Fully Loaded Thrillers: The Complete and Collected Stories of Blake Crouch

by Blake Crouch, J.A. Konrath (Introduction)

From the Foreword by J.A. "Crouch is one of the best thriller short story writers I know. He uses words like an artist uses a paintbrush; to hurt, to stun, to shock, to provoke, to touch. This collection also features my very favorite short story of all time. Not just my favorite by Crouch, but the best one I've ever read by anyone. It's called “Unconditional.” It is flat-out brilliant and unforgettable, and that one tale is worth the price of this entire collection." From the author of DESERT PLACES and LOCKED DOORS comes this complete collection of short stories and novellas. *69 - Tim and Laura West receive a bizarre voicemail on their answering machine that seems to have unintentionally recorded a brutal murder. But what happens when the killer realizes their mistake? This story develops over one terrifying evening, and this young couple will never be the same. REMAKING – Tragic events unfold in a snowy, sleepy Colorado town. From the first scene, in which a man sits alone in the cold, watching a father and son in a diner, you know something is about to go horribly wrong. You may think you know what’s happening, but in this thrilling, heartbreaking story, nothing is as it seems. ON THE GOOD, RED ROAD - A group of four hard men trying to reach a remote 19th Century mining town become stranded in an early blizzard and resort to drastic, terrifying measures, to stay alive. SHINING ROCK – An older couple encounter a strange and menacing visitor during a camping trip in the North Carolina mountains. Friendly at first, this stranger seems to know them, seems to know their secrets, and as things escalate, they become convinced that they may never leave these mountains alive. PERFECT LITTLE TOWN – Ron and Jessica Stahl are a power couple from California, on a Christmas holiday in Colorado. When they stop for the afternoon in sleepy Lone Cone, they’re charmed by the quaint tourist town. But the folksy hospitality will vanish as the sun drops behind the mountains. The Stahls couldn’t have picked a worse night of the year to get snowed into this perfect little town with a dark, dark secret. SERIAL – The classic horror short I wrote with J.A. Konrath, in which we turn our attention to the twin golden rules of # 1: Don’t go hitchhiking, because the driver who picks you up could be certifiably crazy. # 2: Don’t pick up hitchhikers, because the traveler you pick up could be a raving nutcase. So what if, on some dark, isolated road, Crazy #1 offered a ride to Nutcase #2? THE NEWTON BOYS’ LAST PHOTOGRAPH – At 25 words, the shortest story I ever wrote. But it packs a wallop. THE METEOROLOGIST – Peter, a disgraced meteorologist and chronic wanderer, has traveled the country for years in his Winnebago, in search of the only thing that gives his life meaning. He’s just arrived in the middle of nowhere—Hokie, Kansas—for the same purpose, but when he meets a waitress named Melanie, another sufferer, he’s faced not only with his first real human contact in years, but perhaps someone who can save him. UNCONDITIONAL – A conversation between two people—devastating, tragic, and beautiful. THE PAIN OF OTHERS – Letty Dobesh, a gorgeous, degenerate thief, is fresh out of the clink and back to her old tricks—in this case, burglarizing suites at a luxury hotel in Asheville, North Carolina. But when she’s surprised by returning guests on her last room of the day, she’s forced to hide in the closet to avoid getting caught, and inadvertently overhears a hitman being contracted to murder the wife of a wealthy lawyer. This 60,000-word short story collection also contains a foreword by J.A. Konrath and introductions to each story by the author. BLAKE CROUCH is the author of four novels and numerous short stories, including “Serial” which he co-wrote with J.A. Konrath and has been downloaded more than 300,000 times. He lives in southwest Colorado, where he is at work on a new book. His website is www.blakecrouch.com.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Thriller, Fiction, Audiobook, Mystery Thriller, Mystery

230 pages, Paperback

First published January 7, 2011

About the author

Blake Crouch is a bestselling novelist and screenwriter. He is the author of the forthcoming novel, Dark Matter, for which he is writing the screenplay for Sony Pictures. His international-bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy was adapted into a television series for FOX, executive produced by M. Night Shyamalan, that was Summer 2015’s #1 show. With Chad Hodge, Crouch also created Good Behavior, the TNT television show starring Michelle Dockery based on his Letty Dobesh novellas. He has written more than a dozen novels that have been translated into over thirty languages and his short fiction has appeared in numerous publications including Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. Crouch lives in Colorado with his family.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never have I penned a review longer than the original text. That will be the case here, as the story is a mere 25 words long. Hint fiction at its best, the Newton boys prepare for a rafting trip, having all the gear they need to photograph all they will see. Alas, they have little idea that this trip might be their last.

Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/

[♥️Annete♥️loves❤️books♥️ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't get into any of the stories, as much as i like the author's writing style. Barely 2 stars

[Kinga · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I met my current boyfriend in November 2019, we spent quite some time talking about books (we still do). After familiarising myself with his tastes I decided to recommend to him Blake Crouch. Now, mind you, I had never actually READ Blake Crouch at that point. I am just very good at recommending writers I’ve never read!

I had no idea it would be the beginning of two beautiful love stories. Mine and my boyfriend’s and my boyfriend’s and Blake Crouch’s. Eventually my boyfriend decided I should read him too, and started me on this collection of short stories. It was an excellent choice because it really showcases Crouch’s talent.

Crouch is definitely a writer with a range, interested in the human condition, and his thrillers are not just looking for cheap thrills. There are twists galore, of course, occasionally I thought he might rely a little too much on the final twist in every story, but that is barely a quibble. Who doesn’t like a darn good twist?

He can write chilling stories, whether they are modern or historical. Or, as I know from reading one of his Amazon singles, set in the future. He gets the tone right every time. He can write a gory serial killer story, an evocative piece of historical fiction, or a strangely understated lyrical and romantic story about sitting in the eye of a hurricane. A good short story is hard to find and he gives you a whole bunch of them in this very even collection.

There was one time, when I almost accused him of plagiarism (!), because as I was reading one of the stories I kept having a very strong sense of knowing what would happened next. I couldn’t quite locate the source of this interesting premonition, until finally I realised it was a TV show called "Good Behaviour" that I watched a while ago. A quick google search confirmed it was based on one of Blake Crouch’s books. So, phew, absolutely no plagiarism involved.

Another interesting thing worth pointing out is that Crouch included a short intro before every story to give us a little background as to how he stumbled upon each idea and explain the process of forming it into a story. You gotta love a writer who spills his secrets so generously.

[Sierra · Rating 4 out of 5]

i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again - it’s really hard rating a book with multiple stories inside it bc some of the stories really clicked with me and others i wanted them to end asap (no offense, blake)

[Richelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of these Novellas were wayyy too short! but only because I wanted them to keep going! they were all too good to only be novellas. They were each different and powerful in their own way! Blake Crouch is incredibly talented! And I am going to read everything he ever and is going to write! Huge fan!

If I had to pick one as my favourite it would be "Serial". it was so gruesome it made me flinch. I literally closed my eyes, puckered my nose, shook my head to try and get the image out of my mind and said ew!
in that novella we follow to serial killers/ psychopaths. Melanie is a hitchhiker, who drugs the people who pick her up them ties them to the back of their vehicle and drags them to death.. while periodically getting out to admire her work. Donaldson picks hitchhikers up. he has rigged his passenger side seat belt to not work so when he slams on the breaks the hitchhiker will slam into the dashboard knocking them unconscious.
He then brutally tortures and kills them. his torture consisted of cutting off eye lids, tongue etc.. which totally grossed me out!
Then Melanie and Donaldson meet.. and the outcome is crazy!

I also enjoyed seeing Blake's softer side in "The Meteorologist" it was beautiful and sweet.. but had incredible power! a bit of a love story!

when I think back to all of the stories in this book though the one that sticks out the most, the most memorable, the one that I keep thinking about, the one I wanted most to know more about was "Shining Rock". We meet a mother and father who are going on a trip that is a family tradition. The kids have grown and are busy but the parents decide to go anyway. One night a man stubbles onto their camp, introduced himself and shares the story of how his daughter was killed in a hit and run. I can't say anymore but what transpires is crazy ! one of my favourites! it ended abruptly, left me with more questions than answers! I'm hoping that one day there will be a continuation!

I loved that before each story there was an introduction of sorts.. Crouch explained how the story came about, his thoughts behind the story, where he was when he wrote it, stuff like that.. I enjoyed the mini insight into the story before diving in! very neat idea!

all in all this collection of short stories was amazing and well worth the money! glad to have this one on my bookshelf!
if you have never read Blake Crouch, start here.. you'll see what he's all about! and I guarantee you will be hooked! Blake Crouch is well known for his latest work The "Wayward Pines" trilogy! I loved it so much I decided to check out his earlier work! Let's just say I was NOT disappointed! I can't wait to read more from this amazing author! I hope he continues to write, because he had been blessed with a gift!

[Jenni DaVinCat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun audiobook for me. Each story was just long enough, with the exception of one, that it filled my commute with an entire story. As the title suggests, they definitely had their fair share of thrills. Crouch got me a few times. I kept thinking that I had every idea as to the direction the story was taking, only to be completely wrong. I'm usually pretty good at guessing, so this was a nice surprise.

I love that several of the stories were read by the same narrator as the Andrew Z Thomas set of books. Eric G. Dove is the narrator and in my head, he is the voice of Andrew Thomas so it was really cool to be able to be in that mindset.

There was a fairly wide range of emotion between the stories and I found myself getting choked up while listening to "Unconditional". "*69" made me angry, which I think was the targeted reaction. "Remaking" completely surprised me. I expected it to go in one horribly sick direction, but it ended up being quite sad. It was hard to contain my shock and resulting sympathy for the character. "Shining Rock" is a moral whirlwind.

I'm very impressed with the range Blake Crouch is able to touch with these stories. It's a relatively small collection, and each story isn't very long, so it just speaks to the amount of talent that Crouch has that he's able to do that in such a small amount of page space.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ten Short Stories. I think the strongest two are Serial (written with J.A. Konrath) and The Pain of Others (Letty Dobesh/ Good Behavior). I also really liked Shining Rock, Perfect Little Town, The Newton Boys' Last Photograph and The Meteorologist.

Favorite Passages:

*69
"When we finally did the deed, she just laid there, absolutely motionless, making these weird little noises. She was terrified of sex. I think she approached it like scooping up dogshit."

Shining Rock
"Everything tastes better on the mountain."
_______

"Sometimes, I can talk about it without ripping the stitches, but not tonight, I guess."

Perfect Little Town
. . . he loves this about her - how she can go from psychobitch to DEFCON 5 in two nanoseconds.
_______

"Look, I'm cold and hungry and my penis hurts. Let's go get drunk at a nice restaurant and deal with this tomorrow. Positive thoughts, remember?"
_______

"So where the fuck is everybody? This town's dead."
_______

Ron spins around, stares at a Dumpster capped with snow, at the power lines above his head, dipping with the weight of several fragile inches that have collected on the braided wire, hears a rusty door several blocks away swaying in the wind, hinges grinding.
It occurs to him that he might be losing his mind, and he sits down against the building and buries his head between his knees and prays for the first time in many, many years.
_______

"The old ways had a dark side."
Ron turns away from him and walks across the heat-browned grass, trying to remember what the mountains looked like without all the glass and steel.
The janitor calls after him, "So do we, Mr. Stahl, and now there's nothing to remind us."
_______

We are spread across the country now, old and dying or dead already, and we have mostly acclimatized to the absurdity of daily life in the fourth decade of the twenty-first century, although occasionally we regress and rant.
To journals.
Our fellow dinosaurs.
To our children who bring their children to visit us in nursing homes.
We go on about how it used to be - the extinct and glorious slowness of life and other artifacts:
The pleasure of eating real food, seeded and grown out of ground proximate to your own doorstep.
Decency.
Community.
Respect for the old traditions.
We tell all who will listen, but mostly ourselves, that we once lived in a perfect little town in a perfect little valley, where life was vivid, rich, and slow.
And once in a while, someone will ask why it can't be that way again and we tell them sacrifice. There's no sacrifice anymore. And they nod with enlightened agreement, that special condescension reserved solely for the old, without the faintest idea of what we really mean.

Serial
Recreational murder was becoming more trouble than it was worth.
_______

A ripe plum, ready to pluck.
_______

Smart kid. But not that smart.
The really smart ones don't hitchhike.
_______

"By the way, what's your blood type?"
_______

White trash punching the minimum wage clock, not one to pay much attention.

The Newton Boys' Last Photograph
Their sunglasses reflect the backpack on the raft which will hold the camera, which will hold the film, which will hold this eerie, smiling moment.


An Introduction to "The Meteorologist"
What if there was a man whose life's mission was to experience weather in all its extremes, because it was the only way he could come close to feeling alive? More interesting . . . why was he this way, and how did he get by in the world?

The Meteorologist
You embraced a storm by standing in the middle of the goddamn thing, feeling the rain beat down on your face, letting the wind bully you, trying not to flinch when the thunder dropped right on top of your head.
________

Peter looked at his keys dangling from the ignition. He touched them. Opened his door and stepped down into the grass.
Lightning bugs everywhere.
A lone cricket screeching maniacally.
________

"Melanie, I've been trying to get myself into this position for ten years. This is a once in a lifetime kind of --"
"What position? Getting yourself killed by a tornado?"
"I don't expect you to understand, but I am asking you to please just let me have this moment. Let me do this without interference. I think about it every day. I dream about it all the time. This is what I want. This is all I want."
"So I just step back, let you commit suicide?"
"I could've shot myself years ago. This isn't about suicide, Melanie."
"Then what's it about?"
The twister sounded like sustained thunder, even from three miles away, the condensation funnel widening and darkening, cluttered with all it had scoured out of Selden - cars and stoves and splinters of siding and so many airborne shingles they resembled a flock of birds and God knows what else.
_______

Peter was still squeezing the steering wheel, holding onto some illusion of control. He let go, tucked his hands under his arms, and stared through the window. Drinking it all in. Fighting to stay with the moment, this last moment, but he kept seeing their faces -- clarity where for two decades there had been only blur.
Darkness again.
By the dashboard glow, Peter saw coins rising out of the drink holders.
His stomach lifted into his throat, and he had the inescapable sense that they were plunging earthward - exhilaration and fear and unbearable weightlessness.
________

And they had not smiled like this before. Noth in their lives. Like they'd borne witness to a private miracle. Been made to see. Called forth from their tombs.
There was nothing but grassland and morning sky as far as they could see, and the sound of wind moving through the tall grasses and the coolness of that wind was everywhere and upon everything.

An Introduction to "The Pain of Others"
Sometimes you get lucky and characters come fully-formed and ready to talk to you.
Letty Dobesh, the anti-hero of "The Pain of Others" did not disappoint. She truly wrote herself, and I had so much fun with her, I'm sure she'll show up in something else in the not too distant.
In the meantime, this is Letty's story. She's a thief, yes, but she has a conscience. I love her because she made this story happen for me. I hope you'll love her too.

The Pain of Others
Letty Dobesh, five weeks out of Fluvanna Correctional Institute on a nine-month bit for felony theft, straightened the red wig over her short brown hair, adjusted the oversize Jimmy Choo sunglasses she'd lifted out of a locker two days ago at the Asheville Racquet and Fitness Club, and handed a twenty-spot to the cabbie.
"Want change, Miss?" he asked.
"On a $9.75 fare? What does your heart tell you?"
_______

Through the streets of the old, southern city, the downtown architecture catching early light - City Hall, the Vance Monument, the Basilica of St. Lawrence, where a few churchgoers straggled in for morning mass - and on the outskirts of Letty's perception, secondary to her inner frenzy, a spectrum of Appalachian color - copper hillsides, spotless blue, the Black Mountain summits enameled with rime ice. A classic autumn day in the Swannanoa Valley.

[Victor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of short stories, each one was unique in its own right and they all varied in length. I usually find myself worried that a short story may not be able to develop into something meaningful, however, with every story in this collection I never had this problem. Even one story which was only 25 words long still managed to contain enough in it to not leave me wondering what if it were longer. Of the 10 stories, there was only one which I had already read, so there was plenty of fresh material for me.

As I stated at the beginning of my review, I enjoyed every story, however, if I was to choose a favourite, it would have to be ON THE GOOD, RED ROAD as it was about one of the characters from the book Abandon and events they encountered just before arriving in the town of Abandon giving me a closer look at this particular character and how these events shaped the person they ended up turning into.

I would honestly say that whichever story you read, you will enjoy it, some more than others, but none of them will be bad.

[Nai | Libros con(té) · Rating 4 out of 5]

▹*69 (read April 2, 2022) - 4 stars ⭐
▹Remaking (April 4, 2022) - 3 stars
▹On the Good, Red Road (Sept 11, 2022) - 3 stars
▹Shining Rock (Oct 10, 2022) - 4 stars ⭐
▹Perfect Little Town (Nov 23, 2022) - 3,5 stars ⭐
▹The Newton Boys' Last Photograph - 3 stars
▹The Meteorologist (Dic 30, 2022) - 2,5 stars
▹Unconditional (Dic 30, 2022) - 4 stars ⭐

My favorites:⭐

[ianthereader · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75⭐️

Uhhhhh this collection was fantastic

[Leslye❇ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of some of Crouch's best short stories. Much like his novels, they move quickly and provide lots of twists and surprises. My favorites were *69, Shining Rock, and Perfect Little Town. As always, he includes Serial, which is awesome if you haven't already read it. Crouch is a master of horror fiction and will have you on edge with this series of short stories. If you are squeamish this book is probably not for you. But if you like your horror bloody, you should give Fully Loaded a try.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of dark stories....very dark. Some stories involve torture.....seriously very dark. I liked Letty the thief (last story) and will look for more stories with her.

[Dez Nemec · Rating 3 out of 5]

10 short messed up little stories by the author of the Wayward Pines Trilogy. My faves were *69 (What happens when your answering machine unintentionally records a violent crime?) and Serial (Written with J.A. Konrath: Ever hitchhike and wonder if your ride is a serial killer? Or perhaps you are the serial killer in the car? But what is the chance that BOTH of you are...?) Fun!

[Jonathan Dayton · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the stories were enjoyable, but a few (*69, Perfect Little Town, and Serial) were gripping and will stick with me for a while.

[Kelly Maychack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent short story collection!

[Terry Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fully Loaded is a collection of different lengths, from less than one page (yes, really) to a couple that are a good hour's read, and every one is very good indeed; I wonder if the shorter story may be absolutely Crouch's forte, because each one encapsulates all that is brilliant about his writing. My favorite novel of his is Abandon, and the very best in the Fully Loaded collection is an outtake from it, On The Good, Red Road, which is as stunningly good as the main story. My other favourites were The Meteorologist (I enjoyed reading that Mr Crouch adores extreme weather, as I do - he ought to try the frustration of living in boringly moderate England!), about a lonely man who chases storms, Unconditional, which is about a father whose son is a killer, and I loved Serial, because I like reading about grisly murders and psychopaths. They're all great, though; there isn't one weak one.

Before each story is a short explanation of how it was born. Excellent book. Get it.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first started to listen to this on audiobook, but whereas I thought the first story was very compelling, I also thought the narrator was horrendous and was going to ruin the whole book for me. So I returned the audiobook and waited patiently for my library to get the print copy in. I'm glad I waited. Some of these stories were VERY hard to read (because of content), but man, Crouch can spin a good tale. They're dark, but I wouldn't have them any other way. The last story in the collection is about Letty Dobresh, which I had already read in the Good Behavior collection.

[Jason Brant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Stories

I'd read several of these in other collections, but the handful I hadn't were still worth the price. Crouch is a phenomenal writer who never fails to impress.

[Liesl Molyneux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing and frightening short stories. I love Blake Crouch.

[John (JC) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read

[Craig Childs · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent collection of early stories.

Fully Loaded combines the complete contents from Blake Crouch's first two short story collections Four Live Rounds and Six in the Cylinder.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Eric Dove and Luke Daniels. The audiobook omits two stories from the print edition, "Serial" and "Pain of Others". This may be due to a copyrights issue, since audio recordings of those stories are sold by another publisher. Fortunately, I had already read both of them, else I would have been disappointed.

*69 -- Tim and Laura find a disturbing message on their answering machine. Someone butt-dialed them while committing a crime, and now they must figure out which one of their friends might be a murderer. This is a decent suspense story although the technology is dated. Who owns a landline phone anymore? And what phone doesn't show recent incoming calls?

Remaking--Miller sees a man and a young boy eating in a diner, but something does not feel right, like maybe they don't belong together. He follows them to a hotel room to find out if the boy is safe. The deeper he digs, the more apparent it becomes something is not right, but who is the villain and who the victim?

On the Good, Red Road--An alcoholic Civil War veteran, Oatha Wallace falls in with a band of highwaymen on their way to an isolated mining town. This short story is a prequel to Crouch's second novel, Abandon.

Shining Rock -- For six years, Roger has harbored a terrible secret: he was responsible for a young woman's death. Now, on a hiking trip with his wife, he begins to suspect they are being hunted by someone who knows the truth.

Perfect Little Town -- Ron and Jessica are stranded overnight in an idyllic mountain town. It seems like an opportunity for romance and relaxation, but the local citizenry is harboring a dark secret that may cost them their lives. This story is an interesting cross between Joe R. Lansdale's "The Pit" and Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas".

The Newton Boys' Last Photograph--A 25-word short-short the authors refers to as hint fiction.

The Meteorologist -- A man suffering from crippling anxiety finds relief as a storm chaser in Kansas.

Unconditional -- A father's love for his son is tested under the worst possible circumstances. Powerfully written.

[Elede · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blake Crouch es una maravillosidad. Su forma de escribir te atrapa, ya sea en sus novelas (Recursion es lo mejor que he leído en los últimos años), o en estas historias cortas.
Es un maestro a la hora de crear mundos y presentar personajes y sus motivaciones. Y en esta colección, se va a la ficción de thriller/terror/psicológico.

69: vaya primera historia, que mal cuerpo te deja. Vas viendo lo que va a pasar, como en una peli de Antena 3 de domingo por la tarde. Pero qué bien escrita está y que jodida es. Recibes un mensaje en el contestador que alguien ha dejado sin querer, cometiendo un crimen...

On the good, red Road: historia sobre Oatha, una pequeña precuela de su libro Abandon. Oeste, 1890. Muy bien contada, no me motiva mucho la temática pero es una historia genial de bandidos y forajidos en el Oeste americano. Muy Red Dead Redemption.
¡Te deja con ganas de leer libro!

Shining Rock: genial historia de las que te dejan sin uñas. Incluso con un par de giros que no esperaba, que ya es difícil hacerlo en 15 páginas. Una acampada y un hombre sospechoso que viene a hablar contigo. ¡Muy buen relato!

Perfect little town: otro genial thriller. ¿Qué pasaría si te quedas atrapado en un pueblo de montaña por una tormenta de nieve... Y ese pueblo oculta un secreto? La historia tiene toques de Black Mirror (el episodio de White Bear), y está excepcionalmente narrada. Tensión a raudales y una gran atmósfera.

Serial: al parecer el más famoso o popular de estos relatos. La idea es genial: un asesino que recoge a autoestopistas, y una autoestopista que es una asesina. Y se juntan los dos, ¿Quién ganará?
Las descripciones son demasiado gráficas, fíjate que tengo estómago pero aquí me pareció demasiado. Buen relato, eso sí, pero no mi favorito.

The meteorologist: buen relato sobre las inclemencias del tiempo, sobre todo tornados y la vida de un buscatornados. Poco sorprendente y no quedará en la memoria.

The pain of others: Letty es una protagonista con mucho carisma. ¿Qué pasaría si eres una delicuente y te enteras de que un hitman va a cometer un asesinato? Como siempre, genial la narrativa, la historia te atrapa y no puedes parar hasta acabarlo.
"Not because she was an Evil person, but because she wasn't Evil enough"


Todas las historias merecen la pena, y es una puerta genial a la forma de escribir de Blake Crouch.

[Duarte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another fine example of Blake Crouch's inventiveness. With simpler plots, biting and very insightful, he created these 10 creepy stories.
My favorite was "Shining Rock" because of the brilliance of the ending.
These short stories are so good and believable that they could pass for local tales.

(…)
– “But he must know where we live, Roger.” Sue sat up, faced her husband.
– “He was able to find out we were coming to North Carolina. What keeps him from doing this when we get back to Minnesota? Or from turning you in?”
– “I don’t think this is about bringing me to justice in any legal sense of the word.”
– “We can’t just run away, Roger.”
– “Sure we can. And we will.”
– “He might know where our girls live. Might decide to go after them. We have no idea what he’s capable of.”
– “So what are we supposed—”
– “You wanna be free of this?”
– “Of course.”
– “Have it never come back to haunt you as long as you live? Guarantee the safety of me and the girls? Your own freedom?”
For a moment, there was no sound but the weeds brushing against the exterior of the tent.
– “Jesus, Sue. I don’t have that in me.”
– “Well, you had it in you to leave a teenage girl dying in the street. Now if that man came into this wilderness to murder us, he probably went out of his way to make sure no one knew he was coming here, which works out perfectly for us.”
(…)”

[St Fu · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the TV shows Good Behavior and Wayward Pines (most of the time) and found Recursion satisfying on the page turner front and so having trouble paying attention to any book I start lately I turned to this one. Unfortunately it was mostly gratuitously mean to its characters with the exception of Meteorologist and I almost gave up during Perfect Little Town. I realize I am in the minority.

[Renny Barcelos · Rating 5 out of 5]

My attention span is weird due to my ADD so I need time to engage with the characters or I can't really focus, hence not listening to short stories often. But Blake Crouch is amazing; he made me pay attention and engage with each one of those stories. They're all so complete in such short space, it's incredible.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book of all the collected short stories of Blake Crouch. He is one of my favorite authors! The book includes 11 short stories, each with an introduction by Crouch. I considered three to be five stars: Remaking, Shining Rock, and Serial. Most of the others were 4 stars. Only two did not appeal to me. This book is for adults only, as it contains torture and other bad things.

[Jadecircle12 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every story had me going “Woah!” I am in awe with his fluid, clean and page-turning writing style. He creates twists I would never have expected and his endings are nothing short of cathartic every time. It’s been a long time since I had a new favorite writer. Welcome to the club, Blake Crouch.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read several chapters of this book. It is a collection of murder stories. I like tension and suspense in a murder story but I don't like the murder itself to be as graphic and brutally described as they were in this book. Hence, I did not complete it.

[Robert Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quality

Bid fan of Crouch. Started with the Waywood Spines series and decided to check out the back catalogue. Excellent collection that only made me look for more. Just a word of warning most of these stories are very disturbing. You will never hitch hike after reading this.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not for me.
I read this because my husband likes Crouch’s novels so I thought I would see what the fuss was about.
Some interesting premises but not as tense as I expected.
There were twists but they came to early.