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Smile
He was standing there. Right there. He kept shouting that he was going to go but.... he wasn't moving... he wasn't. I thought he was bluffing... I only turned my back on him for a moment. A moment! Had I seen him go... of course I would have followed. Of course I would have gone after my younger brother! The thought of him lost in this shopping centre... alone... it sends shivers down my back.I have to find him. I WILL find him. Anything to get out of having to make the call home to mum. She's going to be so mad...* * * * * * *Alex's mum was tired and over-worked. Holding down a full-time job, keeping the house clean and looking after the children - the youngest of which was still a handful with his ADHD as they tried to get the medication right - she just wanted a break. Even if it were only for an afternoon - so she sent Alex to the shopping mall, with his younger brother who was throwing a tantrum because he wanted to go to the toy store to spend his pocket money. She never once thought Alex would lose his younger brother in the crowds.And no one would have guessed how the day would have ended or just how many more children were missing.'Smile' is a new horror from the best-selling author behind the 'Happy Ever After Trilogy' - told through the eyes of the main character as he frantically searches for his missing brother.
118 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 9, 2012
26 people are currently reading
685 people want to read
About the author
Matt Shaw
529 books2,193 followersBiography
MATT SHAW was born, quite by accident (his mother tripped, he shot out) September 30th 1980 in Winchester hospital where he was immediately placed on the baby ward and EBay. Some twelve years later (wandering the corridors of the hospital and playing with road kill when he was on day release), the listing closed and he remained unsold, he was booted out of the hospital to start his life as a writer and hobbit – beginning with writing screenplays and short stories for his own amusement before finally getting published when he was twenty-seven years and forty-five seconds old.
Once Published weekly in a lad's magazine with his photography work, Matt Shaw is also a published author and cartoonist. Has to be said, can be a bit of a flirt and definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, somewhat of a klutz.
Favourite books
"Roald Dahl's Collection of Short Stories"
Tim Burton's Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy
Anything, really, written by himself. Because he is that good.
MATT SHAW was born, quite by accident (his mother tripped, he shot out) September 30th 1980 in Winchester hospital where he was immediately placed on the baby ward and EBay. Some twelve years later (wandering the corridors of the hospital and playing with road kill when he was on day release), the listing closed and he remained unsold, he was booted out of the hospital to start his life as a writer and hobbit – beginning with writing screenplays and short stories for his own amusement before finally getting published when he was twenty-seven years and forty-five seconds old.
Once Published weekly in a lad's magazine with his photography work, Matt Shaw is also a published author and cartoonist. Has to be said, can be a bit of a flirt and definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, somewhat of a klutz.
Favourite books
"Roald Dahl's Collection of Short Stories"
Tim Burton's Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy
Anything, really, written by himself. Because he is that good.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 60 reviews
October 14, 2025
3.5 stars. I had a dentist appointment this morning, so this book just felt right today. The way this is writen makes you absolutely frantic from the start. And any parent or older sibling knows these feelings well, when navigating a public area with a child. It’s stressful and you float between annoyance and fear, especially if the young one is temperamental. And, as a young kid, calling your parent when something went terribly wrong is one of the most exasperating things you can think so. Will they be mad or understanding? So Matt Shaw nailed the feelings and entire experience beautifully. Great build up and a really terrifying premise. However, the story dropped off very quickly with an abrupt and unsatisfying conclusion. So much potential, but this needed a much better ending to suffice. So close, yet so far. Smile everyone!
June 19, 2014
I believe the greatest horror comes from real life. To put it another way, if something can really happen to you, it's more terrifying than say a werewolf or aliens. This is the premise of a cracking little short from Matt Shaw, who is fast becoming one of my favourite independent authors. Shaw also includes two of the scariest elements of horror...children and...no spoilers, it ruins the ending.
First of all, I've read the reviews so let's get that part out of the way. There are errors in the book. I noticed a couple of typos and changes of tense in certain sentences. However, this doesn't ruin the flow of the story. If anything, it adds to the chaos and confusion that inhabits our protagonist, a teenager called Alex who loses his little brother in a shopping mall. As I mentioned, a real situation twisted with the menace of horror...always more effective. The errors probably weren't intentional by the author but, unlike some books, they don't ruin the experience.
The reason Smile is so effective is simple: Fear. Parents, brothers, sisters, babysitters; everyone knows the fear of losing a little one, especially somewhere as chaotic and unforgiving as a shopping mall. It paralyses you and there's always the nagging doubt that searching for someone in a place so vast is taking you further away from them. This is nestled beautifully in the book itself, the tension is ever-present as Alex goes from selfish kid to nervous, irresponsible brother. By the time he gets the (useless) security guards involved, the book is fraught with tension. I couldn't stop reading, finishing it in one sitting.
4* - Smile is a little gem of a book. It's short, tense, plotted between past and present tense - using flashbacks to trace the events of the book - and very spooky. As mentioned, I won't ruin the ending for you but Smile will have you trembling a little. It would have been 5* but I think it was a little too short. There were certain other things that seemed a little unexplained - the security camera bit for example - but sometimes, in horror, this also adds to the terror, as the unknown is always more petrifying. One thing is certain...you'll never look at your kids in the same way again.
First of all, I've read the reviews so let's get that part out of the way. There are errors in the book. I noticed a couple of typos and changes of tense in certain sentences. However, this doesn't ruin the flow of the story. If anything, it adds to the chaos and confusion that inhabits our protagonist, a teenager called Alex who loses his little brother in a shopping mall. As I mentioned, a real situation twisted with the menace of horror...always more effective. The errors probably weren't intentional by the author but, unlike some books, they don't ruin the experience.
The reason Smile is so effective is simple: Fear. Parents, brothers, sisters, babysitters; everyone knows the fear of losing a little one, especially somewhere as chaotic and unforgiving as a shopping mall. It paralyses you and there's always the nagging doubt that searching for someone in a place so vast is taking you further away from them. This is nestled beautifully in the book itself, the tension is ever-present as Alex goes from selfish kid to nervous, irresponsible brother. By the time he gets the (useless) security guards involved, the book is fraught with tension. I couldn't stop reading, finishing it in one sitting.
4* - Smile is a little gem of a book. It's short, tense, plotted between past and present tense - using flashbacks to trace the events of the book - and very spooky. As mentioned, I won't ruin the ending for you but Smile will have you trembling a little. It would have been 5* but I think it was a little too short. There were certain other things that seemed a little unexplained - the security camera bit for example - but sometimes, in horror, this also adds to the terror, as the unknown is always more petrifying. One thing is certain...you'll never look at your kids in the same way again.
January 6, 2013
So yes, if you don't want this book to be ruined (not that it's great, but still) by absolute idiots who don't understand the concept of a spoiler and that it can spoil a whole plot for someone, DON'T READ ANY REVIEWS FURTHER DOWN THIS PAGE.
Right, that said, I personally didn't think there was too much to ruin in this book. Maybe I was jaded, because I'd already had it ruined and had a fair idea what was going to happen when the protagonist's kid brother disappears. Anyway. I enjoyed the realism of the resentment of the protagonist towards his younger brother (due to his ADHD and the way that seemed to be a golden ticket for him to get his way and act out). I think this was the best part of the book for me, especially when these feelings became conflicted when the little boy disappeared.
The way it was written - the perspective, I liked. The way it jumped from tense to tense, I hated - it was amateurish. I don't mean that it was written in dual time or had flashbacks - that worked fine. It was the clear mistakes with tenses that upset me. Along with the incorrect use of certain words, the misuse of 'wonder' instead of 'wander' - yes, there is a clear difference in meaning. Evan's isn't a store in the UK but Evans - contextually to the story Evans' - is, and quite frankly I have never heard of anyone in the UK describing someone else as having a 'potty mouth' - such an Americanism. I'm not sure if the author is British or American, but either way these silly little mistakes disappoint me. A lot.
I don't know how stories like this get great reviews. It's as if authors think they are too far above having someone edit or proof read their work, and the reader suffers as a consequence. A great little idea - because I truly did like the story - but very poorly executed. I think someone else said it was as if this story was rushed and unfinished - I'd sincerely agree. Matt Shaw, find yourself a decent editor. Fast.
Right, that said, I personally didn't think there was too much to ruin in this book. Maybe I was jaded, because I'd already had it ruined and had a fair idea what was going to happen when the protagonist's kid brother disappears. Anyway. I enjoyed the realism of the resentment of the protagonist towards his younger brother (due to his ADHD and the way that seemed to be a golden ticket for him to get his way and act out). I think this was the best part of the book for me, especially when these feelings became conflicted when the little boy disappeared.
The way it was written - the perspective, I liked. The way it jumped from tense to tense, I hated - it was amateurish. I don't mean that it was written in dual time or had flashbacks - that worked fine. It was the clear mistakes with tenses that upset me. Along with the incorrect use of certain words, the misuse of 'wonder' instead of 'wander' - yes, there is a clear difference in meaning. Evan's isn't a store in the UK but Evans - contextually to the story Evans' - is, and quite frankly I have never heard of anyone in the UK describing someone else as having a 'potty mouth' - such an Americanism. I'm not sure if the author is British or American, but either way these silly little mistakes disappoint me. A lot.
I don't know how stories like this get great reviews. It's as if authors think they are too far above having someone edit or proof read their work, and the reader suffers as a consequence. A great little idea - because I truly did like the story - but very poorly executed. I think someone else said it was as if this story was rushed and unfinished - I'd sincerely agree. Matt Shaw, find yourself a decent editor. Fast.
June 22, 2014
First off Smile prays on one of the many nightmares every parent dreads, losing your child while out shopping, it nearly happened to me once and the panic is indescribable. In this day and age you’ve got to have eyes in the back of your head.
Smile is told in first person from the viewpoint of Alex who takes his 8 year old brother shopping to get school shoes, the bribe is a trip to the toy store. Shoes bought, Alex’s next stop is trainers for himself but no, arguments ensue and Lewis throws a tantrum of epic proportions, storms off and amazingly stops outside the shop. Alex has eyes on him, turns round, turns back and he’s gone.
The story follows two timelines, not to far apart, the present search for Lewis and the events leading up to the separation.
Turns out Lewis is not the only missing person in the shopping centre and while viewing CCTV footage the only unusual thing seen is the presence of a clown.
Now I’ve got to say the whole clown thing has never really done it for me in a scary context, I guess it’s from watching a few low budget horror films as a kid. Smile has changed my opinion somewhat amidst a short story that builds the tension nicely.
Smile is told in first person from the viewpoint of Alex who takes his 8 year old brother shopping to get school shoes, the bribe is a trip to the toy store. Shoes bought, Alex’s next stop is trainers for himself but no, arguments ensue and Lewis throws a tantrum of epic proportions, storms off and amazingly stops outside the shop. Alex has eyes on him, turns round, turns back and he’s gone.
The story follows two timelines, not to far apart, the present search for Lewis and the events leading up to the separation.
Turns out Lewis is not the only missing person in the shopping centre and while viewing CCTV footage the only unusual thing seen is the presence of a clown.
Now I’ve got to say the whole clown thing has never really done it for me in a scary context, I guess it’s from watching a few low budget horror films as a kid. Smile has changed my opinion somewhat amidst a short story that builds the tension nicely.
August 5, 2016
Do you hate Clowns? Well, I can guarantee you after you read this you’ll hate them a little more.
Alex loses his little ADHD brother in the mall after being asked to take him to get shoes so his worn-out mother can have a little peace and quite for awhile. He panics as anyone who loses a child would but when they find out two more children have gone missing this become dire. The only thing the children have in common, after viewing the monitors, is they all had an encounter with a strange clown—one who was not supposed to be there. What happens next will chill you to the bone and pray you never see another clown as long as you live.
Holy Hell! I could not put this book down I read it from cover to cover in an hour's time. Matt Shaw’s writing is exceptional, and the story itself sent cold, eerie chills down my spin. Smile is a suspenseful, horror story you don’t want to miss. I'd give it six stars if I could, loved this story.
Alex loses his little ADHD brother in the mall after being asked to take him to get shoes so his worn-out mother can have a little peace and quite for awhile. He panics as anyone who loses a child would but when they find out two more children have gone missing this become dire. The only thing the children have in common, after viewing the monitors, is they all had an encounter with a strange clown—one who was not supposed to be there. What happens next will chill you to the bone and pray you never see another clown as long as you live.
Holy Hell! I could not put this book down I read it from cover to cover in an hour's time. Matt Shaw’s writing is exceptional, and the story itself sent cold, eerie chills down my spin. Smile is a suspenseful, horror story you don’t want to miss. I'd give it six stars if I could, loved this story.
October 11, 2015
Well, creepy clowns are my favorite. Little spoiled children, well, not so much. With that being said, my heart went to Alex and his mother and hoping to find this little boy.
January 9, 2021
SPOILER ALERT..
ITS AN EVIL CLOWN!
A very short story filled with grammatical errors and spelling mistakes.
I make have liked it better if I hadn’t looked a goodreads and seen by people who gave away the clown part.
ITS AN EVIL CLOWN!
A very short story filled with grammatical errors and spelling mistakes.
I make have liked it better if I hadn’t looked a goodreads and seen by people who gave away the clown part.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 14, 2013
A typical teen, Alex has been asked to take his younger brother, Lewis, (who has ADHD), to the mall to give his mother a break. Alex's reward for doing so is the pair of shoes he has been wanting, all he has to do is take Lewis to the toy store he wants to visit. So far, so good, except for the creepy mall clown that is trying, unsuccessfully to make Lewis laugh.
First on Alex's agenda is to take care of what he wants to do, promising little Lewis his time will come, they will go to the store he wants to see. As Alex gets wrapped up in his own shopping, Lewis disappears and cannot be found! Security cameras show him there one minute and gone the next!
What happens next only adds to the terror of losing his brother! For a short read, I have to say, this is detailed, tense, realistic and horrific! It is every parent's nightmare, times ten!
Some people love clowns, some think they are creepy-I'd love to know how you feel about clowns after reading this!
First on Alex's agenda is to take care of what he wants to do, promising little Lewis his time will come, they will go to the store he wants to see. As Alex gets wrapped up in his own shopping, Lewis disappears and cannot be found! Security cameras show him there one minute and gone the next!
What happens next only adds to the terror of losing his brother! For a short read, I have to say, this is detailed, tense, realistic and horrific! It is every parent's nightmare, times ten!
Some people love clowns, some think they are creepy-I'd love to know how you feel about clowns after reading this!
July 14, 2024
4.5🌟
Loved it. The story feels fresh and the thrill is good.
Now I'm afraid to sleep
Loved it. The story feels fresh and the thrill is good.
Now I'm afraid to sleep
January 10, 2013
This free short novella from Kindle was my first read by this author and to be honest it will probably be my last.
Firstly there were many grammatical errors making it hard to read, the author switched from present to past tense in the same sentence, and often repeated whole paragraphs verbatim which jarred with me.
The story line began really well though with a teenage boy looking after his younger adhd affected brother in a busy shopping centre when the younger lad goes missing. It built tension and made you feel you were this teenage lad panicking about what to do trying to find his kid brother and was showing all the signs of a really good psychological thriller.
Then it suddenly took a bizarre and unbelieveable turn and the supposedly horrific ending was ridiculous. Unexpected but just didn't really go with the rest of the story and all the horror was in the last page or two.
Firstly there were many grammatical errors making it hard to read, the author switched from present to past tense in the same sentence, and often repeated whole paragraphs verbatim which jarred with me.
The story line began really well though with a teenage boy looking after his younger adhd affected brother in a busy shopping centre when the younger lad goes missing. It built tension and made you feel you were this teenage lad panicking about what to do trying to find his kid brother and was showing all the signs of a really good psychological thriller.
Then it suddenly took a bizarre and unbelieveable turn and the supposedly horrific ending was ridiculous. Unexpected but just didn't really go with the rest of the story and all the horror was in the last page or two.
July 7, 2013
4 Stars
Smile is a fun novella that is worth a quick summer read.
Matt Shaw does a great job at cranking up the tension and the angst and shows how scary losing a small child can be. The story quickly unfolds and it is clear that it will not be a fun trip to the mall for our young cast. For a novella, enough is said and enough takes place to make this story work...Check it out!
"I hate clowns.
I think that I hate the smiling ones worse. There's something really sinister about them.
Stephen fucking king.
I'm never gonna read one of his books again, I swear."
Smile is a fun novella that is worth a quick summer read.
Matt Shaw does a great job at cranking up the tension and the angst and shows how scary losing a small child can be. The story quickly unfolds and it is clear that it will not be a fun trip to the mall for our young cast. For a novella, enough is said and enough takes place to make this story work...Check it out!
"I hate clowns.
I think that I hate the smiling ones worse. There's something really sinister about them.
Stephen fucking king.
I'm never gonna read one of his books again, I swear."
January 8, 2013
tedious in the extreme....*spoilers* I did not enjoy this short story it was tedious and nothing happened! Alex loses his brother in shopping mall, his mum will kill him (yawn) he becomes aware of a rather odd clown (lets copy Stephen King!)...clown has killed and kidnapped younger brother..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....I think I'll leave Matt Shaw for others to enjoy and read something good in future :((
May 17, 2020
"Click. Keep on smiling..... and the whole world.... smiles.... with you........"
O-God!!!
No please No!!
I say forever No to Fu***ng CLOWN!
God! Clown world's worst thing of creation by human being ever. The more you ger to know about them the more you will regret it...
This short fiction another Gem of Matt Shaw. I just freaked out while reading it. Though yeah I can agree with you if someone say there's not that much to get scared of. But when you put a Clown in a story with giving it the full power to control the tale, well I hope you got the answer about how it would be like to read or experience the act of them...
Alex lost his little brother Lewis in the shopping mall and the fact is Lewis got ADHD problem with himself and this made the situation far more worse. Alex's Mom tired of her full day job needed badly her free time to relax herself. But after losing Lewis and when she finally get the news like any morher she too freaked out, hurriedly she visit the shopping mall and demand the answer where her missing child is and scolding security guards who'd been in charge at that time in there. Checking the security camera from that exact area not only Alex's mom but it seems there's more childrens being missing from that location. As the tension grew and intensified Alex didn't understand what or when the situation got wrong. But when they double checked the security camera again suddenly Alex found something that changed all the fact of their checking of those footage from security cameras...
Full of tension and Creepiest horror short fiction for me and by Matt Shaw...
September 5, 2012
I loved this book it had me gripped from the beginning. What do you do if you are shopping at a mall with your child and you turn you back for one minute and they are gone, seemingly without a trace? This book is wonderfully written with an interesting storyline. I have to admit that I had it somewhat figured out halfway through the book but, I still completed it and have to admit that the ending did indeed give me a little shock. I cant wait to read more by this author. It is a dark book and every parents nightmare come true.
August 28, 2016
From July 25th, 2012
'Smile' pulled me in from the very first page and I only put it down once - at 49% - and only to post a comment on Facebook about it. I stayed up and was so sleepy this morning - Worth It!!
I felt the emotion of the characters so vividly that my stomach had butterflies. I have turned around to find my son not there before, it was only for a second, but Matt described those feelings to a T.
'Smile' pulled me in from the very first page and I only put it down once - at 49% - and only to post a comment on Facebook about it. I stayed up and was so sleepy this morning - Worth It!!
I felt the emotion of the characters so vividly that my stomach had butterflies. I have turned around to find my son not there before, it was only for a second, but Matt described those feelings to a T.
May 15, 2013
One of Shaw's best! I'd say this is one of his most defining works.
If you love the macabre, terrifying stories that takes you places you don't want to go, then pick up a copy of SMILE.
Matt does a great job of putting the reader into the head of his main character, which is one of my favorite things about him.
Check out SMILE, and see what the fuss is about!
If you love the macabre, terrifying stories that takes you places you don't want to go, then pick up a copy of SMILE.
Matt does a great job of putting the reader into the head of his main character, which is one of my favorite things about him.
Check out SMILE, and see what the fuss is about!
October 3, 2013
This was a decent read. I liked the writing as well as the story (it wasn't error-free, but there weren't so many that it was distracting either). I found myself wanting to know more about the characters, as their lives were quickly touched in this short story.
December 2, 2012
Now I hate clowns, too.
January 21, 2013
That was disturbing... I love it.
December 23, 2023
Dieser Geschichte merkt man deutlich an, dass sich weder ein Lektor noch ein Verlagsmensch mal durchgelesen hat, was Shaw hier fabriziert hat – denn sie liest sich wie von einem Hobbyautoren oder als Schulaufsatz verfasst, der die Seiten füllen will ohne jeglichen sinnvollen Inhalt. So interessant wie meine tägliche Einkaufsliste erzählt.
Ein Großteil dieser recht kurzen Story springt zwischen dem Büro des Sicherheitspersonals und dem Schuhkauf, welcher zu Lewis' Verschwinden führt, hin und her. Wobei letzteres meiner Meinung nach sinnlos ist, da man als Leser eh weiß, dass der kleine Bruder verschwindet und wie genervt alle dadurch sind; die ganzen Seiten voller langweiliger, banaler Vorgänge des frohen Schuheinkaufs sind einfach nur Füllmaterial. Vieles habe ich übersprungen ohne was zu verpassen – auf der verzweifelten Suche nach einer Handlung.
Dann taucht auch noch eine sehr klischeebeladene Figur auf – schlecht geklaut von Stephen King, so offensichtlich, dass es schon weh tut, dem Ende werden nur ein paar Seiten gewidmet und das war es dann auch schon.
Die Charaktere sind eindimensional und nervtötend, man möchte einfach nur ins Buch reinspringen und allen eine saftige Ohrfeige verpassen.
Langweiliges Geschwafel unnötig in die Länge gezogen, kein Grusel geschweige denn Horror, die Schreibweise seeehr dürftig.
Von Matt Shaw werde ich in Zukunft nichts mehr lesen, er hat schlicht und ergreifend nichts drauf, seine restlichen Ergüsse sind genauso schlecht. Und „Smile“ passt so gar nicht in die Extrem-Reihe.
Wo die guten Bewertungen herkommen, weiß ich nicht, vielleicht hatten die eine andere Version gelesen...
Nur zur Info: Ich habe die deutsche Ausgabe aus dem Festa-Verlag unter dem Titel „Smile“ gelesen.
Ein Großteil dieser recht kurzen Story springt zwischen dem Büro des Sicherheitspersonals und dem Schuhkauf, welcher zu Lewis' Verschwinden führt, hin und her. Wobei letzteres meiner Meinung nach sinnlos ist, da man als Leser eh weiß, dass der kleine Bruder verschwindet und wie genervt alle dadurch sind; die ganzen Seiten voller langweiliger, banaler Vorgänge des frohen Schuheinkaufs sind einfach nur Füllmaterial. Vieles habe ich übersprungen ohne was zu verpassen – auf der verzweifelten Suche nach einer Handlung.
Dann taucht auch noch eine sehr klischeebeladene Figur auf – schlecht geklaut von Stephen King, so offensichtlich, dass es schon weh tut, dem Ende werden nur ein paar Seiten gewidmet und das war es dann auch schon.
Die Charaktere sind eindimensional und nervtötend, man möchte einfach nur ins Buch reinspringen und allen eine saftige Ohrfeige verpassen.
Langweiliges Geschwafel unnötig in die Länge gezogen, kein Grusel geschweige denn Horror, die Schreibweise seeehr dürftig.
Von Matt Shaw werde ich in Zukunft nichts mehr lesen, er hat schlicht und ergreifend nichts drauf, seine restlichen Ergüsse sind genauso schlecht. Und „Smile“ passt so gar nicht in die Extrem-Reihe.
Wo die guten Bewertungen herkommen, weiß ich nicht, vielleicht hatten die eine andere Version gelesen...
Nur zur Info: Ich habe die deutsche Ausgabe aus dem Festa-Verlag unter dem Titel „Smile“ gelesen.
February 16, 2018
This was the first Matt Shaw book I have read, and it certainly won't be the last.
Alex has taken his eight year old brother Lewis shopping. He turned his back for one second, and Lewis was gone. The only thing Alex can remember is a clown.
I am not the biggest fan of clowns but this book has made them ten times scarier! There was a lot of build up to the end, but it managed to be descriptive and fast paced at the same time.
I would definitely have liked to know what happened after the ending, but I think using your imagination to draw your own conclusion can be just as effective.
Alex has taken his eight year old brother Lewis shopping. He turned his back for one second, and Lewis was gone. The only thing Alex can remember is a clown.
I am not the biggest fan of clowns but this book has made them ten times scarier! There was a lot of build up to the end, but it managed to be descriptive and fast paced at the same time.
I would definitely have liked to know what happened after the ending, but I think using your imagination to draw your own conclusion can be just as effective.
November 19, 2023
I just read the German edition of „Smile“ by Festa-Verlag.
Alex loses his little brother Lewis in a large shopping center. As it turns out he is not the only child who has disappeared.
Who all know that situation. Because your sister, brother or your own child are being terribly annoying at the moment, you say something like “I wish you would finally disappear, never to be seen again.” What if this “wish” suddenly comes true?
Take this initial situation, add a little bit of Stephen King to it, and you have “Smile”.
A clever little psychological thriller that I really enjoyed.
Alex loses his little brother Lewis in a large shopping center. As it turns out he is not the only child who has disappeared.
Who all know that situation. Because your sister, brother or your own child are being terribly annoying at the moment, you say something like “I wish you would finally disappear, never to be seen again.” What if this “wish” suddenly comes true?
Take this initial situation, add a little bit of Stephen King to it, and you have “Smile”.
A clever little psychological thriller that I really enjoyed.
August 6, 2023
I took a pause after reading to think about what I’d review or rate ‘Smile’ by Matt Shaw. I’ve settled at 3/5 for this short taste of fictional plausible horror.
We find ourselves understanding our main character Alex and finding him to be our rock in this story. Alex’s mom is also a believable character.
Our “villain/antagonist?” not so much.
I am coulrophobic and felt myself uncomfortable but never once was the presence of the clown so palpable that I was afraid.
The story itself was written well but mixed elements I just couldn’t suspend my disbelief with. The last chapter being extremely disappointing and unsatisfying.
It was a small side salad of his works I’ve read so far. But, I’m glad Matt Shaw has a whole menu to try even so.
We find ourselves understanding our main character Alex and finding him to be our rock in this story. Alex’s mom is also a believable character.
Our “villain/antagonist?” not so much.
I am coulrophobic and felt myself uncomfortable but never once was the presence of the clown so palpable that I was afraid.
The story itself was written well but mixed elements I just couldn’t suspend my disbelief with. The last chapter being extremely disappointing and unsatisfying.
It was a small side salad of his works I’ve read so far. But, I’m glad Matt Shaw has a whole menu to try even so.
December 14, 2018
Great Suspense!
Normally, I choose a Matt Shaw book because I know it will be gory. Sometimes, I'm simply in the mood for that. This one was very different. And good different! It built up the tension well, and the ending did not disappoint. It wasn't gory, but it was subtly creepy. Another winner from Mr. Shaw!
Normally, I choose a Matt Shaw book because I know it will be gory. Sometimes, I'm simply in the mood for that. This one was very different. And good different! It built up the tension well, and the ending did not disappoint. It wasn't gory, but it was subtly creepy. Another winner from Mr. Shaw!
July 29, 2017
Suspense flowed thu the pages as I wondered what happened to Lewis at the mall. As the events unfolded, I hoped for the best. As the other characters came into play, my hope dimmed. Good storytelling scenes
March 21, 2019
I love Matt Shaw
I love everything that I have ever read from Matt Shaw. This just wasn't one of my favorites. It was fine. A short read, with a great ending. It was perfect how the story built up to the end, I loved the suspense. It was just short.
I love everything that I have ever read from Matt Shaw. This just wasn't one of my favorites. It was fine. A short read, with a great ending. It was perfect how the story built up to the end, I loved the suspense. It was just short.
February 2, 2022
Smile is another good one.
Smile kept me reading even without the gore he usually has throughout all of his other books. It was a really good book with an ending I wasn’t expecting.
Smile kept me reading even without the gore he usually has throughout all of his other books. It was a really good book with an ending I wasn’t expecting.
May 15, 2020
A horrific smile, but smile I did indeed.
“He just wanted to spread a few smiles to the miserably quarantined. Spread some joy. Make everyone smile.” Indeed, he did. Great Novella!
“He just wanted to spread a few smiles to the miserably quarantined. Spread some joy. Make everyone smile.” Indeed, he did. Great Novella!
July 24, 2020
Love it!!!
Very good storyline and amazingly suspenseful. I love Matt Shaw’s work and am looking forward to reading more in the future!
Very good storyline and amazingly suspenseful. I love Matt Shaw’s work and am looking forward to reading more in the future!
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