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Swift, Brutal Retaliation
You can't win a ghostly prank war with your dead big brother. Only survive it.
At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.
At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.
25 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 4, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
June 8, 2020
This stupid reading confirmed her suspicions that God was like any other adult who lied and told you horrible things were for your own good.
this one was a bit flat, so i was surprised to learn it had gotten nebula and world fantasy award nominations. it’s not horrible - there’s some nice detail about the grieving process:
Sinead and Brigid felt as alone as it was possible to feel while smushed up against someone on a pew, unaware that the other person was also furiously contemplating God
but the story itself, where the ghostly apparition of a brother becomes a silent, judgy observer to the escalating prank war his sisters embark upon in the aftermath of his death and their parents behave shittily, doesn’t really go anywhere. which makes this story exactly like the ghost of ian: just hanging around and no one’s really sure why or what he’s trying to get across because no one can understand him and things end messily. not a terrible story, but i WOULD kick it out of the bed for eating crackers.
read it for yourself here:
http://www.tor.com/2012/01/04/swift-b...
come to my blog!
April 20, 2013
I picked this ebook up when Tor was offering it for free a while back. Apparently this story was nominated for an award, and based on that, and the title, I thought that it would be the kind of story I'd like. Sadly, I am disappointed instead.
I really don't know why this story would have been nominated for anything other than a re-write. It had potential to be really great, but everything that it could and should have been was missing, which is a shame. Everything in the story is just told to the reader: Ian died. Sinead did this to Brigid. Brigid did that to Sinead. Their mother cried. Their father stomped upstairs. Everyone was angry at everyone else, and most of it was misplaced. This last was literally told to the reader just like that. Cold. Distant. There's no reader investment in the characters, or the story, no emotional content at all, despite this being what could have been a really emotionally charged story of two sisters' relationship changing in the wake of their brother's death. There was no growth, no change, nothing was learned, there was no ending... this story just contained a bunch of things that happened and then ended as more things were happening.
I don't even know what the point of this story was. I thought I knew, while I was reading, but it was like a square peg being jammed into a round hole. It just didn't fit.
The more I think about it, the more disappointed I get. It's a shame, really. This honestly could have been a great story if there was just some spark of life in it somewhere. Some growth, something in the characters that made me feel for them. Instead it was just sad in a I-feel-sorry-for-this-book way, not in an emotionally sad way.
Blah.
I really don't know why this story would have been nominated for anything other than a re-write. It had potential to be really great, but everything that it could and should have been was missing, which is a shame. Everything in the story is just told to the reader: Ian died. Sinead did this to Brigid. Brigid did that to Sinead. Their mother cried. Their father stomped upstairs. Everyone was angry at everyone else, and most of it was misplaced. This last was literally told to the reader just like that. Cold. Distant. There's no reader investment in the characters, or the story, no emotional content at all, despite this being what could have been a really emotionally charged story of two sisters' relationship changing in the wake of their brother's death. There was no growth, no change, nothing was learned, there was no ending... this story just contained a bunch of things that happened and then ended as more things were happening.
I don't even know what the point of this story was. I thought I knew, while I was reading, but it was like a square peg being jammed into a round hole. It just didn't fit.
The more I think about it, the more disappointed I get. It's a shame, really. This honestly could have been a great story if there was just some spark of life in it somewhere. Some growth, something in the characters that made me feel for them. Instead it was just sad in a I-feel-sorry-for-this-book way, not in an emotionally sad way.
Blah.
December 3, 2021
Welcome to Day 3 of my 2021 25 Days of Short Stories Christmas Advent Calendar. Each day I will be reading a short story from the collection of over 600 short stories and novellas available for free on Tor.com. This is a collection of horror, sci-fi and fantasy. I will be letting fate (and the random number generator) decide what I read each day.
Day 1: The Art of Space Travel by Nina Allan
Day 2: These Deathless Bones by Cassandra Khaw
Day 3: Swift, Brutal Retaliation by Meghan McCarron (Trigger warning: Emotional abuse of children and women)
So my random number generator seems to like the ladies, and that’s just fine with me. Swift, Brutal Retaliation was nominated for a 2012 Nebula, and a 2013 World Fantasy award. This short story was a bitter little pill to swallow. The family dynamics touched something very dark and disturbing in me. There is something so very sad about this family. Not just about the death of a child and sibling. This family was well and truly screwed before the son died. Although this was a very well written story about a truly dysfunctional family, I’m not sure I want to read another story like this one for my Christmas Advent. I felt this story should have a trigger warning.
You can read it for free here , but maybe wait until after the holiday’s to do so.
Day 1: The Art of Space Travel by Nina Allan
Day 2: These Deathless Bones by Cassandra Khaw
Day 3: Swift, Brutal Retaliation by Meghan McCarron (Trigger warning: Emotional abuse of children and women)
So my random number generator seems to like the ladies, and that’s just fine with me. Swift, Brutal Retaliation was nominated for a 2012 Nebula, and a 2013 World Fantasy award. This short story was a bitter little pill to swallow. The family dynamics touched something very dark and disturbing in me. There is something so very sad about this family. Not just about the death of a child and sibling. This family was well and truly screwed before the son died. Although this was a very well written story about a truly dysfunctional family, I’m not sure I want to read another story like this one for my Christmas Advent. I felt this story should have a trigger warning.
You can read it for free here , but maybe wait until after the holiday’s to do so.
February 6, 2017
The father was a jerk and the story ended without resolution. I kind of wanted more explanation for what was happening and why. Not bad, but it didn't feel complete. Three stars.
December 12, 2025
Five Stages of Grief: Anger.
That's it, that's the story.
The examination of what a serious illness--and subsequent death--of a family member does to the rest of the household was done really well. The layers upon layers of helplessness and misdirected anger were believable. And the way the circle of retaliation either is finally broken or can keep spiraling into another life? That rings true.
What was less believable? Well, for once the author forgot that to get a full grasp of the situation we should at least know the approximated age difference between siblings. Could be also useful to have some semblance of idea if the parents were always like that or has the cancer of their firstborn brought out the worst within them.
That's it, that's the story.
The examination of what a serious illness--and subsequent death--of a family member does to the rest of the household was done really well. The layers upon layers of helplessness and misdirected anger were believable. And the way the circle of retaliation either is finally broken or can keep spiraling into another life? That rings true.
What was less believable? Well, for once the author forgot that to get a full grasp of the situation we should at least know the approximated age difference between siblings. Could be also useful to have some semblance of idea if the parents were always like that or has the cancer of their firstborn brought out the worst within them.
January 8, 2014
A pair of sisters in a mildly dysfunctional family are haunted by the ghost of their recently-deceased brother. Really not up to best-of-the-year standards; the conclusion where the author sums up everyone's feelings and motivations is written very awkwardly.
November 17, 2016
Not really much anything...
Honestly, I feel bad saying this but I don't recommend this short story, there is no plot, no message, no character building or development.
Honestly, I feel bad saying this but I don't recommend this short story, there is no plot, no message, no character building or development.
March 20, 2017
I really dug this story. I read it because another member had read and rated it as ok- but the title, image, and subject matter attracted me, plus she had provided the link so I gave it a go.
I think I liked it so much because I found the dysfunctional family dynamic and sibling meanness relatable. I've also been attracted to the supernatural for as long as I can remember and it played a major role in my imagination as a child. So the connection of the two in this story make me feel comfortable despite the discomforting aspects of the plot.
I enjoyed the writing. I had a visceral reaction to a lot of the description which drew me in further.
Here's the link if you're interested: http://www.tor.com/2012/01/04/swift-b...
I think I liked it so much because I found the dysfunctional family dynamic and sibling meanness relatable. I've also been attracted to the supernatural for as long as I can remember and it played a major role in my imagination as a child. So the connection of the two in this story make me feel comfortable despite the discomforting aspects of the plot.
I enjoyed the writing. I had a visceral reaction to a lot of the description which drew me in further.
Here's the link if you're interested: http://www.tor.com/2012/01/04/swift-b...
February 20, 2013
A great ghost story. I know a few people had problems with the ending but the ending is what makes it for me. The story isn't about the ghost per say but how the males in the family dictate the actions and responses of the females in the house. The girls don't enjoy the prank pulling but because their brother who was the oldest and a bully made the rules they fell into following them, just as their father (another bully)set the rules of the house. In the end the girls join together with made up minds that whatever comes they face it together, this is not stated but definitely implied through the inner monologue of the youngest and their actions.
May 22, 2017
And her father—her father was angry at his children, and at his wife, but his ideas of who they were and what they represented were so distorted that the anger might as well have been at different people entirely. He’d been furious at Ian when he got sick again. Brigid had seen him slap him. Their father’s anger made no sense.
An interesting exploration of sibling relationships in a (very very) dysfunctional family. I liked how the girls' actions were informed by books that they'd read, and that the issues swirling around the parents were both as specific and as vague as they would be to children. There were also some great lines throughout, that really captured the precociousness of a child's point of view:
Swift, Brutal Retaliation by Meghan McCarron
Four Stars: This book was really really good and I'll definitely recommend it to people with relevant interests.
An interesting exploration of sibling relationships in a (very very) dysfunctional family. I liked how the girls' actions were informed by books that they'd read, and that the issues swirling around the parents were both as specific and as vague as they would be to children. There were also some great lines throughout, that really captured the precociousness of a child's point of view:
This stupid reading confirmed her suspicions that God was like any other adult who lied and told you horrible things were for your own good.
Brigid was old enough to understand that her house was full of “nice” things, though “nice” to her meant “alienating and not to be touched.”
Swift, Brutal Retaliation by Meghan McCarron
Four Stars: This book was really really good and I'll definitely recommend it to people with relevant interests.
May 24, 2021
"This stupid reading confirmed her suspicions that God was like any other adult who lied and told you horrible things were for your own good."
The rootlessness of a family who have been centred around the illness of the eldest child, and with his death nobody knows where they fit anymore. A middle child is now the elder.
When the sisters resurrect the prank war their brother continually engaged in, they unwittingly summon his ghost. When they try to tell him he's dead, he's not happy about that.
I was never a kid that saw the point of pranks; they always felt cruel to me. A joke at someone else's expense. And this whole family is just toxic.
Like others, I am not sure it has an ending. I am intrigued by the 'your son' allegation from the father. that might explain a lot. Although my own father disowned every child, even referred to my brother as 'that thing' on one memorable occasion.
"Brigid wondered if their family had poisoned him with their selfishness, and now they were paying the price."
I'd go with that theory, myself.
I don't like the cover image, either, and usually I adore the Tor illustrations.
2 stars
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January 4, 2018
March 19, 2013
This is a nice quick read. It can easily be finished in one sitting. It takes place in the few days after the death of Ian, the oldest child in the family. It is a ghost story, since Ian appears to his younger sisters several times after the funeral. It is also a complex story about family relationships and grief, for all its short length. The family is dominated by the father, who is strict and dictatorial. Mother is withdrawn and distant, afraid to antagonize her husband. The two sisters are confused and unsure how to deal with the changes in the family because of the death of their brother.
The interesting thing about the story is the framework. The girls grew up dealing with their brother's constant pranks and bullying. They fall back on that familiar behavior in trying to deal with their own grief. The ghost of Ian seems to be continuing his pranking behavior even now that he is dead, but there are hints that it is something more. The hints are there, and the girls are trying to figure out what he wants. Without spoiling anything, I think the message is different from what most people might think. The ending is not quite a "tie up all the ends" type, and can seem a bit abrupt and unfinished. It did fit the story quite well.
This is not a typical ghost story, but its subtlety and psychological aspects make it worth the short time it takes to read it.
The interesting thing about the story is the framework. The girls grew up dealing with their brother's constant pranks and bullying. They fall back on that familiar behavior in trying to deal with their own grief. The ghost of Ian seems to be continuing his pranking behavior even now that he is dead, but there are hints that it is something more. The hints are there, and the girls are trying to figure out what he wants. Without spoiling anything, I think the message is different from what most people might think. The ending is not quite a "tie up all the ends" type, and can seem a bit abrupt and unfinished. It did fit the story quite well.
This is not a typical ghost story, but its subtlety and psychological aspects make it worth the short time it takes to read it.
February 14, 2015
Another Tor.com short story.
I liked this one, it's an interesting take on ghost stories. Clearly the family is grieving, all in their own way. Ian as well is grieving, although like the father his grief expresses itself through anger and violence. The girls find a safe way to grieve because they can see their brother, and they band together against their parents first to help him and then just to survive his wrath.
I liked this one, it's an interesting take on ghost stories. Clearly the family is grieving, all in their own way. Ian as well is grieving, although like the father his grief expresses itself through anger and violence. The girls find a safe way to grieve because they can see their brother, and they band together against their parents first to help him and then just to survive his wrath.
March 29, 2013
Tor made this available as a free ebook because it had been nominated for a Nebula.
I don't understand why. To me it was a standard ghost story except that the characters were in a dysfunctional family.
I don't understand why. To me it was a standard ghost story except that the characters were in a dysfunctional family.
August 14, 2013
This is a ghost story, but done as a realistic family drama. Think Cheever or Franzen rather than Shirley Jackson or Stephen King. The 'horror' is the disintraging relationships. The emotional brutality and unrelenting prose probably what placed this story on this year's World Fantasy Award ballot.
February 21, 2012
Good story! I suppose it didn't NEED a more conclusive ending but I would have liked it. 3 1/2?
March 5, 2013
Short story about sibling rivalry and a dead brother
March 9, 2013
Enjoyable to read while still dealing with loss social hierarchy of a family. The Ghost aspect is kind of hit and miss for me.
August 11, 2015
This one really hurt.
January 7, 2012
A lovely and slightly creepy ghost story. I really enjoyed Meghan McCarron's writing style.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews