Putting the Pieces in Place and Literary Remains

by R.B. Russell

The five stories that made up R.B. Russell’s debut collection, Putting the Pieces in Place, were described on first publication as demonstrating ‘a subtle mastery of the macabre. Enigmatic and enticing, they combine a pleasing respect for the great tradition of supernatural fiction with a chilling contemporary European resonance.’

Literary Remains was described as a collection that displayed how ‘love and loss tear at the fabric of everyday life and distort reality. What was once objectively familiar is tainted by uncertainty, and soon everything becomes subtly and terrifyingly altered. In Russell’s stories even the present appears to be open to misunderstanding. .. . When those around you insist that they see the world differently at least you can argue with them. But when you realise that you cannot rely on your own senses then the world becomes a terrifying place indeed.

‘Ray Russell’s stories are captivating for their depth of mystery and haunting melancholy.’ -Thomas Ligotti

Genres: Short Stories, Horror, 21st Century, British Literature

284 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

R.B.RUSSELL has only recently started writing fiction seriously, having previously written lyrics, composed music, and drawn in pen and ink for his own amusement. He runs Tartarus Press with Rosalie Parker from their home in the Yorkshire Dales.

Reviews

[Canavan · Rating 4 out of 5]

✭✭✭½

“Putting the Pieces in Place” ✭✭✭½
“There's Nothing I Wouldn't Do” ✭✭✭✭
“In Hiding” ✭✭✭½
“Eleanor” ✭✭✭½
“Dispossessed” ✭✭✭✭

All stories published 2009.

[Paul Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

[Ex Occidente Press] (January 2009). HB. 128 Pages.

Ray Russell’s debut collection, comprised of five short stories.

Brooding, atmospheric tales.

Lingering ambiguities cloud the lines between human dysfunction and supernatural experience.

The titular piece stands out; subtly intriguing.

[Des Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely story that features many of my passions – classical music, Venice, coincidences (jncluding the strongest possible coincidence that can create a rare unlikely situation of there being no coincidences at all!), a reel to reel tape-recorder, a ghost and its frisson, a mention of Proust…

The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is one of its observations at the time of the review.

[Paul Ataua · Rating 4 out of 5]

The five short stories in this R B Russell’s debut collection really took me by surprise. They all seem quite simple stories such as a girl going to university in another country and meeting a boy, or a politician traveling to a Greek island to escape a scandal , and yet, they all have something uncanny that unsettles the reader. It’s good to find stories that achieve that unsettling without the need for needing shocks or excessive gore. Worth a read!

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘But we all live inside our own heads. We’re all prisoners of our own minds. We all see the world differently, individually. What you see here, right now, is not necessarily what I see.’

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