Crossing Limbo discussion

This review, written by Catherine Gissing, was published in the September 2017 issue of The Book Review Literary Trust of India, and is reproduced here in its entirety:

CROSSING LIMBO - Review by Catherine Gissing published in The Book Review Literary Trust of India - September 2017 issue

‘13’ is an auspicious number for this collection of short stories by author Shane Joseph. The number ‘13’ conjures up feelings of foreboding and unease, which is exactly what Joseph, delivers in this assembly of stories.

Throughout the telling of ‘13’ tales, Joseph introduces us to a myriad of characters wrestling with their own personal demons; some mental, some physical and some the very environment they inhabit. The author shows versatility in being able to assume the persona of a wide variety of disparate subjects. He gets inside the mind and circumstances of different characters such as a suicide-bound elderly man, a world- weary chat room enthusiast, a delusional despot of a fictitious oil-rich country, an
elderly WWll German Nazi-hunter trying to stave off dementia and even a dog striving to save the boy he so dearly loves.

Like the title of the book, each character finds themselves at a point in their tale where they are forced to cross their own personal limbo. Some take a step or action that leads them deeper into an abyss of their own creation while some take the time to reconsider their options and step back from the path they were following. The strength of the collection is that the outcome is uniquely different in each and every story so that the reader never becomes complacent.

As a Canadian, Joseph manages to lace some of his stories with references to Canadian geography, values and socio-economics. Readers familiar with the Canadian landscape will enjoy references to places such as the changing face of an oil-dependent Alberta or the socially damaged Regent Park community in Toronto. However, the author also manages to ground many of his stories in fictional places that all can relate to. Each story inhabits a distinctive time and place making each uniquely different.

This collection of stories is recommended for those who are not faint of heart. Note that the subject matter is mature and therefore not suitable for all audiences. The back cover hints at the variety of sins and depravity that wait within the tales with its suggestion of “sexuality, suicide, murder, torture, discrimination and narcissism”. What the cover neglects to tell you is that the reader will also be introduced to plot lines that hinge on the damaging long term effects of poor parenting, poverty-stricken living conditions, unstable employment and even the affects of uncontrolled social media. There is a depraved story here for everyone who relishes such tales.

The traditional challenge of the short story medium is its lack of length. Writers are forced to be succinct in order to introduce characters, plots and pull it all together with closure. The one consistent criticism of Crossing Limbo is that many of the story lines are too ambitious in scope for a short story format. This reader was left wanting more
length in several stories so that the plot could have emerged more gradually and benefitted from a slower pace of development. This aside though, the collection is very readable and will appeal to readers who relish an undertone of darkness in their stories.