Review: Dark Steps

Title: Dark Steps

Author: Martin Pond

Genre: Thriller/Horror

Publisher:  Martin Pond

Publish Date: August 11, 2011

ASIN:  B005GQ84CE

Available at: Amazon – Barnes and Noble

From Amazon:

A collection of short stories, a series of twist endings, and one author’s dark steps back into writing…

A teenage boy waits to take a sinister test he may or may not pass; a new father hears a strange voice on his daughter’s baby monitor; a poisoner’s best-laid plans go terribly astray; an enigmatic man gets as close to death as he can; a young boy wonders why Christmas just doesn’t feel right this year; after the year from hell, a man is driven to extreme measures; a dying man reveals a black secret to his son; and, after four years in limbo, a man’s life starts to unravel…

Review:

All seven of these short stories are rather disturbing as implied by the title and description, but they’re all well written.  I particularly liked the story “Near-Death Experience”. It’s about a man who chooses to get as close to death as he can. I also liked the story “The Inheritance”, which was about a death-bed confession.

The stories were all very compelling and they drew me in so that I nearly read the book in one sitting. I would have read the book in one, but life got in the way. It’s not a very long book. It’s only 54 pages, but it’s very intense. There’s a lot to take in in such a short time frame.

At the end of the book there’s an excerpt from the author’s upcoming novel, “Drawn to the Deep End“.  I have to admit I enjoyed this the least of all. Maybe I’d enjoy more of the book if there were more to read.

A lot of the resolutions of the stories were a little too predictable, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying them. I’m not normally a short story person, but this collection of short stories were a great read.

*I received a free copy of this book for an honest review.

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