Synopsis
This is a collection of stories whose endings you can try to predict, but you will almost always get it wrong. From the lottery-winner who inspires enmity in his neighbour, to the fraudulent fortune-teller discovering that she has a psychic gift after all, to the down-trodden schoolboy whose ‘daydreams’ reveal a crime which he then uses all his ingenuity to expose, a huge range of characters walk through these pages.
Some of them are innocent; others, like the greedy property-developer, border on evil; but most of them are human with all the foibles and self-interest inherent in that condition. To read these stories is to share in the author’s jaundiced view of the world – a world nonetheless illuminated by flashes of humour, pathos and warmth. You will be hugging yourself with glee at the ‘comeuppance’ doled out to some characters, and wishing you could dive into the story to give a timely warning to others. You will certainly be turning the pages rapidly to see what happens …
Genre: Short stories anthologies
Review
A great collection of short stories all with a twist that is never predictable. The book brings to the fore the great play of destiny in our lives. Some results are happy some sad but each of the stories remind you of incidents that you would have come across at some point in life and are a great parallel to many lives that you will have heard about.
It is a great travel read but you may find yourself wanting to complete the entire book because the stories are so interesting.
Author Profile: Clive West
Clive West was born in the West Country of England in the early 60’s. He was educated at a traditional English public school before going on to university to study civil engineering. Over the years, he has worked as a civil engineer, tutor of maths and science, schools quiz-master, employment agency boss, and writer.
His work includes a collection of short stories with twists called Hobson’s Choice (also available in print), a full-length novel called ‘The Road’ about the consequences of corruption on ordinary people and an accessible job hunting interview guide (based on his years of experience as the boss of an employment agency).
He has also written a book about lymphedema. This is a disfiguring, life-threatening and incurable disease he now suffers from and which his experience shows that most fellow patients have (like him) been abandoned by their respective health services.
Clive now lives in a rebuilt farmhouse in the Umbrian region of Italy along with Damaris, his writer wife of 22 years and their three rescue dogs. Apart from his fictional work, Clive also writes commercial non-fiction on a variety of topics but especially relating to business and employment. He and Damaris run an indie publishers called Any Subject Books Ltd – www.anysubject.com
Clive is now disabled but, aside from his writing, he also enjoys playing the keyboard, listening to music and reading.
This review is part of the Hobson’s Choice Book Tour by Virtual Book Tour Cafe
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