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Was hier im Gewande eines politischen Justizkrimis daherkommt, ist purer Horror. Und allzu realistisch.

The chapter 'The Good Man' is absolutely brilliant! It has tension, humor, feel, atmosphere, interesting characters and some beautiful moments, and it adds to the world building. A gem within a gem that this novel already is ❤️

'Author of the Death'. Wow. Just wow. I'm awe-struck and laughing out loud at the same time. What a great concept - and more important: what an excellent execution! A gem. Especially for everyone who knows a bit about writing techniques.

Let's go!!!

The final sad and poetic twist of 'The Gist' caught me by surprise - as always with MMS. I effing love this book.

'Later' is dark, sad, poetic - and as deeply moving as it is unsettling.

'Not Waving' is a story that's loaded with symbolism. It's sad and beautiful - and also maddening because I can't identify with the narrator's final decision at all.

Life isn't an amusement park. Or is it? Depends on 'What You Make It', I guess...

Wow. Of all the great stories in this collection, They Also Serve is perfect. Confined storytelling at its finest. Immediate identification with the protagonist. Increasing dread. A twist that pulls your feet away. I have no words. Wow.

'To Receive Is Better' has Kazuo Ishiguro's 'Never Let Me Go' written all over it. Brutal and sad. And not too unrealistic, if you ask me. The way we already treat our animal sisters and brothers - why not use human clones for spare parts?

'This Is Now' is a beautifully nostalgic - and scary - story about what it means to become old.

'The Man Who Drew Cats' is so beautiful and poetic - it should only be read aloud: 'Kids laughing is one of the best sounds there is. It's the kind of sound that makes the trees grow'.

'Dear Alison' is a very special kind of goodbye-letter.

"There were no stories around the campfire, no laughter or songs or shared bottles of whiskey like in the early days on the trail. They'd run dry of all of that long ago.

Now it was just the sound of ravenous eating, the smack auf lips and teeth tearing flash off bone.

All around them, the snow came so fast it blurred the world behind a veil, and swallowed the sound of the babies wailing in the cold."

What the... how does MMS manage to give the story unexpected twists over and over again? Or is it just me. 'The Motel Business' was a punch to the guts. Man, this collection ist great!

'More Tomorrow' begins light-hearted and funny, but escalates into darkness pretty soon. And I'm old enough to remember the 'newsgroups', so it worked for me.

Well, 'Hell Hath Enlarged Herself' escalated into something I didn't expect. At all. This is the fourth story in the collection and the third with a twist that got me good. Can't wait to continue.

'Being Right' is... beautiful. Just beautiful.

Wow. That last sentence was... unexpected. There was an increasing sense of dread when the story developed. But I didn't anticipate... this.

"I remind myself that I must not always think the worst." Well. That sums the book up pretty well 😉

Wow. Just wow. Finished chapter 18, the story of Madeleine McKay. Like for example 'La Bestia' in 'The Border' this is another one of those Winslow chapters that are self-contained worlds, small novels of their own. Masterful. That's how a background story of a character needs to be told!

Stuck at halftime. The story drags, lacks pacing. Will pick it up again.

There are so, so many good or even great fiction authors out there, especially when it comes to horror. That's why I ask myself: "Am I exaggerating here?", only to answer right away: not at all. Mike Thorn is FOR REAL. Both his short story collections are a treasure trove of modern, fresh, and often quite unique takes on the genre, told with a distinctive voice. Absolutely stunning!

Wait, this well-paced, exciting book was written in the 70s? Did the author really foresee the internet, the development of artificial intelligence, and geopolitical problems of our time? Unbelievable...

That... reference to 'The Silent Patient' came quite unexpected.

Wow. Very dense, very intense, relentless pacing, suspenseful, touching. Up to a good start. And after having red 'The Silent Patient', already 50 pages in I see three similarities: protagonist is a psychologist, greek mythology is important, and people are standing behind trees watching.

When an early chapter of a Blake Crouch novel ends with the phrase "God, I loved my life", you know it's not gonna go down well.

Michael Wehunt - 'Comfortable Gods': A dreadful, nightmarish, almost suffocating story that in some aspects reminded me of Nathan Ballingrud's dystopias. 4/5

Gemma Files - 'This Is How It Goes': An interesting take on the Doppelgänger theme, somewhere between body horror and the end of the world as we know it. 4/5

Let me add that this anthology has been a delight so far. Looking forward to reading the other stories, especially Gemma Amor's, since I love her 'Dear Laura' so much.