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4.0 out of 5 stars
Strong and Varied Collection, July 17 2002
I first came across Fowler in the Vox N' Roll anthology where his creepy story "At Home In the Old Pubs of London" stood out as the best in a distinguished lot. (That story reappears as the lead story in this collection.) I gather Fowler is a prolific writer of horror novels in the UK although you'd be hard pressed to guess so from this collection this strong collection of twelve stories. Three of them have near-future settings, but that's the closest they flirt with genre fiction. Each story retains its own voice and sucks you in-and I think it might be fair to compare some of them to Roald Dahl's work, both in terms of black comedy and final page twists.One of my favorite stories was the deadpan "Rainy Day Boys", in which two London flatmates bicker and kill someone in King's Cross. It's funny stuff, and first appeared in The Second Time Out Book of London Stories. I also quite enjoyed "The Beacon", where an old man enters the age of the Internet, although I must confess I don't really understand the twist at the end. "Come On Then If You Think You're Hard Enough," is a very brief and good piece about male violence. "Living Proof" is the most Dahlesque story in its noir depiction of a journalist trying to regain his pride-very good, although the final twist is rather foreseeable. I also quite liked "Sex Monkeys" which details in roller-coaster fashion a darkly hilarious chain of events set off by a wayward sexual aid. The second story, "Crocodile Lady," is a decent story revolving around a middle-aged teacher emerging from her marriage and facing her demons in the subway. A similar female character is the central figure in "Seven Dials," which attempts to grapple with time. The near-future stories are "The Look", which is a scathing anti-fashion industry piece that might appeal to lovers of Bret Easton Ellis. In "The Torch Goes Out", walls are being erected to literally separate the violent chaotic "inner" city with the middle-class "outer" city/suburbs. It's a decent premise (somewhat akin to the Deadenders graphic novel series) that doesn't really pay off. "Something For Your Monkey" is a P.G. Wodehouse inspired "light" comic story which isn't nearly as amusing as anything by Plum (then again, what is?)... until the final page, where a waiter makes a devastating laugh-out-loud speech which makes the whole thing worth reading. "Eighteen and Over" is the one false step in the collection, comprised of an exchange of letters between a filmmaker and the British version of the MPAA ratings board. Altogether, this is a very good varied collection of short fiction. I doubt I'll go back and check out Fowler's horror stuff, but I'll definitely keep a lookout for his next book of fiction.
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