Rival Spring - A Collection of Short Stories

by Jon Matthews, Elaine Bagworth, Nduka Onwuegbute

Elaine Bagworth tells the harrowing ordeal an elderly couple face when their pet dog is snatched. Bagworth, who survived three marriages, knows what it is to lose a loved one after years of companionship. "Mollie" is based on a true life event. In "The Landork Prophecies", Sharon Stein tackles global warming in a polarised political world. It's a story of military espionage with two kinds of survivors; those who can see, and those who choose not to. "The Gift" by Josef Bloglowski is a horror tale seen through the eyes of a girl traumatised by abuse. An ex-boxer unleashes his frustration on his family. According to Bloglowski, child abuse follows the same ugly pattern; only after the damage is complete is a remedy prescribed. An introductory sequel to "Masters of the Confluence", by Nduka Onwuegbute, "Surviving the Confluence" takes us on a mystical journey moments after a slave raid in 19th century Africa.

136 pages, Paperback

First published March 2, 2009

Reviews

[Benjamin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This small collection of short stories, the first offering from Rival publishing, is a good effort to get the works of unpublished, and new, authors out to the public. Of the four short stories contained in this volume three are from authors who have never before published. While each of the stories by these unpublished authors, Elaine Bagworth, Josef Bloglowski, and Sharon Stein, gives glimpses of the authors that they could become, there are still many rough edges in their writing that need to be cleaned. I still find each narrative to be an enjoyable experience and do look forward to seeing what these authors can produce with a bit more time. In my opinion, the gem of this collection is the short work by Nduka Onwuegbute. This story is the most polished and well-written of the four. Through reading his story, I am quite curious to see what his full length novels have to offer.

All that said, this collection of stories suffers a fair amount due to the typographic errors that litter the text and the fact that in such a small collection of stories (only 4) there are no links between the texts at all. I do look forward to the improved works that I see each author producing in the future.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the book to be "okay" overall- I liked some more than others. I also felt it was a rather random grouping of stories (which isn't a bad thing, just an observation).

Mollie: I don't know if I was an idiot or the writer intended it, but it took me a bit to realize Mollie was a dog! I don't read the backcovers. The story was good.

Surviving the Confluence: I liked the storyline, but there were sooo many names/characters I did have trouble keeping everyone straight.

The Visit: Soo disturbing but honestly the most interesting (for me) of all the stories. Definitely difficult to read as a parent.

The Landork Prophecies: This is not the type of story I typically read so I probably enjoyed it the least. Just not for me personally.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book on good reads and I really enjoyed it. I now have my very own book signed by one of the authors on my bookshelf.

[Rivalpublishing.com {Publishers} · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's been a few positive reviews about this book, which is very encouraging for our writers.

The great thing about this collection though, is the different genres you will find in it. There is Sci-Fiction, Historical Fiction, Crime and parenting.

It is worth the read. No matter your preferences, you should find something for you.

Rival Spring A Collection of Short Stories