*****

...many of these stories are a commentary about class, crime, monsters within and the monsters we fear around us, and more. But it was the atmosphere of the stories and of the writing that blew me away. The first story in the collection is fairly benign from a tension standpoint and yet something about the way the story was written left me feeling incredibly uneasy. So much so that I put the book down for a couple weeks before engaging again. And yet, nothing happened that really warranted that unease. The next story in the collection is subtle but ultimately brutal and yet was written in almost a matter of fact way that didn't make me feel the same unease. Back and forth the stories would go, building tension and unease. In my opinion, this is the beauty of this masterfully written short story collection.