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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
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 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.
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.
October 13, 2014
Clever short story collection, which I really enjoyed. My favourite was "And Now a Word from Our Sponsors."
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews