Thriller: Stories To Keep You Up All Night (2006) - Plot & Excerpts
JAMES PENNY’S NEW IDENTITYJames Penny’s New Identity tells the story of war veteran James Penny, who is laid off from his job after 17 years. Penny acts out on his anger at being fired and is now on the run from the cops. He meets a precarious army police officer that befriends him, and helps him, yet has an even more mysterious past than his own.At the beginning of the story, Child sets up an apathetic mood by describing the setting using short, descriptive sentences. “There was one industry in Laney. One factory. A big spread of a place. Weathered metal siding, built in the sixties.” This setting and tone is juxtaposed later by the frantic and nervous new setting Penny enters into as his story progresses. The ending is left open to wonder, and so are the characters’ fates.Keeping a character mysterious, yet intriguing by revealing a minimal amount of the character’s history and motivations is something I wish to accomplish in my own stories.Child kept the pace and the mystery up until the very end. And since the ending is left open, a continuation of the story could prove just as interesting.THE FACE IN THE WINDOWtThe Face In the Window is a mediocre tale of serial killer, but who the serial killer is, is the tense, thrilling part, or so I am supposed to feel. The Point of View shifts from a wife to her husband, but during the first few pages of the story the narrator addresses the reader. In any case, I found it awkward and out of place. For example:“…The Hummer was heavy enough to make it through the wind, tough enough to crawl through the flooding.tBeth had been the one who had been worried sick…”tThis example, in actuality, is not correct. It correctly reads as follows:“…The Hummer was heavy enough to make it through the wind, tough enough to crawl through the flooding.tSo there, guys. Testosterone? Maybe. But Beth had been the one who had been worried sick…”t“So there, guys. Testosterone? Maybe” sounds like the author Graham is literally addressing the reader, asking me if I think it’s just guys being testosterone-dudes, and then gives me what her answer is to her own question, “maybe.” This was off-putting, and it wasn’t the only occurrence. This happened throughout the first half of the story.tAlong with this, I also audibly laughed during scenes when I was supposed to feel spooked. Again this is a problem I have with the narration and writing style.tThe most gratifying aspect of Graham’s writing was in her management of properly revealing the true antagonist at the story’s climax. The climax and resolution were okay, nothing too exciting.If this were a short film it would be rated PG. The cheap thrills, character dialogue on top of the light-hearted narration made what should be a terrifying story feel reserved, unobtrusive to the true darkness and evil that would occur if a serial killer were in my home.tI did enjoy the story, minding it apart from the style in which it was written. If I had a chance to rewrite this story I would be true to the emotions of having a serial killer in my house; no light-hearted commentary, no more than one cheap thrill. The style would be much more oppressive and bleak atmospherically if I wrote a similar story.THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MIRRORtThe Other Side of the Mirror was boring and long. Two thirds of the story is entirely Exposition with no relative context since it is all front-loaded. If I had written this story I would have begun with the action and intertwined very different exposition elements as the plot progressed. But with the way it was written, I had no context for it. So I didn’t care about it or the current happenings of the main character while he just sits on the couch of an old run-down hotel room. Why do I need to know so much about the hotel setting? Why do I need to know about the sex life of the main character, “Take, for instance, the sex,” and pointless fetishes, “Eyelashes he loved best”? They have no bearing to the plot. I would have cut most of the exposition out, or else have changed it all, and intertwined it like I mentioned before.tWhen the story got to its most interesting moments, where the twists come, they make no sense and have no bearing on all the previous exposition because (spoiler alert) they were all delusions of a crazy man, accordingly.
Преди около месец издателство “Enthusiast” ни представи първия том на новия си сборник с криминални разкази - “Трилър”. В моето семейство почти всички имаме слабост към криминалния жанр и веднага купихме книгата. Мина още около седмица докато и аз успея да се добера до томчето. Когато най-накрая то се озова в ръцете ми вече знаех, че ще го изгълтам на един дъх. Затова не бързах да започна.Насладих се на оформлението(поздравявам дизайнерите на корицата- Вихра Стоева и Лиляна Карагьозова), мириса на мастилото, подбора на шрифта, с който са изписани имената на авторите. Това беше чудесно начало. После внимателно обмислих ролята на Джеймс Патерсън за успеха на сборника “Трилър”. Според моите изчисления заслугите му са огромни. Патерсън е световноизвестен американски криминален автор, носител на доста награди. Мислех си, за какво му е на този човек да събира чужди разкази като си има свои книги. После заключих за себе си, че всъщност с тази постъпка Патерсън доказва, че е истински ценител на трилъра. Затова и старанието му да събере най-добрите криминални разкази на едно място се е оказало толкова плодотворно и успешно.Още на http://www.chetecut.com/2011/03/enthu...
What do You think about Thriller: Stories To Keep You Up All Night (2006)?
I think I read this for the same reason a lot of other people read this. There was one, maybe two, recognizable authors in this anthology, and as dedicated fans, we wanted to treat ourselves to more of the same writing we love and follow. Like other reviewers have commented on, however, the main negative anti-attraction to this book is the fact James Patterson has written his name right across the front of it. I've never read any of his adult thrillers, but I have read some of his "young adult" and other edited works, and I have no shame in saying that seeing his names gives me the wrong sense of deja vu.But, like I said, I read this for those authors I adore and respect. For that reason I give five shiny stars to Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's "Gone Fishing," a brilliant gem within this questionable anthology.
—Becca-Rawr
I was hesitant about reading this one as James Patterson's name is on the front but once I realized it was a collection of short stories by various authors I decided to try it out. Like most books with a variety of authors sharing a short story you will find some you read just to get through the book and some you read where you wish the story would just go on. This is a good way to get introduced to some authors you have probably never even heard of. Go ahead and try it but do not be fooled by the subtitle, "Stories to keep you up all night" because that is just wishful thinking on the part of the publisher. This book probably did keep the publisher up all night just wondering how they were going to make their money back from publishing this book.
—Jody
I thought this product would be a good way to broaden my horizon of thriller writers, especially since I drive a lot and get sick of the radio. It certainly includes a lot of stories from a lot of writers, many of them famous. But I was disappointed. The stories are weak, compared to the novels of those writers I've read. One of the best stories is the first, by Lee Child, who is probably my current favorite thriller writer. Beyond that I would say there are three stories that really work out of the whole bunch. There must be 30 or so in all. It's a long wade through mediocrity to get to the good, and the good are just good, not great
—(´*•.¸ღBexღ¸.•*´)
