***ARC Provided by the Author and InkSlingerPR***
Short stories are tough. You have to pack a lot into a short amount of space and still tell a story that is interesting and engages the reader. I tend to be very picky about the ones I will read as i find a lot of them fall short. The 1001 Dark Nights series of books, however, are quickly becoming favorites of mine as they tend to be well-written and excellent shorter stories.
CD Reiss is an expert at telling a story. A duet, a standalone, a shorter story...all of them are crafted so perfectly that you don't feel that you missed out no matter the length. Ok, I admit, I wanted more of Roman and Raven. But, not because I felt that there wasn't enough in the story, rather because I liked him so much at the end, I want more of his story. I want to know what he is like when he is doing the things he loves, not the things he likes (more here would be a spoiler, this will all make sense) and to see him really get the chance to be in his element, and not part of a team assisting in another company.
I also want to know Raven better than I did from the book. I am so fascinated by a woman who seems to see her own caring nature, her willingness to seek and find a connection with others, as a flaw. It's not, but in the world where she lives and works, she sees it as a liability...it's the reason she moves to another position, and the reason she is afraid of what she feels building with Roman. Sometimes, the security you think you are looking for is in a different place than you thought, and her journey to this realization is so interesting.
The world of the gamer, the code, the people who work with computers and speak their language is so interesting. It feels different and I think it is the attention to detail of the author at work here more than anything. She does the story, and the characters, justice by understanding them and their world...and she uses this understanding to bring a reader (like me) a little more into a world I know nothing about, and to make the people in it human and accessible.
The plot is tightly crafted and there is nothing extra to pull you from the main story. You are engaged from the beginning, there is an attraction you can feel between Roman and Raven, and you want to know what is going to happen next. The combination of the plot, the game/coding world and the characters make this work so perfectly the length doesn't matter as you are engaged in the story as it unfolds.
I have to make sure I have a block of time to sit and read anything by Ms. Reiss as I know I am going to get so drawn in by the story, and her words (wow can she write sentences that make you stop and read them again) and be upset if life gets in the way and I have to put the book down before it is finished.