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Lighting the Dark Side
A short story collection featuring three novellas and three shorter works, LIGHTING THE DARK SIDE covers a wide range of fiction genres including, action, thriller, mystery/detective, suspense, and even romance. Join regular people who find themselves caught up in extraordinary situations. Some are simply down on their luck; while others struggle for survival. Each is locked into circumstances rendered more complex by their own weaknesses. Only when the shortcomings are recognized can they overcome these limitations and succeed. This collection of Six Modern Tales is designed to exercise your emotions, capture your imagination, and challenge you to think in new directions.The StoriesBENT, NOT BROKEN. Dwayne Johnson knows he is different. He lives in a world that can always be depended on to remind him of his strangeness. Despite his social awkwardness, Dwayne meets a beautiful woman at a bus stop and soon his entire life transforms. Unfortunately his obsessions work against him, keeping the couple apart pushing Dwayne to the point of alcoholism and insanity.IN THE GRAY. Michael Connor is estranged from his entire family and for good reason. His father is wife beating racist, his brother a corrupt politician, and his mother is all too willing look the other way. Unfortunately his loving Mum won't stop calling . . . insisting that he become more like his sibling and settle down and take a wife.BLESSING OR CURSE? When Brad Stewart won eleven million dollars in the lottery he would never have guessed a group of extortionists would kidnap his son for ransom. His decision to follow the kidnapper's demands and notinvolve the police is a choice that will threaten his marriage and his life with the violence of vigilantism.MAY 18, 2010. Is May 18, 2010 the end of the world? Trevor Woodward isn t sure. He just wants to go home after a long day at work. He is tired of all the talk about the approaching comet that may or may not impact and destroy all life on the earth. However, he can't shake the feeling that he has lived through the events of the historic day before. Or is it many times?PROMINENT COUPLE SLAIN. Detective Jack Staal of the Hanson Police, Major Crime Section has recently transferred from the Vancouver Police departments MCS. Burnt out, tired and weary of Homicide, he's looking forward to the lower profile cases of a small town. That wish is dashed when a former Mayor candidate and his wife are found murdered.SURVIVING THE FALL. Since childhood, James Goodal has had a soft spot for stray creatures offering as many as possible a good home. Now James is separated from his wife, depressed and alone. Then one afternoon, a few days before Christmas, he meets a young street girl named Ashley. Days after taking her in, his simple life is turned into a nightmare of violence and death as Ashley's past catches up to her at Goodal's home.
260 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2008
About the author
William R. Potter
6 books32 followersWilliam R. Potter’s first book was the award-winning short story collection, Lighting The Dark Side. He began Dead of Knight in the summer of 2002. The birth of his first child put the book on hold, an early version was completed by Christmas 2004. After publishing his debut book and finishing another novel manuscript in 2006, Potter finally returned to the world of Detective Jack Staal. William lives with his wife, two children, and a pair of spoiled cats in Vancouver, Canada.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 6, 2010
Lighting The Dark Side - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat
Bent, Not Broken
He set his mug on the kitchen counter; and he knew that the mug was nineteen inches from the refrigerator, nineteen from the sink, eleven from the backsplash, and eleven more from falling to the floor. He washed his hands for exactly one hundred and nineteen seconds and ran a hand through his hair for the third time.
Dwayne Johnson has OCD. Can the “Black-Coat Girl” that he sees at the bus stop every morning save him from himself or will he destroy her?
In The Gray
I was “in the gray,” that often-mystifying state, somewhere between sleep and consciousness where dreams blend with reality and voices on the television can be mistaken for a lost lover’s whisper.
Michael Conner is torn between a mother in denial about life and caring for his son and precious Tia. What would you do if put into his position?
Prominent Couple Slain
Staal shook his head. Even after seventeen years on the job, he had never gotten used to humanity’s capacity of violence and cruelty. The room reeked of burnt gunpowder and blood. It was the smell of murder.
What were a husband and wife doing in the apartment of one of their employees with a bullet in each of their heads. The wife held the gun so it’s apparently a murder suicide, or is it?
May 18th
“Look!” Kelly-Anne said aloud. “Meteors.” Trevor turned toward the city and watched the rocks streak across the sky and disappear on the horizon. Something was coming. The question on his mind was probably the same as for most people on the mountain. The sober ones, at least. Would this be it? A memorable night with a few shooting stars or was this the precursor of a much more serious event?
The commet, that has been named IVAN after the man who discovered it, is headed for earth. Can Trevor change the fate of the future by changing the events leading up to it? Maybe.
Blessed or Cursed?
‘Cutler had no idea how life had changed since I won almost twelve million in the lottery five months ago. The charities, both bogus and legit, hounded us night and day. The phone calls from past colleagues, cousins I never knew, everyone with their hand out for a piece of my windfall.’
Would you consider yourself “Blessed” if you won the lottery? After reading Brad’s story, I might agree that it’s possibly a “Curse.”
Surviving the Fall
“Is the shooter still in the house, Mr. Goodal?” “Yes, I think he’s dead.” “Dead, sir?” “Yes, I killed him.” James set the phone aside and took Ashley’s hand in his. “It’s ok, Ashley. They’re coming. Just hold on, sweetie. Hold on. “I love – you – James,” Ashley said almost silently, and then her body wilted and her eyes rolled back and closed. “ASHLEY, No!”
His whole life, James Goodal has been a rescuer of stray animals. Today, just days before Christmas, he rescues 14 year old Ashley form her life on the streets. Can he help her?
Lighting the Dark Side is a collection of short stories filled with compassion, fear, anger, and even a little happiness. Each has it’s own story and hidden lesson, making each enjoyable in its own way.
2008
Xlibris Corp.
260 pages
9781436312530
Bent, Not Broken
He set his mug on the kitchen counter; and he knew that the mug was nineteen inches from the refrigerator, nineteen from the sink, eleven from the backsplash, and eleven more from falling to the floor. He washed his hands for exactly one hundred and nineteen seconds and ran a hand through his hair for the third time.
Dwayne Johnson has OCD. Can the “Black-Coat Girl” that he sees at the bus stop every morning save him from himself or will he destroy her?
In The Gray
I was “in the gray,” that often-mystifying state, somewhere between sleep and consciousness where dreams blend with reality and voices on the television can be mistaken for a lost lover’s whisper.
Michael Conner is torn between a mother in denial about life and caring for his son and precious Tia. What would you do if put into his position?
Prominent Couple Slain
Staal shook his head. Even after seventeen years on the job, he had never gotten used to humanity’s capacity of violence and cruelty. The room reeked of burnt gunpowder and blood. It was the smell of murder.
What were a husband and wife doing in the apartment of one of their employees with a bullet in each of their heads. The wife held the gun so it’s apparently a murder suicide, or is it?
May 18th
“Look!” Kelly-Anne said aloud. “Meteors.” Trevor turned toward the city and watched the rocks streak across the sky and disappear on the horizon. Something was coming. The question on his mind was probably the same as for most people on the mountain. The sober ones, at least. Would this be it? A memorable night with a few shooting stars or was this the precursor of a much more serious event?
The commet, that has been named IVAN after the man who discovered it, is headed for earth. Can Trevor change the fate of the future by changing the events leading up to it? Maybe.
Blessed or Cursed?
‘Cutler had no idea how life had changed since I won almost twelve million in the lottery five months ago. The charities, both bogus and legit, hounded us night and day. The phone calls from past colleagues, cousins I never knew, everyone with their hand out for a piece of my windfall.’
Would you consider yourself “Blessed” if you won the lottery? After reading Brad’s story, I might agree that it’s possibly a “Curse.”
Surviving the Fall
“Is the shooter still in the house, Mr. Goodal?” “Yes, I think he’s dead.” “Dead, sir?” “Yes, I killed him.” James set the phone aside and took Ashley’s hand in his. “It’s ok, Ashley. They’re coming. Just hold on, sweetie. Hold on. “I love – you – James,” Ashley said almost silently, and then her body wilted and her eyes rolled back and closed. “ASHLEY, No!”
His whole life, James Goodal has been a rescuer of stray animals. Today, just days before Christmas, he rescues 14 year old Ashley form her life on the streets. Can he help her?
Lighting the Dark Side is a collection of short stories filled with compassion, fear, anger, and even a little happiness. Each has it’s own story and hidden lesson, making each enjoyable in its own way.
2008
Xlibris Corp.
260 pages
9781436312530
September 8, 2010
I was asked to review these short stories/novellas and I am glad I did. The Stories range from romance, mystery, suspense and thrillers. I could not out this book down you will want to read till the end
April 28, 2009
You can read my thoughts here. (3.5/5)
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews