An Ugly Way To Go - and other comedy gems.

by Iain Pattison, Chloe Banks

Laugh-out-loud stories packed with gags, groans and great fun characters.Enter the weird and wonderfully witty world of award-winning humorist Iain Pattison, and delight to these feel-good tales of madness and mayhem, each story a coffee-break delight guaranteed to banish the blues.In this second collection of Iain's offbeat satires, you'll bus driver who emerges from a coma to find he can speak every language on the planet.A hideous man who thinks facing a firing squad will make him a babe-magnet.A disgruntled wife scheming to sacrifice her husband to a slavering zombie horde.And Little Red Riding Hood finding out that murderous grandma is more than a match for any wolf.From the droll and slapstick to the surreal and silly, this fun compilation is guaranteed to make you smile - and demonstrates why Iain is acknowledged as a master of comedy's wickedly witty and unexpected. Buy it now to brighten your day.

84 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 14, 2015

About the author

Having discovered that he was not The Chosen One of which the ancient prophecies spoke, Iain Pattison ditched his kaftan, sold his sandals and vowed to eke out a living as an author and humorist. Between penning funny tales, he battles to give obscure words like eke a place in polite society. He resides in Birmingham, but often feels a mysterious urge to return to his cave in Tibet for Bank Holiday weekends.

Check out his website at www.iainpattison.co.uk

Reviews

[Terry Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by me as part of Rosie Amber's Book Review Team

Iain Pattison's 'quintessentially quirky tales' is a collection of short stories of varying length, all except one of which are in a broad fantasy/humour genre. The exception is 'Hampered', about a couple who take a balloon ride, which is rather touching.

The book is very well presented and all the stories are competently written, with some amusing and well put together turns of phrase. As is usually the case with short story collections, they varied in quality. I very much liked 'A Rum Tale', a comic book style story about a pirate; cleverly done and atmospheric, with its over the top characters. Other favourites were 'Open Sesame', about an unhappily married couple facing a zombie apocalypse, and 'Interview With The Vampire' (clue's in the name); both of these were excellent, with a funny and unexpected turnaround right at the end. The end of 'Crowning Glory' was good, too. Others were less well executed; the ideas were great, but I think the key to writing a good short-story-with-a-twist is that the twist MUST be unexpected (otherwise it's like guessing the punchline to a joke!), and come at the very end, ie, the last thing you read, not two pages before the end; with a couple of them I knew exactly what was going to happen, and the 'twist' went on too long. However, all the stories were highly readable; none of them were boring.

A guest story by Chloe Banks, 'Missing Signs and Wonders', provides an enjoyable end to the collection. I spent a pleasant couple of hours reading these, and would recommend the book to any lovers of short stories.

[PJ Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quirky.

Fairy tales, hairy tails and swashbuckling adventures.
Definitely quirky, all the tales are well written and fun. It was all over far too quickly, but that served to make me want the next book.

[Georgia Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always enjoyed short stories and this collection is no exception. There is something about being able to read a whole tale in that space of time before sleep claims you that is calming, it gives a sense of completion, if you like.

So, firstly the good – it’s tricky to know where to start because I don’t want to give a rundown of each story but there is a wide spread of different tales here so something to suit all. Although I found in my case that was pretty much everything. The writing was excellent throughout with each story being tight and to the point. There were some great twists as well as some reimaginings of old favourites such as in Once Upon a Crime and Christopher Robin Went Down – With Malice. While there were many stories here that I really liked if I started listing them out then I would never stop so I shall just give you my absolute favourite which was the piraty yarn, Rum Tale.

I should also mention that there is an excellent guest story included written by Chloe Banks, Missing Signs and Wonders, which is such a great idea and very enjoyably written.

And the bad? Well there’s not much of that actually. I’m not saying a loved every tale, there were a couple that didn’t light my candle as it were but that is purely personal taste and I certainly shan’t mark them out as there will be others who will love them.

I have often sung the praises of the short story for those times when you don’t have the capacity to sink into a longer piece and this is a collection that comes highly recommended.

[Richard Howard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun little volume to while away an hour or two. Most of the short stories are really extended gags leading to a punch line. (Some of these made me laugh out loud for which I was grateful having just finished a tedious book.) Others are more like short sketches, which would work well on TV.

[Chris The Story Reading Ape · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quirky and fun reads

What a funny, entertaining set of stories this turned out to be.
My two favourites were ‘A Rum Tale’ even though the punch line made me groan, and ‘Future Tense’

See my review also at:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...

[Allison Symes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got the Kindle version of this. Really funny stories which are ideal for a quick, humorous read. Some of the puns made me groan, but that for me is a sign of a successful funny book! Highly recommend.

[Nick Gerrard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little collection of funny short stories. So good in fact I read it twice in one sitting. Every story is well crafted, well written and enjoyable. I am looking forward to getting stuck into the Author's other books x

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of short stories is designed for light reading and for the most part set the reader up for a 'punch line' at the end. As such, it's a pleasant diversion. This may be ideal for when one is not looking for something serious nor wants to make a deep time or concentration commitment.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a set of a most unusual stories that are quite “quirky” – most of them I laughed myself silly just because the endings were so very unexpected and a total surprise! Most Entertaining and quite unexpected!!

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smiles and Giggles Throughout

This is a must read. This book is filled with short stories that have a familiar setting, but very different outcomes.