Tag Archives: Theme of Absense

Review of “The Keeper of the Pit and the Kon” by Joachim Heijndermans

Plot: The Keeper of the Pit is the boss, and the Kon, the employee. They don’t communicate well. Quite literally, they don’t speak the same language. The Keeper determines when the Pit is lit. This sets fire to a Ring around the city to help keep winter’s chill away and to keep people from freezing.Continue reading “Review of “The Keeper of the Pit and the Kon” by Joachim Heijndermans”

Review of “A Ghost’s Story” by James Rumpel

Plot: One day in 2009, Neil Burton perished in a hail of snow peas. He’d been trying to re-arrange thousand-pound crates of vegetables with his forklift while eating a sandwich, and things didn’t go well. The angel who met him at his demise explained his time was up, so regardless of what he’d done thatContinue reading “Review of “A Ghost’s Story” by James Rumpel”

Review of “The Nature of Time” by Preston Dennett

Plot: Dr. Harry Topper Ph.D., professor of Philosophy (retired), is annoyed with his lifelong friend, Dr. Jack Trask. It’s so unlike Jack, perhaps the most fastidious man on the planet, to be late—and so late! Twenty minutes he’s been waiting at their regular table in the diner! Something must be wrong. The sight of Trask,Continue reading “Review of “The Nature of Time” by Preston Dennett”

Review of “Dig Faster” by J.B. Toner

Plot: Ghost-hunter Tom Monaghan stops for coffee in a small roadside diner in Maine on his way to Boston. His ears prick up overhearing snatches of conversation among the local: “mutilated bodies,” “some kinda spooks,” and “I heard it was the Devil hisself!” Sometimes you just get lucky, Monaghan says. After getting directions, he headsContinue reading “Review of “Dig Faster” by J.B. Toner”

Review of “Non-Existence Never Hurt Anyone” by John McLaughlin

Plot: Brooks is up to the “Party Staff and Responsibilities” module of the new employee tutorial when his new supervisor comes in to check up on him. He has just started his job as a sensory technician. They don’t discuss the manual, but the merits of the new ruling Negative Utilitarian Party. The NUP (delightfulContinue reading “Review of “Non-Existence Never Hurt Anyone” by John McLaughlin”

Review of “The Exhumation of Commandant De Alvarado” by Richard L. Rubin

Plot: Captain Julian Escobar leads a small detail, including his friend, Lieutenant Maria Bazan, on a mission to administer a dose of post-mortem justice. They have orders to exhume the remains of a war criminal, Commandant de Alvarado, confidante of the Fascist dictator of the former regime. The old Commandant has been lying in aContinue reading “Review of “The Exhumation of Commandant De Alvarado” by Richard L. Rubin”

Review of “Fast Forgotten” by Ronald Schulte

Plot: Sometime after being struck by a truck, the unnamed narrator suffers from retrograde amnesia. He remembers the rehab. Before the accident, he was a runner. He has no memory of running, or of anything that occurred before the accident. At home, he has a trophy room and a family to corroborate it, however. HeContinue reading “Review of “Fast Forgotten” by Ronald Schulte”

Review of “Suckers” by Tim Boiteau

Plot: Jameel has just moved into a house in an unhappy neighborhood of northern Detroit. Half of the houses are habitable. The rest shelter crackheads. His wife Marta has recently passed away. Jameel waits, avoiding the sun, going out once a month for groceries, cleaning his pump-action shotgun. He watches new neighbors move in nextContinue reading “Review of “Suckers” by Tim Boiteau”

Review of “The Grandfathers of Benson’s Corners” by Roy Dorman

Image by tim striker from Pixabay Plot: As all grandfathers of Benson’s Corners do when their oldest grandson turns ten, Elmer Ebsen is going into the woods. The whole town turns out for a day of picnicking near the edge of Devil’s Woods. At the end of the day, Elmer, carrying an ax and a gunnyContinue reading “Review of “The Grandfathers of Benson’s Corners” by Roy Dorman”