Breadcrumbs is the debut short story collection by author Simon Fairbanks.
Horror, fantasy and fairy tales merge in these twenty-one tales traversing all manner of times and twins escape their kidnapper and seek refuge in a mysterious cave, a homeless crusader hopes to save his friends from the fiendish Bogeyman, a life-changing encounter occurs in a Sri Lankan tuk tuk, and a lonely girl discovers a monster in the woods.
Breadcrumbs also features a new adventure starring Denebola and his sky-horse Palladium, set within the world of Simon's fantasy novel The Sheriff.
Follow this trail of Breadcrumbs into Simon's imagination and discover stories both dark and wonderful.
When I undertake to read a compendium of short stories I look for variety and in that respect Simon has achieved. To put 'Breadcrumbs' into a genre would therefore be difficult and I can only say loosely that Fantasy is as close as I can get.
The collection includes flash fiction, prose and even a novella featuring Denebola from The Sheriff, which was the first novel I read by this author. Simon has cleverly split this novella, Little Girl Lost, into 3 parts scattered throughout Breadcrumbs thereby maintaining bitesize chunks of reading.
Simon has a great capacity for mapping a story with twists and turns and surprise endings and this is demonstrated again and again in Breadcrumbs. He is also adept at tugging at your emotions, a huge laugh, a damp eye, a cold shiver down the backbone; all are there to catch you unawares in Breadcrumbs.
If you haven't read Simon's work before, I strongly recommend that you give this a whirl. You won't be disappointed.
Short stories suit our busy lifestyles - a treat for the end of the day, to perk up a coffee break or to bring joy to a dull commute. Simon Fairbanks' witty tales cover a range of genres, from fantasy to horror to crime. While he doesn't sugar-coat all of them with a happy ending, his gentle humour brings lightness even to gory subjects like a brutal fairground serial killer. Fans of Simon's fantasy novels set in the cloud world of Nephos will especially enjoy an adventure with Sheriff Denebola and his stroppy fairy sidekick. There's something for everyone here!
Simon's collection of short stories features lots of unprecedented twists and turns which really kept me on my toes. It's so hard to choose a favourite story, as they all have their own captivating worlds with unique charming or dark qualities.
The short explanations of where the ideas for each story had come from at the end of the book is also really fascinating. If you are looking for something new to try - this is like a tin of chocolates with all the best ones left in the tin!