I'd read and loved Michael Gregory's first book, so I had high expectations for his Unexpected Tales. The author certainly has a gift: for storytelling, for attracting benign and baffling entities, and for absorbing residual evil so that others can find some relief. Ultimately, though, this is a book about family and friends, both human and feline. It's also a love story about those who came before, those who've stuck around through good and bad times, those who loved the land as much as Loyd, and the spirits and creatures on the periphery who startle us, even though they don't mean to. As with his previous book, there are lots of photos to further immerse the reader in Loyd's world, a world resplendent with many gifts.