Tag Archives: Brad Parks

Murder and Mayhem in Muskego edited by Jon & Ruth Jordan

Overview
Murder and Mayhem in Muskego: Jordan, Jon & Ruth, Phillips, Gary,  Richardson, Kat: Amazon.com.au: Books

Title: Murder and Mayhem in Muskego
Author: Jon Jordan, Ruth Jordan, Megan Abbott, Dana Cameron, Reed Farrel Coleman, Hilary Davidson, Sean Doolittle, J.M. Edwards, Andrew Grant, Ted Hertel, Jr., Chris F. Holm, Brad Parks, Gary Phillips, Kat Richardson, Greg Rucka, Marcus Sakey, Tom Schreck, Nathan Banks, Zoe Sharp, Bryan VanMeter & Jeri Westerson
In: Murder and Mayhem in Muskego (Jon & Ruth Jordan)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Crime, MysteryShort story collections
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Down and Out Books
Year: 2012

Thoughts

I loved this collection, it is very aptly named – truly a collection of murder and mayhem. Hilariously so if I’m being honest. Alright, some of the stories aren’t all that hilarious – because they are somewhat disturbed. But, still, this was a fantastic collection. One that I thoroughly enjoyed and look forward to reading again in the future.

Although there were a few mystical stories in this collection, the majority were contemporary tales. That definitely made them more relatable and kind of disturbing. I did like that there were the occasional paranormal stories though. They just added a little bit of variety, and some unexpected twists to the tales throughout this collection. Although, they pretty much all dealt with murder, regardless of what kind of genre they sat within.

I loved that pretty much every story in this collection is filled with chaos, and some pretty serious horribleness being planned. In one way or another. I mean, it wouldn’t be a anthology of murder stories if they weren’t planned… that’d be manslaughter. Admittedly, there were one or two stories that didn’t fit the mould. But the majority were deliciously filled with horrible acts.

Honestly, I really enjoyed this anthology. Maybe not every story was my cup of tea, and it wasn’t my favourite anthology ever. But it was still enjoyable. And one I plan to keep on my shelves so that I can read it again in the future!

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Serenity by Brad Parks

Overview
Murder and Mayhem in Muskego: Jordan, Jon & Ruth, Phillips, Gary,  Richardson, Kat: Amazon.com.au: Books

Title: Serenity
Author: Brad Parks
In: Murder and Mayhem in Muskego (Jon & Ruth Jordan)
Rating Out of 5: 3.5 (Liked this)
My Bookshelves: Crime
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Down and Out Books
Year: 2012

Thoughts

I enjoyed the way in which the wisdom prayer was used to create the name of this short story. It’s definitely a prayer that has come up a few times in my life over the years. I know in this context, it’s used in relation to AA. But still, it was a nice little moment.

This story is kind of horrible in places. Which is unsurprising because it features a murder. But I was weirdly happy about the fact that the lead in this story didn’t have a drink. So yeah,  he murdered someone and is about to dispose of the body and (theoretically) get away with murder. But he didn’t give up on his AA and have a drink.

You kind of gues from the beginning that Billy is dead. Yet, it isn’t till the end that you get that confirmation. And I kind of needed that. Mostly to make sure I wasn’t insane in my understandings. Also, there’s a great, somewhat graphic description of just how the man is killed.

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Image source: Amazon