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Cold Sweats and Vignettes
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Experience 50 pages of spiiiiine-tingling supernatural teeeerrror and science fiiiiiction...
THE STEAL - A thief is hired by a collector to acquire an occult aaaaaartefact...
CRASH - A hard landing on an alien plaaaaaanet...
COLLISION - A world changing incident at the Laaaaaarge Hadron Collider...
THE FALL - A London gangster finds himself in a baaaaaad situation...
Experience 50 pages of spiiiiine-tingling supernatural teeeerrror and science fiiiiiction...
THE STEAL - A thief is hired by a collector to acquire an occult aaaaaartefact...
CRASH - A hard landing on an alien plaaaaaanet...
COLLISION - A world changing incident at the Laaaaaarge Hadron Collider...
THE FALL - A London gangster finds himself in a baaaaaad situation...
48 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 12, 2015
88 people are currently reading
217 people want to read
About the author
John Bowen
8 books183 followersJohn Bowen is a multi genre thriller author who lives in the UK. When not playing video-games, reading, catching up on movies, going to the gym, and enjoying time with his wife and children, he occasionally finds time to write...
His debut novel supernatural suspense thriller WHERE THE DEAD WALK is an Amazon Top #100 Bestseller, his second novel, action adventure thriller, VESSEL a #1 Bestseller in Kindle Thriller and Mystery, his short story collection COLD SWEATS & VIGNETTES a #1 Bestseller in Short Fiction, and his most recent novel, murder mystery DEATH STALKS KETTLE STREET also an Amazon Top #100 Bestseller.
You're welcome to visit his site and sign up for news, promotional discounts and giveaways - and find out how to pick up a FREE book at:
https://johnbowenauthor.wordpress.com
Find him on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/JohnBowenWrites
or contact him directly at:
johnybwrites@gmail.com
or visit him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JohnBowenWrites
His debut novel supernatural suspense thriller WHERE THE DEAD WALK is an Amazon Top #100 Bestseller, his second novel, action adventure thriller, VESSEL a #1 Bestseller in Kindle Thriller and Mystery, his short story collection COLD SWEATS & VIGNETTES a #1 Bestseller in Short Fiction, and his most recent novel, murder mystery DEATH STALKS KETTLE STREET also an Amazon Top #100 Bestseller.
You're welcome to visit his site and sign up for news, promotional discounts and giveaways - and find out how to pick up a FREE book at:
https://johnbowenauthor.wordpress.com
Find him on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/JohnBowenWrites
or contact him directly at:
johnybwrites@gmail.com
or visit him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JohnBowenWrites
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
May 18, 2019
Audiobook review
Mini stories, tasty snippets, you choose what description you’d like.
Mixed from Sci fi to murder these will whip you along in the turmoil and nail biting.
A good mix of different genres to introduce you to this authors work & believe me the longer books/audiobooks are well worth a listen.
Good narration & tempo. A plus to listen to from me
Mini stories, tasty snippets, you choose what description you’d like.
Mixed from Sci fi to murder these will whip you along in the turmoil and nail biting.
A good mix of different genres to introduce you to this authors work & believe me the longer books/audiobooks are well worth a listen.
Good narration & tempo. A plus to listen to from me
January 3, 2016
Was a very easy read for short stories. in my mind this is one of the better anthologies that I have read. some of the stories I would love to see made into full novels
June 23, 2019
Four short stories.
I think this series of four short stories was probably a mistake for me, given that I'm not a fan of science fiction, horror or short stories. So if you like these genres in your reading, you'll probably love this book.
The narration by Phil Mayes was suitably menacing, though in one of them I was a bit confused as to who was speaking.
Each of the stories had a twist at the end, a little predictable, but a twist all the same.
The first story, The Steal, related to a professional thief who stole on behalf of art collectors. His final job was acquiring an occult item from a locked vault.
Collision was about a fault in the Hadron Collider at Cerne, which messed with time. This one was presented as a series of news snippets and was my least favourite story.
In Crash, a space station takes an unplanned visit to a remote planet.
Finally, The Fall, which is going to give me nightmares tonight and narrated the experience of a gangster who finds himself on the receiving end.
I think this series of four short stories was probably a mistake for me, given that I'm not a fan of science fiction, horror or short stories. So if you like these genres in your reading, you'll probably love this book.
The narration by Phil Mayes was suitably menacing, though in one of them I was a bit confused as to who was speaking.
Each of the stories had a twist at the end, a little predictable, but a twist all the same.
The first story, The Steal, related to a professional thief who stole on behalf of art collectors. His final job was acquiring an occult item from a locked vault.
Collision was about a fault in the Hadron Collider at Cerne, which messed with time. This one was presented as a series of news snippets and was my least favourite story.
In Crash, a space station takes an unplanned visit to a remote planet.
Finally, The Fall, which is going to give me nightmares tonight and narrated the experience of a gangster who finds himself on the receiving end.
August 11, 2017
This short collection of short stories fairly crackles along. A thief steals something which isn’t as harmless and he thought, the Large Hadron Collider warps time, a crash landing made this reader do a double-take and a gangland super-thug gets his comeuppance. There’s a bonus cartoon strip too.
The stories in this collection have a fresh feeling; old themes are seen from new angles. I read straight through, each little tale whetting my appetite for the next. The downfall of any collection is always the weakest story and I really didn’t think there was one. If you enjoy a bit of speculative fiction you should really give this a whirl. It’s a quick read, a great read and it’s even a free read!
The stories in this collection have a fresh feeling; old themes are seen from new angles. I read straight through, each little tale whetting my appetite for the next. The downfall of any collection is always the weakest story and I really didn’t think there was one. If you enjoy a bit of speculative fiction you should really give this a whirl. It’s a quick read, a great read and it’s even a free read!
March 12, 2017
Devoured this collection in half an hour, a fabulous mix of horror and sci-fi.
August 31, 2017
I very rarely read short stories or novellas; I find them irritating. But the general brilliance of John Bowen's writing was enough to entice me into investing in Cold Sweats and Vignettes. Was it worth straying from my principle of not bothering with the genre? It most certainly was. Once again the elegantly eloquent Mr Bowen has served up a medley of scary science fiction and fantastical stories. They are all short, sharp and to the point. Each story is witty, well thought out, well paced, well written and well presented. How can a reader fail to be impressed by an author who time and again serves up such a smorgasbord of pithy and original ideas? The little novels contained within this book are entertaining, enlightening and enormously enjoyable. Highly recommended for anyone who likes a fabulous story, brilliantly told.
May 14, 2019
This was a lovely little audiobook of a variety of stories that I loved. The author has compiled a set of complex stories that are fun to listen to and the narrator was perfect for these sci-fi story arch’s. Loved it.
September 3, 2015
These are four very creepy, very different and very creative stories.
Disclaimer: I narrated the audio version.
Disclaimer: I narrated the audio version.
October 14, 2016
Really enjoyed this diverse short story collection, and love John Bowen's writing style - it has certainly led me to add his other full length novels to my TBR list
November 12, 2017
Looking at the categories in which John Bowen's short collection of stories, Cold Sweats and Vignettes, is ranked on Amazon, I found that, as of the date of this review, it was ranked in the top 50 in three different categories: occultism, supernatural, and British horror. That's fairly impressive for a collection that's less than 50 pages long and contains all of four stories (two of them flash fiction). But John Bowen's work transcends artificially narrow genres, and three of these stories pack quite a punch.
The first story in the book, "The Steal," is actually the weakest. A master thief who goes by the name of Lucas Smith makes his living stealing priceless objects from the collections of various wealthy individuals on behalf of other wealthy individuals who want those objects. This time, however, instead of the usual paintings or jewelry he gets paid to liberate, Lucas is hired to steal a very bizarre item with occult significance. It’s an intriguing set-up for a story, but the author telegraphs the ending, which thus manages to be neither especially scary nor surprising.
“Collide,” the second story of Cold Sweats and Vignettes, also has the most unusual and innovative story structure. It’s told by means of a series of fictional news articles and TV news reports describing the aftermath of an accident involving the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s biggest particle accelerator. The accident causes a number of rifts in the space-time continuum, causing people from both the past and future to be transported to the present. The author pretty much takes the accident as a matter of course and, instead, he focuses on the philosophical question of what would happen if people from the past or future did simply show up here one day. Bowen’s answer, which I won’t spoil, actually makes a lot of sense and should elicit more than a few nodding chuckles from readers. Ironically, today’s political climate in the United States and other countries regarding immigration makes some of the issues Bowen raises in the story considerably more relevant than when the author wrote the story.
The other two stories in the collection, “Collide” and “Crash” are only a few pages long each and are both very good examples of flash fiction. “Crash” is the story of a space ship that does indeed crash on an inhabited planet. When the pilot meets the locals, he and the readers are in for a big surprise. “The Fall” takes the form of a hardboiled gangster story. A tough mobster winds up in a room filled with torture implements and an interrogator who prepares to use them for reasons the mobster can only guess at. Instead of panicking, however, he engages his captor in some tough negotiations, leading to a most unexpected finale. Flash fiction is pretty much just a set-up and a punch line, and author Bowen handles both of these quite well in “Collide” and “Crash.” I did not see either of the twist endings coming until the last couple of paragraphs.
The four stories in Cold Sweats and Vignettes run the gamut from hard nosed crime stories to some tongue-in-cheek speculative science fiction to occult horror, with the author sometimes switching genres within the same story, but in a way that’s entertaining rather than merely confusing. I really enjoyed “Collide,” both for the way it’s written and the point that the author finally makes. The author includes an actual mockup of a magazine article, complete with a picture of one of the time travelers, in order to help make one of his points. This is a pointed satiric (and unflattering) commentary on the current status of our social media/reality TV-driven society.
The last three stories in Cold Sweats and Vignettes are all four- to five-star efforts, with only “The Steal” missing the mark missing (although it does contain some rather effective and fanciful description of the treasures the thief uncovers in trying to fulfill his assignment. Still, the book as a whole is a quick, very enjoyable read and, better yet, the author generally offers it as a free promotion to stir up interest in his other works. Readers won’t feel a cold sweat reading these stories, only the warm feeling of discovering a talented new author.
The first story in the book, "The Steal," is actually the weakest. A master thief who goes by the name of Lucas Smith makes his living stealing priceless objects from the collections of various wealthy individuals on behalf of other wealthy individuals who want those objects. This time, however, instead of the usual paintings or jewelry he gets paid to liberate, Lucas is hired to steal a very bizarre item with occult significance. It’s an intriguing set-up for a story, but the author telegraphs the ending, which thus manages to be neither especially scary nor surprising.
“Collide,” the second story of Cold Sweats and Vignettes, also has the most unusual and innovative story structure. It’s told by means of a series of fictional news articles and TV news reports describing the aftermath of an accident involving the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s biggest particle accelerator. The accident causes a number of rifts in the space-time continuum, causing people from both the past and future to be transported to the present. The author pretty much takes the accident as a matter of course and, instead, he focuses on the philosophical question of what would happen if people from the past or future did simply show up here one day. Bowen’s answer, which I won’t spoil, actually makes a lot of sense and should elicit more than a few nodding chuckles from readers. Ironically, today’s political climate in the United States and other countries regarding immigration makes some of the issues Bowen raises in the story considerably more relevant than when the author wrote the story.
The other two stories in the collection, “Collide” and “Crash” are only a few pages long each and are both very good examples of flash fiction. “Crash” is the story of a space ship that does indeed crash on an inhabited planet. When the pilot meets the locals, he and the readers are in for a big surprise. “The Fall” takes the form of a hardboiled gangster story. A tough mobster winds up in a room filled with torture implements and an interrogator who prepares to use them for reasons the mobster can only guess at. Instead of panicking, however, he engages his captor in some tough negotiations, leading to a most unexpected finale. Flash fiction is pretty much just a set-up and a punch line, and author Bowen handles both of these quite well in “Collide” and “Crash.” I did not see either of the twist endings coming until the last couple of paragraphs.
The four stories in Cold Sweats and Vignettes run the gamut from hard nosed crime stories to some tongue-in-cheek speculative science fiction to occult horror, with the author sometimes switching genres within the same story, but in a way that’s entertaining rather than merely confusing. I really enjoyed “Collide,” both for the way it’s written and the point that the author finally makes. The author includes an actual mockup of a magazine article, complete with a picture of one of the time travelers, in order to help make one of his points. This is a pointed satiric (and unflattering) commentary on the current status of our social media/reality TV-driven society.
The last three stories in Cold Sweats and Vignettes are all four- to five-star efforts, with only “The Steal” missing the mark missing (although it does contain some rather effective and fanciful description of the treasures the thief uncovers in trying to fulfill his assignment. Still, the book as a whole is a quick, very enjoyable read and, better yet, the author generally offers it as a free promotion to stir up interest in his other works. Readers won’t feel a cold sweat reading these stories, only the warm feeling of discovering a talented new author.
December 23, 2022
Four short stories of fantasy, SF and horror. 1. The Steal. A thief gets a surprise when he breaks into a vault seeking an occult artifact for a buyer. 2. Collide. Various news reports chronicle the aftermath of a time-related incident at the Large Hadron Collider. 3. Crash. A spaceship crash on an alien planet reveals a surprising twist. 4. The Fall. A gangland leader falls into the clutches of a determined interrogator. Not a bad mini collection of short stories. Looking forward to more by this author.
May 17, 2019
I'm not really a short story fan, but for John Bowen I decided to make an exception. This is a fun, short listen (about an hour). The stories are short but very sharp and they all have a twist at the end. Reminded me a bit of Tales of the Unexpected. Surprisingly I even enjoyed the sci fi ones, as this is a genre I really do not usually enjoy. In fact my favourite story was Collision, which was very cleverly written as a series of news articles.
The narration by Phil Mayes was excellent.
The narration by Phil Mayes was excellent.
May 17, 2019
Cool Stories!
I like short stories.They are a real test of an author's skill. The writer has to plunge you head first into a story and make you care about it very quickly. Stephen King and Roald Dahl are the masters but John Bowen is hot on their heels. The first story is my favourite but the others are great too.
Would have liked more stories in this collection but then I hated EPs back in the day when vinyl was king!
I like short stories.They are a real test of an author's skill. The writer has to plunge you head first into a story and make you care about it very quickly. Stephen King and Roald Dahl are the masters but John Bowen is hot on their heels. The first story is my favourite but the others are great too.
Would have liked more stories in this collection but then I hated EPs back in the day when vinyl was king!
May 5, 2017
Listened to the audiobook version which took an hour for all four stories. Surprisingly all four stories are different enough to stand away from each other and they all have a small twist at the end which you may or not see coming. I liked them all and the hour flew by. Also of note is a really good job by the narrator, Phil Mayes, who I could listen to all day.
December 19, 2017
I wanted to like this collection, I really did, but there was just so many things that ruined it for me. These stories are not great, not bad, but not great. I absolutely, positively hated the way the author organized the book and some of the stories. It was muddled, confusing and disorganized in my opinion. I did not like the writing style either. Just not my cup of tea.
August 12, 2017
Had I purchased this book I would have been disappointed, “The Steal” used some dreadfully painful phrases, much like a poor copy of an American detective story, "Mortcombe looked terrible, frail as a politician's promise and old enough for his first childhood pet to have been a trilobite," but I persevered and the ending was a good twist, if not unexpected. “Collide” I just couldn’t see the point and almost lost the will to live. “Crash” was an interesting short story and again the end wasn’t unexpected but still an interesting read. “The Fall” was perhaps the best of the four but that’s probably because I have a twisted mind. I have read the reviews of “Where the Dead Walk” which caught my attention and hopefully the writing will be much better.
November 16, 2017
I shouldn't have accepted this one from the author; I know I hardly ever enjoy short stories. These were no exception, even though the skill of the author is quite good. Sorry - I rate these 3 stars.
June 7, 2018
Well that's a new author to look into.
I thoroughly enjoyed this small collection of stories , I will definitely look into his other works , I loved how he presented the collide story and liked his little comic strip found at the back. Good job 👍
I thoroughly enjoyed this small collection of stories , I will definitely look into his other works , I loved how he presented the collide story and liked his little comic strip found at the back. Good job 👍
August 3, 2019
FOUR VERY SHORT STORIES
I really like short stories, especially when the author is able to pack it with enough to fulfill the reader. Two of these short stories ( The Steal & Crash) fulfilled me. The other two (Collision & The Fall) were just ok.
I really like short stories, especially when the author is able to pack it with enough to fulfill the reader. Two of these short stories ( The Steal & Crash) fulfilled me. The other two (Collision & The Fall) were just ok.
May 11, 2020
Short, sharp and I want more.
A great collection of short stories, thought provoking and making you want more, as an amateur myself, gets me wondering where the stories could go. Very good!
A great collection of short stories, thought provoking and making you want more, as an amateur myself, gets me wondering where the stories could go. Very good!
August 6, 2020
Likable, but Forgettable
I didn’t dislike this book, but the stories were a bit contrived. I saw the twists coming a mile away, but, to be fair, I’ve read/watched a lot in this genre. I would recommend this as a very light read.
I didn’t dislike this book, but the stories were a bit contrived. I saw the twists coming a mile away, but, to be fair, I’ve read/watched a lot in this genre. I would recommend this as a very light read.
February 24, 2017
A very short collection!
Not much to say as not much to work with. It killed some time between playing levels of a game I've got.
Not much to say as not much to work with. It killed some time between playing levels of a game I've got.
October 5, 2017
These short stories started out well but ended too abruptly. The author could have taken them much further.
March 10, 2018
Excellent short story read
March 18, 2018
Twisted tales
Well written short stories which are worth reading. Its a pity that there are not more of them, but I will be looking out for more books by this author.
Well written short stories which are worth reading. Its a pity that there are not more of them, but I will be looking out for more books by this author.
April 17, 2018
I starting to like that author. his stories very interesting. He know how to left the unanswered on ending. made me wonder and many question to what happen to ending. I like it.
October 26, 2018
Short but sweet
Good book. 4 short stories that all have a twist. If be lying of i said you couldn't guess them but cracking reads all the same
Good book. 4 short stories that all have a twist. If be lying of i said you couldn't guess them but cracking reads all the same
April 7, 2019
Wish there were more to this book. It was good and made me think.
May 21, 2019
A clever set of short stories - a perfect introduction to this excellent author.
August 1, 2019
My mind of book
These stories were real good. Need to decide what to read next. Know it will be a good read whatever a pick
These stories were real good. Need to decide what to read next. Know it will be a good read whatever a pick
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews