Monterey Shorts
 Byron Merritt et al
 (Reviewer - Rebecca Brown)
 2003 Thunderbird Press
 ISBN: 0967684846

Short stories by different authors capture the flavor of the Monterey Peninsula, California -- present & future.

With a Foreword by Brian Herbert, nephew of the great Frank Herbert of Dune renown.

I have not been a great fan of short stories, however, since reading this collection my taste has been titillated. Each one is evocative, compelling & a good read!

Byron Merritt of Monte-Ray Gunn comes by his skill in writing via bloodlines, as the great nephew of the fabled Dune author, he shows off his stuff in a weirdly delightful futurist parody of the old gumshoe tale.

Walter Gourlay's Reunion is a special memoir-cum-transcendence tale. Ascerbic yet sentimental.

Mark C. Angel's Mortuary Beach is pure thriller in the surf & sand.

Lele Dahle's The Lizard Catcher is a glimpse of hot sunny childhood days & a skill that sets a girl apart.

Ken Jones' Borscht in the Bay is a hair-raising tale about Army Veteran Woody's nighttime perambulations when he spies an inflatable boat coming in, watches three figures slide over the gunwhales, beach themselves & walk away into town.

Chris Kemp's Resurrected is a hilarious look at how the core of a family goes into meltdown when the Mother's health becomes compromised...I think, or maybe it's a coming-of-age story.

Frances J. Rossi's A Flash of Red is a relentlessly scary tale of assault, stalking & redemption.

Shaheen Schmidt's A Place to Heal where Norm, a workaholic encounters the edge of his life & must decide what being busy really means.

Pat Hanson's If the Tubs Could Talk about a visit to a spa by a woman breaking her mother's taboos.

Mike Tyrrel's Dot's Dad Visits Dinosaur Town tells about a girl & her family & a magical place where children rule.

An entertaining & eclectic clothesline of writer's shorts hanging in the breeze & offering engrossing stories set in an enchanting land.

Very well done, one & all!
(10/12/03)

Rebecca