Roads end. They begin somewhere, too. In between, all manner of things happen: friendship, betrayal, horror and maybe even joy. For some, the End of the Road brings love and happiness, for others agony and suffering, and for a precious few, sorrow may lead to something revelatory. The potholes and pitfalls found in this anthology are many, but for every character, there is an end of the road.
This road ends in a collection of short stories by 31 of the most gifted writers of our time, with stories from action and mystery superstars Russell Blake, Traci Tyne Hilton and Mike Meyer; romance stars Jeannette Raleigh, C A Newsome, Suzie O'Connell, Kathleen Steed and Anna J.McIntyre; and from cutting edge science fiction and fantasy authors Saxon Andrew, Stephen Arseneault, John Daulton, and JRC Salter; post-apocalyptic and dystopian authors Brandon Hale, Scott Langrel, Dale Roberts and Jess Mountifield. Intended for lovers of short fiction everywhere, the End of the Road is a must read for anyone intent on keeping current with the literary scene.
As a contributor, I read most of these stories as soon as they were written. There is a tremendous spirit of cooperation, friendly competition, and even love behind this book, and it shows in the quality of the writing.
The anthology spans a wide variety of genres, from ghost stories to sci-fi to adventure and romance. "Joint Venture" by L.S. Burton rivals classic Bradbury stories. Russell Blake's "Clay" reminds me of a tough John Steinbeck. Other favorites include "The Last Hours of Brandon Kratz" by James Rozoff" (who doesn't enjoy a good serial killer?) and "Sans Cinderella," a quirky fairy tale by Traci Hilton. "The Frozen Truth" by Shirley Bourget takes an unexpected turn.
This is a terrific collection and I'm honored to be a part of it.
How to describe this collection? While the stories themselves are well written and entertaining, the value I took away was like window shopping for authors. But I would better to describe it as a 'wine tasting': a tantalizing sampling of style and prose from some gifted artisans. This themed anthology has the common thread from the title, but what's interesting is the many journeys that lead to the same destination. The End of the Road could mean so many different things from the end of a life, relationship or career. Chances are, if you can think of the end of anything you'll find it here. From smooth, elegant and flowing to as rough and gritty as the desert sand, you're sure to find a flavor you like.
A diverse range of stories from multiple genres. You'll be shocked, you'll shed tears, you'll smile and you might even be scared. I enjoyed each and every one!
I am a contributor to this, so please take my review with a dose of skepticism. Having marked it as read, I felt compelled to leave a rating rather than leaving it blank and possibly giving it 0 stars. Having said that, I am honored to have my name next to those of some truly talented writers. Even the stories outside of my comfort zone were pleasant surprises, managing to put intelligent twists on genres I thought had little to say to me. There is assuredly something for everyone here, from despair and doom to the ultimate hopefulness.
3.5 Stars Bit of a niggle that Russell Blake’s name is shown next to Jacques Antoine on the UK Amazon website, and his book is Not included in the 25 short story edition that I downloaded in the U.K. via Amzaon.co.uk . In Amazon.com edition it has 31 short stories in it. Some of the missing authors in the UK edition are: Russell Blake Traci Tyne Hilton Dale Roberts Shirley Bouget Camellifolia I suppose that this is due to copywrite reasons?
Overall the book is an excellent way of introducing new authors. It amused me when the authors got in the phase “The End of the Road” as that was the theme of the book. With 25 different stories, it would be hard to like everyone, but this book gives the opportunity to discover and sample different genres, and authors you may never have heard of before. Well worth trying. It’s free.
But I think it by lost steam about half way, I enjoy original shorts but many stories were too clique, some made little sense, ending with a zombie story, some people get off on that, some don't, preceded with typical, ageism, horror, ghost, superstition, folk, murder, political war, war, global destruction, alien invasion themes.
There’re a few dudes here, but almost all the stories are excellent. They are thought provoking, compelling, and some tough at your heart strings. You can’t miss!
An anthology of powerful shorts stories from important authors in various genres. There's so much to like in this collection: thrillers, romances, mystery, paranormal, dystopian, spirituals, occult. It does not disappoint--and it's free. Your can download an epub here, or read it in the GoodReads reader, or get other formats (including Kindle) at Smashwords (https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...)
As a contributor in this anthology, please take what I'm about to say for what it's worth - heartfelt praise for my fellow contributors. I enjoyed reading the other stories in this book and the variety of samples and writing styles within. Each on was unique and special. Some will make you laugh, others make you cry, and others yet will make you cringe! This anthology has a little something for everyone and I hope people will sample other works by these amazingly talented people!
Although an anthology this is not a fast read. What it is however is an excellent way to become familiar with various authors writing style. Some is brilliant, some is creepy others entertaining all though is worth a read. WaAr
An anthology of stories inspired by the book's title. Some good, some not so good and many indifferent. I have to admit there wasn't really a stand-out one here apart from 'Clay' and it did almost appear as if this was a collection cobbled together for no other reason but promotion of the authors.
Most of this short stories were beautiful, sad and had me crying. But then some were out of place while others were creepy. But I still loved them and how they need with the end of the road. A must read
started out real good until got to the third story then they all kinda mushed together... so gonna read one story after every novel and then do my review again when I'm finished