Day 162: June 9, 2019

KING CRAB VERSUS GIANT SCORPIAN by William Meikle

Bug Eyed Monsters – 2019

Adventure – 24 Pages (about, digital)

Big monsters and big guns. Man, I don’t really like army guns in stories. The way the soldiers die and fire, they’re nameless, faceless, inconsequential, simply part of the scenery of the story. Steady sacrifices. Anyway, this fast-paced jaunt has a real Pacific Rim vibe, but with prehistoric and other dimensional creatures, and offers up some fun visuals, but was ultimately lacking in much to care about (good chance I’m simply not the intended audience, because if I liked bang-bang pew-pew there’d be a lot to like about this one).

**

Day 163: June 10, 2019

EVERYTHING THAT RISES MUST CONVERGE by Flannery O’Connor

100 Years of the Best American Short Stories – 2015 (story originally published in New World Writing, 1962)

General – 14 Pages

This story’s about an adult son and his bigot, racist mother who thinks she’s a class above because her ancestors owned slaves and real estate, and has a difficult time coping with racial integration. Not so much has changed. I relate in some ways to the son in this story. Forty years later I’d turned my back on my shitty parents and their shitty views. Anyway, this one’s a good bit of fun with a rollercoaster vibe of the son’s emotional ups and downs throughout. Well written. Engrossing. Funny. Human.

*****

Day 164: June 11, 2019

IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH by Brian Moore

Every Day Fiction – 2019

General – 2 Pages (about, digital)

A somber story about loss and regret and maybe a little anger. A man sees his ex, who’d been sick and dissolved their relationship because of that and he watches her longingly, reminiscing. It unravels that both weren’t who they once were, and that’s about it. Not much going on, though had impact where intended.

****

Day 165: June 12, 2019

FEAST FOR SMALL PIECES by Hailey Piper

Bronzeville Bee – 2019

Horror – 2 Pages (about, digital)

This is a fun little flash piece. I love a story about a presumptuous dick head, the type who accosts women with expectations of…whatever, getting what’s duly coming. Here, the situation falls on a singular and a grand scale simultaneously, revealing the breadth of this comeuppance. Good stuff in a wee space.

*****

Day 166: June 13, 2019

ICU by Dennis Lehane

Coronado – 2007 (story originally published in Beloit Fiction Journal, 2004)

Crime – 24 Pages

Dennis Lehane’s a master of dialogue and character building through interaction. This story has significantly less than average (for a Lehane story) dialogue and relies heavily on description, of everything, everything, everything. This story is also a bit confusing and lacks suspense, has only minor intrigue. An odd offering.

**

Day 167: June 14, 2019

THE SUITCASE by Edward D. Hoch

Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine November 2012 (originally published in The Saint, 1962)

Crime – 4 Pages

This one has a great setup. A plane crashes and a witness steals a suitcase that sets a string of events off that eventually consume his life. The only downfall, from my seat, was the finale that teeters on Christianity, redoubling the closing impact if you find Bibles to be a totem of morality. I don’t, so… Still, really good story.

****

Day 168: June 15, 2019

GREAT LOST DISCOVERIES II: INVULNERABILITY by Fredric Brown

Nightmares and Geezenstacks – 1961

Comedy – 2 Pages

Guy invents a machine to protect himself from the strength of a hydrogen bomb, but doesn’t foresee other obstacles. It’s so absurd in carry through that it works.

***

Favorites of the week follow a similar vein—in my response to them, anyway—so I decided not to choose one or the other: EVERYTHING THAT RISES MUST CONVERGE by Flannery O’Connor and FEAST FOR SMALL PIECES by Hailey Piper.