"The New Death and others" by James Hutchings

Umm, okay. I got this book - a collection of short stories and poems - from the author in return for an honest review. I hope he doesn't change his mind when he reads what I have to say about his work. LOL
Anyway, just a side note here - I didn't read the poems. Sorry, but I'm not a poetry person.

Let me start off by saying that the stories are all dark humor, dark fantasy, dead on sarcastic and super thought provoking. The author addresses very important issues in each story, though they are so well masked, that if you don't use your brains, you'd be left gaping at the page wondering "what the hell did I just read?"

Each story is thought provoking, deep on a shallow level and so out there that it's really brilliant. They're all written in a creative, sarcastic and totally new way that made me laugh hysterically.

I'VE NEVER READ ANYTHING LIKE IT!!!
I can categorize it either as insanely mad or totally brilliant, and nothing in between. And I can definitely say that this isn't a book for just a random read. It's light and heavy at the same time; pointless and intrusive; moralistic in a very odd kind of way. I recommend it to people who like to have a good laugh when they encounter the truth revealed in the most bizarre ways. Like through talking cats or the like.

I really liked the following stories (though the list isn't full, since I didn't record the titles after the 50% threshold):
*The end
*Everlasting fire
*Rumpelstiltskin
*The New Death
*The New God