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Ray Palen's Reviews > Not Safe After Dark: And Other Stories
Not Safe After Dark: And Other Stories
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British author Peter Robinson takes a break from his best-selling DCI Alan Banks series --- a series that Stephen King has called the best on the market --- to put together a bunch of short stories in his collection entitled NOT SAFE AFTER DARK.
What I enjoyed even more than the stories themselves was the insight into the short story genre that Robinson presents in his Introduction. He states: 'Short stories offer a wonderful opportunity for the series writer to spread his or her wings and fly to new, exotic places to meet different people and to try out different techniques.'
He walks the talk with a nice mix of stories, some of them featuring DCI Banks. I will highlight a few of the standout stories for me. The first one out of the gate was "Summer Rain", a DCI Banks story with a different twist than his usual police procedurals. The theme in this story is reincarnation and that is definitely a unique situation for the stoic Banks. The title story, 'Not Safe After Dark', about a killer who utilizes public parks as the canvas for his evil deeds.
The lynchpin in this collection is 'Missing In Action', which won the Edgar Award for best Short Story. It is set in 1939 at the early stages of WWII and depicts both soldiers who are MIA but also young children going missing on the home front. Tough subject matter expertly handled. Another story of note was 'The Good Partner' that also featured DCI Banks. The title can refer to either Banks' partner in this case, DC Susan Gay, as well as the business partner of the key witness in this crime mystery.
It is always a pleasure to read anything by Peter Robinson and having the opportunity to see his work in the short form was indeed a treat.
What I enjoyed even more than the stories themselves was the insight into the short story genre that Robinson presents in his Introduction. He states: 'Short stories offer a wonderful opportunity for the series writer to spread his or her wings and fly to new, exotic places to meet different people and to try out different techniques.'
He walks the talk with a nice mix of stories, some of them featuring DCI Banks. I will highlight a few of the standout stories for me. The first one out of the gate was "Summer Rain", a DCI Banks story with a different twist than his usual police procedurals. The theme in this story is reincarnation and that is definitely a unique situation for the stoic Banks. The title story, 'Not Safe After Dark', about a killer who utilizes public parks as the canvas for his evil deeds.
The lynchpin in this collection is 'Missing In Action', which won the Edgar Award for best Short Story. It is set in 1939 at the early stages of WWII and depicts both soldiers who are MIA but also young children going missing on the home front. Tough subject matter expertly handled. Another story of note was 'The Good Partner' that also featured DCI Banks. The title can refer to either Banks' partner in this case, DC Susan Gay, as well as the business partner of the key witness in this crime mystery.
It is always a pleasure to read anything by Peter Robinson and having the opportunity to see his work in the short form was indeed a treat.
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Not Safe After Dark.
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Reading Progress
December 9, 2017
–
Started Reading
December 9, 2017
– Shelved
December 18, 2017
–
Finished Reading
