Mike Finn’s Reviews > Birds, Strangers and Psychos: New Stories Inspired by Alfred Hitchcock > Status Update
Mike Finn
is 36% done
THE MOUNTAIN EAGLE by Xan Brooks ★★★
This tale held me all the way through. It had the feel of a story written in the early 20th Century, when it was set, but with a 21st Century sensibility. Perhaps that's why the 20th Century ending I was expecting didn't happen. Perhaps that was the point.
— Nov 10, 2025 02:11AM
This tale held me all the way through. It had the feel of a story written in the early 20th Century, when it was set, but with a 21st Century sensibility. Perhaps that's why the 20th Century ending I was expecting didn't happen. Perhaps that was the point.
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Mike Finn
is 97% done
ARLENE by William Boyle ★★★★
I admire the way this started so firmly grounded in an almost mundane reality and then slowly slid first into grief and pain, then into transgression an finally into something almost supernaturally strange. The control of pace and tone was excellent.
— Nov 13, 2025 02:57PM
I admire the way this started so firmly grounded in an almost mundane reality and then slowly slid first into grief and pain, then into transgression an finally into something almost supernaturally strange. The control of pace and tone was excellent.
Mike Finn
is 90% done
THE FALCON HOTEL by Nadine Matheson ★★★
This story captures the sense of dislocation that I often experienced in airport hotels; of being in a bubble that sealed off from the world. It builds on this to create a sense of threat and finally fear that arises partly from the situation and partly from the slowly dawning realisation that the main character may have lost her grip on reality.
— Nov 13, 2025 02:13PM
This story captures the sense of dislocation that I often experienced in airport hotels; of being in a bubble that sealed off from the world. It builds on this to create a sense of threat and finally fear that arises partly from the situation and partly from the slowly dawning realisation that the main character may have lost her grip on reality.
Mike Finn
is 84% done
CHEST by Ragnar Jónasson ★★★
Short but suprisingly tense. An homage to Hitchcock where the suspense came in part from knowing Hitchcock's films.
— Nov 13, 2025 01:37PM
Short but suprisingly tense. An homage to Hitchcock where the suspense came in part from knowing Hitchcock's films.
Mike Finn
is 83% done
RUSSIAN HILL Jerome Charyn ★★
A hard-boiled tale with a complex plot with a couple of clever twists. A strong sense of place (San Francisco in a time when men stll wore Fedora's) but the I'm-too-cool-to show-any-emotion movie voice-over style of storytelling meant I didn't connect with any of the people in the story.
— Nov 13, 2025 01:16PM
A hard-boiled tale with a complex plot with a couple of clever twists. A strong sense of place (San Francisco in a time when men stll wore Fedora's) but the I'm-too-cool-to show-any-emotion movie voice-over style of storytelling meant I didn't connect with any of the people in the story.
Mike Finn
is 79% done
PRIVATE BROWSER by A K Benedict ★★★★
If there was a 2025 version of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, this story would be perfect for it. The plot was clever. The ending was a surprise. The people felt real. I liked that it was a very up-to-the-minute take on murder and finding a killer.
— Nov 13, 2025 11:29AM
If there was a 2025 version of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, this story would be perfect for it. The plot was clever. The ending was a surprise. The people felt real. I liked that it was a very up-to-the-minute take on murder and finding a killer.
Mike Finn
is 74% done
EMPIRE BUILDER by James Grady ★
An experiment with form.
With comedic intent.
That went on...
...far too long.
— Nov 13, 2025 10:39AM
An experiment with form.
With comedic intent.
That went on...
...far too long.
Mike Finn
is 70% done
CAMEO by Donna Moore ★★★
Nicely crafted for this anthology, this story is about a filandering film director, who is carefull NOT called Hitchcock. I liked the tough-cookie character of the vengeful wife, mixed with humorous Hitchcock-related crossword clues, a demonstration of the difference between thriller and suspense and clever ending that I didn't see coming.
— Nov 12, 2025 06:15PM
Nicely crafted for this anthology, this story is about a filandering film director, who is carefull NOT called Hitchcock. I liked the tough-cookie character of the vengeful wife, mixed with humorous Hitchcock-related crossword clues, a demonstration of the difference between thriller and suspense and clever ending that I didn't see coming.
Mike Finn
is 67% done
THE MIGRATORY PATTERN OF BIRDS by M W Craven ★★★
This had the feeling of a Washington Poe Christmas special with a nod to 'Frenzy'. I haven't read the Washington Poe books (I've been put off by people being burned alive in the first one) but that didn't stop m enjoying this story. It was light, fast, ingenious and amusing.
— Nov 12, 2025 06:08PM
This had the feeling of a Washington Poe Christmas special with a nod to 'Frenzy'. I haven't read the Washington Poe books (I've been put off by people being burned alive in the first one) but that didn't stop m enjoying this story. It was light, fast, ingenious and amusing.
Mike Finn
is 60% done
THE NEST by Jeff Noon ★★★
This was original and creepy but a little too long and, for me, too far-fetched to be engaging.
— Nov 12, 2025 05:57PM
This was original and creepy but a little too long and, for me, too far-fetched to be engaging.
Mike Finn
is 56% done
HITCHCOCK PRESENTS by Kim Newman ★★★
This was fun. I loved the dual meaning of the title, the way the main character's job as a lecturer in film provided me with an education in Hitchcock movies while also ratcheting up the tension with each parcel that arrived. It was told with a light touch and at just the right pace.
— Nov 11, 2025 02:17PM
This was fun. I loved the dual meaning of the title, the way the main character's job as a lecturer in film provided me with an education in Hitchcock movies while also ratcheting up the tension with each parcel that arrived. It was told with a light touch and at just the right pace.
