you in. It also had an ending that was not quite expected, which I always enjoy. I appreciated how this story focused on more old-school type creeping horror, rather than outright blood and gore.
I enjoy and appreciate this author very much and am looking forward to anything else he may offer in the future.
… (meer)