Twisted Tales: 15 Literary Lies & Epic Yarns

by Mark Fine

A unique short story anthology curated by the readers and editorial team of READERS CIRCLE OF AVENUE PARK (#RCAP). It's a global effort, literally, with contributions from 15 authors across exhausting time zones that extend from Africa, Europe, America and Asia.

To retain this distinctive international flavor (or ‘flavour’) each story is in the English style of its author, so some stories are in British English, some in American, and some reflect the jargon of a region.

As said by the Editor-in Chief of #RCAP, in his message to readers of this short story collection:

"I had to shut out the world to finish editing this short story collection. Neighbours became concerned. Banged on my door. My kidnappers had taken me down to the cellar with a copy of the book. I read it again and again, and over again… It made my torture and captivity so bearable that I was annoyed when the Marines rescued me."

P.S. Twisted Tales is mixed-fruit jam for the soul. Laugh, cry, dwell deep and sigh. Enjoy!

Genres: Short Stories

302 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 9, 2016

About the author

Author Mark Fine was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. New York, Minneapolis and Los Angeles have been home since 1979. Through global music giant PolyGram, Mark founded Hammer & Lace Records. His label had a unique mandate: to be the industry’s only imprint dedicated to aiding vital social and health issues by creating benefit albums to raise both crucial funds and life-saving awareness. The innovative business model he pioneered incorporated strategic cause-marketing through music and celebrity as an effective way to simultaneously address creative aspirations, business objectives and social issues.

For a decade Fine proved adept at uniting non-profit organizations, corporate and media sponsors, and world class musicians such as Sheryl Crow, Sting, Melissa Etheridge, Bryan Adams and Boyz ll Men in aid of breast cancer research, wildlife conservation and other causes.

For these initiatives Mark was voted by Variety magazine as the “Music Executive with 20/20 Vision” and addressed the Industries' Coalition against Cancer on the topic, "Going beyond the Corporation: How Companies Take Their Health Messages to the Public." For his efforts in the fight against breast cancer, he has been honored by the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month Board of Sponsors in Washington, D.C, and received both NABCO's "Celebrate Life Award" and SELF magazine's "Creative Initiatives Award." But he is especially proud of his "Paws of Fame" award he received from The Wildlife Waystation for his commitment to animals worldwide. As such, animals always make an appearance in Mark Fine's writings.

Ironically perhaps, due to his dedication in the fight against breast cancer, Mark’s wife succumbed to the disease in 2006. In striving for a hopeful future for his two young sons, he relocated the family to South Bay, Los Angeles. Now bound to the home as Mr. Mom, Mark was another step closer to becoming an author. And as a man needing to do something of substance, to have the people in his life know he loves and supports them, and to do something within his power to make the world just a little better for his having been a part of it, Mark Fine began to write.

As he had reached a new point in his life, Fine took on the task of showing the world a snapshot of his metaphorical backyard. In the process of painting with words his own backyard, Mark Fine has been brave likeWilliam Faulkner in his journey of truth telling – he has simply done it with a much different kind of Southern accent.

Fine has created a world in The Zebra Affaire that tells the truth of his home via the freedom fiction provides, and in seeing where South Africa has been – whether it is in choosing to follow the rules regardless of how nonsensical or cruel they might be, or to challenge the system, we may see a piece of ourselves as well. He puts human faces and hearts into his pages, and as we follow their loves, trials, and conflicts, we find this incredible story of the human condition as it endures some of the most unspeakable horrors.

Reviews

[Zain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely Done! 👍🏽

A nice collection of short stories from a group of authors who are pretty well known.

I, myself, am pretty familiar with Michelle Medhat, Alex Shaw and Joseph Mark Brewer.

Inside of this collection, a group of thrillers that are suspenseful, revengeful and desperate.

[Eric J. Gates · Rating 5 out of 5]

This superb collection of short stories, all with enjoyable twists in their respective tales, has something for everyone. The stories range from the mundane, with a dash of spooky, through the darkly humorous to a new insight on a familiar wrinkle for me.
The three tales that stood out, at least for me, were Mark Fine’s ‘Karmic Odds’ where the twist was the ‘wrinkle’ I mentioned above (no spoilers), Geoff Nelder’s ‘Prime Meridian’, which completely fooled me until the very end, and Elizabeth Horton-Newton’s ‘Old Habits’, almost a backwoods tale from Terror master Stephen King.
I highly recommend this book, not just for the selection of tales it holds, but as an introduction to several authors you may not be familiar with. A wonderful read.

[B.A. Morton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I downloaded this anthology on the strength of being familiar with the work of only one of the contributing authors. I’ve read and enjoyed a number of Jean Gill’s work so had no qualms about taking the opportunity to sample the contributions of her fellow authors. I wasn’t disappointed.
This is an accomplished, eclectic mix in genre, style and length of stories, perfect to dip into when time is limited or to read in its entirety if you can’t resist. I intended reading one story per day over coffee but found once I’d begun I was drawn onto the next and the next...
I’m impressed at the variety of the work on offer and the quality of the writing. From the first, ‘will he, won’t he?’ morality tale, to the last story of opposites with shared misconceptions, and all those in between, each one was captivating in its own way. Too many to mention individually but one in particular ‘Old Habits’ an unnerving psychological/horror story by Elizabeth Horton Newton was one of my favourites. The main character Gaunt was so well drawn he stayed with me long after I’d finished the story. So much so, that I’ve just downloaded one of her full length novels.
I’m glad to have been introduced to the work of so many different authors through this anthology and would recommend it whole heartedly.
I look forward to seeking out more of their work in the future.

[L. Sengul · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection of short stories from different genres. I liked the adventure that all the short stories took me on, the comedy, drama, horror, action adventure and the contemporary end to the book was quite thought provoking.

[Ulla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished reading Twisted Tales – 15 Literary Lies & Epic Yarns. I’m impressed. To create engaging characters, a spellbinding plot, and then hit the reader with a surprise ending—all of it in 50 pages or less—shows the amazing talent each one of these authors has.

There is something for every reader in this short story collection. I laughed and cried and bit my nails. Here we have it all: a fun pick-up story; a moving-me-to-tears abuse story; a chilling Stephen King-ish horror story; a spooky losing your dog story; a Sci-Fi story; a humorous story about escaping East Berlin, then learning to cope with life in California; a sad story of lost identity; an amusing story of a house plagued by meteorites; a surprise seduction/revenge story; a kid with special powers; an amusing take on astrology; bad decisions can be deadly; a draft dodger story; a clever story about linguistics; a conversation with a Muslim in hijab.

This book was a wonderful read and I wholeheartedly recommend it.