Psychopaths Ltd: and Other Stories

by Ben Cheetham

‘Psychopaths Ltd’ is a collection of prize-winning, criminally inclined stories that have been published in some of the best magazines and anthologies in the UK and US. The title story featured in an issue of the critically acclaimed Swill Magazine recommended to Ellen Datlow by Harlan Ellison. ‘Stinky’ appeared in The Grist Anthology Of New Writing alongside stories by writers such as Helen Simpson and John Boyne. ‘The Vampire of Budapest’ appeared in The London Magazine, the UK’s oldest literary journal. Several of the stories here were part of a collection shortlisted for Salt Publishing's prestigious The Scott Prize.

Share that bus journey to work or lunch break with a cast of desperate and depraved characters. Meet a stockbroker fantasising about mass-murder; a teenage boy whose favourite pastime is blowing up hamsters; a drifter who thinks he's seen it all, but is about to find out otherwise; a father willing to go to the limits of the law and beyond to find his missing child; a sweet old lady with a dark history; a man bullied because he suffers from a rare genetic disorder that causes him to smell of rotting fish; and a wife who suspects her husband of the worst crime imaginable.

Some of these stories tell it straight and nasty, others contain a twist in the tail, all of them will leave you torn between loathing and pity for the lives they portray.

About the author:

Ben Cheetham is an award-winning, Pushcart Prize nominated author from Sheffield, UK, whose fiction has been widely published in magazines and anthologies.

72 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 17, 2011

About the author

Ben Cheetham is an award-winning writer and Pushcart Prize nominee. His writing spans the genres, from horror and sci-fi to literary fiction, but he has a passion for dark, gritty crime fiction. His short stories have been published in Swill Magazine, The Fiction Desk, Deadcore (Comet Press), The London Magazine, The Willisden Herald New Short Stories 3, The Grist Anthology of New Writing, Dream Catcher, Staple, Fast Forward: A Collection of Flash Fiction, Voice From The Planet (Harvard Square Editions), The Momaya Annual Review, Transmission, The Chaffey Review, and numerous other magazines.

Ben lives in Sheffield, UK, where - when he's not chasing around after his two-year old son - he spends most of his time locked away in his study racking his brain for the next paragraph, the next sentence, the next word.

Reviews

[Amy Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think they may have been a bit dark for me, I enjoyed the format and the suspense though. The stories were well written, not too long, and were varied. I just found them a bit too realistic. I like Bens other books that I have read so far, because they are long enough to have the "good" characters dampen down the bad guys a bit. With the short stories there isn't space for good characters too so it's just the bad guys.

[Leane James · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt some of the short stories could have had better endings, more clarity.
The ending to psychopaths Ltd confused me, the call from ‘home’, what did that mean? Was it ever his house or not? Why did ‘home’ call the mobile if the phone was locked in the safe?

[Joanne R · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like bens books but wasn’t to fussed on this. Not sure if the stories having no ending was so we could have an open mind on the outcome but I feel they were to short. Just as you get into the story it ends with no ending

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

was ok but just as it was getting good it ended