This was a good book full of fun, well selected short stories, some poignant and most funny. It'd be good light reading for anyone, not just fans of the supernatural genre."I hate harpies. They smell horrible. When you rip 'em apart, they screech so bad it makes your ears want to bleed. They aren't that bad if they're grounded, though. And then there was just Kate to worry about- grabbing her and getting her away from the gnomes with guns." "Two Blondes" by: Charlaine Harris - I was NOT a fan of this story. It's the first book I'd read by the author so I wasn't familiar with the storyline, but thought I'd give it a shot. The storyline was average, but the characters were flat. There was nothing about them that tempted me to go back and read their backstories. The only thing I vaguely enjoyed were the snippets of the "world" the book took place in, where vampires were recognized by the government, but did not have a lot of legal rights. "The Boys Go Fishing" by: Sarah Smith - This story is about a world full of "talents" or people with supernatural powers. The main character is an immortal that is having trouble accepting life after he loses all the people he loved. It was well written, but it reminded me of a story found in those Literature books we had to read in school. "One for the Money" by: Jeaniene Frost - This story is the reason I read this book. I love "The Night Huntress” series, but this novella is only available in a collection of short stories. I was really disappointed by the narrator. All her other books use the same narrator, so changing the voices up was distracting (especially the HORRIBLE British accent she used for Bones). The story itself was just so-so, it didn't really add anything to the series. "Meanwhile, Far Across the Caspian Sea" by: Daniel Stashower - This story was not at all what I thought it would be, but for reasons I can't even explain, I really liked it. It’s about a man on vacation for 30 years from his immortal protector job, who recruits journalists at his company, it’s a lot more interesting than it sounds. "The Innsmouth Nook" by: A. Lee Martinez - This story was about a bed and breakfast and a town with immortal fish people who come to visit when they need to reproduce. It was a little weird, but it wasn’t bad… just odd.“Safe and Sound” by: Jeff Abbott - It was short and forgettable. A kid goes missing and a Barbara Walters wannabe is willing to cross all boundaries to use the story to boost her career. “Seeing is Believing “ by: L.A. Banks - About a psychic’s daughter, a shape shifter, and werewolves. This was a cute little story, I’d read more by this author."The Perils of Effrijim" by Katie MacAlister - Considering this was one of the main stories of this book, I was highly disappointed. It’s about a demon dog (think Little Nicky meets MIB) who’s master goes on vacation and leave him in the care of a “babysitter”. The babysitter is crossed by her assistant, and the dog is sent to Limbo. He then fights his way to Paris so he can finally shag his dog gf. Seriously? “Thin Walls” by: Christopher Golden - A man is grieving the passing of his wife by revisiting all the places they use to travel together. At the last place he meets a temptress who isn’t what she seems. This book was… interesting. That’s all I can really say about it without giving it all away. “The Heart is Always Right” by: Lilith Saintcrow - A gargoyle proves his heart is made of more than stone. Cute little story. “The Demon in the Dunes” by: Chris Grabenstein - A man remembers a strange event from his teen years that turns out to be more important than he though. This story doesn’t really fit with the immortality of the rest of the book, but I guess it does go along with the death theme. By the time I got to the last 2 stories of the book, I was too bored to continue. From the reviews I've read, I didn't miss much anyway.“Home from America” by: Sharan Newman - SKIPPED“Pirate Dave’s Haunted Amusement Park” by: Toni L.P. Kelner - SKIPPED
What do You think about Death's Excellent Vacation (2010)?
One of the better anthologies out there. I purchased this mainly for the stories from Charlaine Harris and Lilith Saintcrow, but there were some other stories in there from authors I haven't previously heard of or read from that I enjoyed, so it was time well spent. My favorites from this collection were:Charlaine Harris, Two Blondes - Sookie and Pam (Thelma and Loiuse) are on a roadtrip to supposedly have fun an gamble. Turns out to be mostly vampire business. If you love Pam like I do, it's worth a read. Lilith Saintcrow, The Heart is Always Right - gargoyles! This was a bit of lighter fare from Saintcrow with just a bit of darkness thrown in. Usually, Lilith's worlds are pretty dark and depressing, this story wasn't as dark. And dare I say, it was kind of cute :)LA Banks, Seeing is Believing - werewolves. I had been interested in trying this author, but never took the plunge. This was a good way to try without committing to an entire book. I liked the story well enough to try a book/series from the author. Chris Grabenstein, Demon in the Dunes - weird little tale. I've never heard of this author before this anthology, but I'm now interested enough to look for other books or stories from him. I also liked the ones from Sarah Smith and Katie MacAlister. One was a superhero type story, the other was a novella from the Aisling Grey series, which I've been interested in. All in all, time and money well spent. I've discovered some new authors to try and some new series to start :)
—PauDE
Rated four stars because there were a couple go the stories in this anthology that I thoroughly enjoyed. However, as in most anthologies, the quality was inconsistent. My biggest complaint is that some of the stories felt formulaic - a "surprise" twist that was painfully obvious to anyone who's ever read a bad paranormal story. More entertaining were "the between the numbers story" that made we want to reach for the series. Overall, a decent anthology.
—lisa91
