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Dirty Work
"I don't normally talk about work."
A call handler for an insurance company that offers out of this world cover, a broker of Faustian pacts, the best man at a doomed stag night, a PR consultant who's way out of his depth, and a ninja: everyone has a job to do.
Eight stories, eight people, eight jobs: some find their work takes them just beyond reality; for others, "beyond reality" is just another day at the office.
A call handler for an insurance company that offers out of this world cover, a broker of Faustian pacts, the best man at a doomed stag night, a PR consultant who's way out of his depth, and a ninja: everyone has a job to do.
Eight stories, eight people, eight jobs: some find their work takes them just beyond reality; for others, "beyond reality" is just another day at the office.
79 pages, ebook
First published July 23, 2014
13 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 15, 2024
A fun, thought-provoking, and well-written anthology with compelling plots and characters. My favourite story was 'And Now a Word From Your Sponsor', chilling sci-fi about a society twisted by capitalism and a man offered a lifeline on the condition that he performs a disturbing job in the distant future. This is among several intriguing tales.
November 24, 2014
A lot of us never quite manage to achieve our dreams when it comes to our careers. Rather than doing what we want to do, we do what we need to do in order to pay the bills, to get by and cover the basic necessities. When you’re a cubicle monkey like me, you wish for escape. Like Sam Lowry in Brazil, you dream about getting away from it all and never having to come back. This short story collection by Chris Farnell plays with the theme of work and how it makes us feel.
The Broker – If you are going to make a deal with a devil it only makes a certain amount of sense to have professional available to ensure that said transaction runs smoothly. Timothy Marlowe is the man for that job.
Flipped – Do you remember Night of the Dolphin in The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XI? This tale (or should that be tail?) follows a similar vein. The dolphins are coming and they are far from happy. Teri, a survivor, battle against the greatest threat humanity has ever faced.
And Now A Word From Our Sponsor – In a world where corporate sponsorship rules the day, Andy wants a job more than anything. The big question, just how far is he prepared to go, and what exactly is he willing to do?
Just For The Taste Of It – Sometimes ignorance is bliss, especially when it comes to caffeinated beverage production. A short sharp shock of a story that is more than enough to put you off partaking in soft drinks for life. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Right First Time – Faulty microwave ovens, popcorn and time travel. Sounds like the perfect combination to me. Seth is about to have the weirdest day he has ever had, multiple times over. This was my favourite story from the entire collection. It’s weird, funny and has a killer premise I really liked. Part of me wanted a whole book based just around this idea, but another part of me thinks it’s absolutely perfect as a short. I’m always pleased when an author causes such delightful inner turmoil.
Recorded For Training Purposes – When you are buying insurance, the key lesson is ALWAYS read the small print. Oh, and ensure you’ve done that before you call the customer care line.
8 Bit – Having reached a certain age, I can appreciate the halcyon days of 8-bit gaming. Not a massive surprise that I can also appreciate a story built around it. The world was a simpler place and the console games weren’t nearly as clever or complex as they are now…or were they? What happens when the character in a game starts to fight back? Thomas, Keiran, Doug and Leanne are going to find out. Another standout.
Monday Morning at Ninja HQ – When you are a ninja like Fred, even getting into the office on a Monday morning can be the deadliest of tasks. A nice darkly comedic touch round of the collection.
I had great fun with this particular anthology. Blending together elements of science fiction, action and even some horror there are some cracking stories and a few absolute corkers. I was reminded of the early short story collections from Michael Marshall Smith. I can’t really fault anything, I only wish there had been more. I would have gladly continued reading.
Dirty Work is published by the author and it is available now. This is a great little collection and I highly recommend it. I’ll most definitely be looking out for more fiction from Chris Farnell in the future.
The Broker – If you are going to make a deal with a devil it only makes a certain amount of sense to have professional available to ensure that said transaction runs smoothly. Timothy Marlowe is the man for that job.
Flipped – Do you remember Night of the Dolphin in The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XI? This tale (or should that be tail?) follows a similar vein. The dolphins are coming and they are far from happy. Teri, a survivor, battle against the greatest threat humanity has ever faced.
And Now A Word From Our Sponsor – In a world where corporate sponsorship rules the day, Andy wants a job more than anything. The big question, just how far is he prepared to go, and what exactly is he willing to do?
Just For The Taste Of It – Sometimes ignorance is bliss, especially when it comes to caffeinated beverage production. A short sharp shock of a story that is more than enough to put you off partaking in soft drinks for life. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Right First Time – Faulty microwave ovens, popcorn and time travel. Sounds like the perfect combination to me. Seth is about to have the weirdest day he has ever had, multiple times over. This was my favourite story from the entire collection. It’s weird, funny and has a killer premise I really liked. Part of me wanted a whole book based just around this idea, but another part of me thinks it’s absolutely perfect as a short. I’m always pleased when an author causes such delightful inner turmoil.
Recorded For Training Purposes – When you are buying insurance, the key lesson is ALWAYS read the small print. Oh, and ensure you’ve done that before you call the customer care line.
8 Bit – Having reached a certain age, I can appreciate the halcyon days of 8-bit gaming. Not a massive surprise that I can also appreciate a story built around it. The world was a simpler place and the console games weren’t nearly as clever or complex as they are now…or were they? What happens when the character in a game starts to fight back? Thomas, Keiran, Doug and Leanne are going to find out. Another standout.
Monday Morning at Ninja HQ – When you are a ninja like Fred, even getting into the office on a Monday morning can be the deadliest of tasks. A nice darkly comedic touch round of the collection.
I had great fun with this particular anthology. Blending together elements of science fiction, action and even some horror there are some cracking stories and a few absolute corkers. I was reminded of the early short story collections from Michael Marshall Smith. I can’t really fault anything, I only wish there had been more. I would have gladly continued reading.
Dirty Work is published by the author and it is available now. This is a great little collection and I highly recommend it. I’ll most definitely be looking out for more fiction from Chris Farnell in the future.
September 18, 2014
This one is well worth reading. It set my imagination on fire, hit me with a blast of confusion on a few occasions, and amazed me with its possibilities.
The stories are very short, and are something that I could have easily used in a National Forensic League competition when I was in high school... and won it. Reading this aloud would be quite easy, and would entertain any Oral Reading judge.
I would have blown through the competition.
I would have gotten all the way to the State level.
And maybe even into the semifinals, from there.
Sorry... I got a wee bit nostalgic for a second. But that's what this short story collection did to me. It was wild and exciting. It got my heart beating. My eyes leapt from one word to the next, transfixed.
It brought back that buzzing sensation I used to have when I found that one perfect story to use for competition. The one that was fast paced, full of twists, and easy to draw people into. Something that brought me back a couple of decades into my past.
That's something that's worth reading.
It's very likely that a few of these stories will cause gigantic question marks to form above your head. You'll hit a couple of points where you'll think, "What in the heck just happened?"
Just go with it. It's worth it.
And read the acknowledgements. They won't give you any amazing eruptions of insight. They won't impart any special knowledge. But they will entertain you. The acknowledgements really feel as though the author is sitting across from you at a pub, amusing you with a great conversation.
This one is a bit pricey for its length, but it's worth every penny.
Chris Farnell has done something different with this collection, even going as far as to change the format between stories. That's a bit of a risk, of course, but I feel that it works, giving this not just entertaining words, but visual appeal, as well.
(This is a truncation of my full review, posted to Undiscovered Tomes.)
The stories are very short, and are something that I could have easily used in a National Forensic League competition when I was in high school... and won it. Reading this aloud would be quite easy, and would entertain any Oral Reading judge.
I would have blown through the competition.
I would have gotten all the way to the State level.
And maybe even into the semifinals, from there.
Sorry... I got a wee bit nostalgic for a second. But that's what this short story collection did to me. It was wild and exciting. It got my heart beating. My eyes leapt from one word to the next, transfixed.
It brought back that buzzing sensation I used to have when I found that one perfect story to use for competition. The one that was fast paced, full of twists, and easy to draw people into. Something that brought me back a couple of decades into my past.
That's something that's worth reading.
It's very likely that a few of these stories will cause gigantic question marks to form above your head. You'll hit a couple of points where you'll think, "What in the heck just happened?"
Just go with it. It's worth it.
And read the acknowledgements. They won't give you any amazing eruptions of insight. They won't impart any special knowledge. But they will entertain you. The acknowledgements really feel as though the author is sitting across from you at a pub, amusing you with a great conversation.
This one is a bit pricey for its length, but it's worth every penny.
Chris Farnell has done something different with this collection, even going as far as to change the format between stories. That's a bit of a risk, of course, but I feel that it works, giving this not just entertaining words, but visual appeal, as well.
(This is a truncation of my full review, posted to Undiscovered Tomes.)
October 15, 2015
I bought this book a few months back because a friend reccommened it. It sat on my kindle for a while, got shuffled to the bottom of the list half forgotten... But a month ago i was stuck on a late train back from london, having just finished a novel and thought "oh, that book! Ill give that a go" ....... Two hours later I reluctantly had to put it down to bike home, which I did really quick so I could finish reading it!! Its BLOODY BRILLIANT, witty, clever, scary, philosophical and very funny!
If you like Jeff Noon, Neal Stephenson, Gaiman or Robert Ranking you'll be very at home with this excellent book of short stories, and I know I will be thinking about and reading this often in the future.
If you like Jeff Noon, Neal Stephenson, Gaiman or Robert Ranking you'll be very at home with this excellent book of short stories, and I know I will be thinking about and reading this often in the future.
November 4, 2014
Clever short story collection, which I really enjoyed. My favourite was "And Now a Word from Our Sponsors."
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews