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4.33 AVERAGE
4.33 AVERAGE
A fine collection of stories. Hilda's Day Out is highly unusual, we see the action from a dog's perspective (Hilda). He's kidnapped to cheer up a little girl. It's very, very well done. The dog has a dialogue (barking to the humans) and his view of the world is a happy, naive one and dominated by sounds and smells. Smartly done.
Then there's Mother Should Know. A girl who's experienced little in life meets a boy and tries to impress him, but it doesn't work out well.
Bye Bye Baby is a psychological thriller which is also separately published as a novella with the same title. However this is the original and is written from the mother's perspective. Her 7 year old son has gone missing from school and two police constables investigate. Well done with a good twist.
Finally Call Me I'm Dying constructed in a bit of a trademark fashion whereby time is ticking away throughout. A man and woman are having an anniversary dinner but everything is not as it seems. For one the pair only meet once a year and run through a routine. Then the man receives a call, he's told he'll be dead inside 30 minutes. Tense, clever stuff.
Then there's Mother Should Know. A girl who's experienced little in life meets a boy and tries to impress him, but it doesn't work out well.
Bye Bye Baby is a psychological thriller which is also separately published as a novella with the same title. However this is the original and is written from the mother's perspective. Her 7 year old son has gone missing from school and two police constables investigate. Well done with a good twist.
Finally Call Me I'm Dying constructed in a bit of a trademark fashion whereby time is ticking away throughout. A man and woman are having an anniversary dinner but everything is not as it seems. For one the pair only meet once a year and run through a routine. Then the man receives a call, he's told he'll be dead inside 30 minutes. Tense, clever stuff.
4 short stories and the titular first story is fantastic and worth the price of admission. Told from the perspective of the dog on the cover. the other 3 stories get pretty dark and I found they stuck with me more... not necessarily a *happy* outcome but hats off to Mr Guthrie for creating memorable situations in a few pages.
(FWIW, if I were more of a short story reader I would possibly give this a fourth star.)
(FWIW, if I were more of a short story reader I would possibly give this a fourth star.)