This collection of five tales by Jason Parent were all devilishly good.
Wrathbone was the longest of the stories and started out a bit slower than the others but gradually built to a feverish pitch of horror.

"Wings like those of a bat's reached from his back to the walls, scraping along them, wilting the paint and rotting the wood."

My absolute favorite was "The Only Good Lawyer"
Bradley is a slick and sleazy defense attorney who has made his living representing guilty clients. Justice may finally be served when his latest client murders the daughter of a voodoo priest. It reminded me of a twilight zone episode that I dearly loved when another shyster was cursed to tell the truth. I loved hating Bradley! The ending could not have been more perfect.

Dorian's Mirror was a new twist on the picture of Dorian Gray, this time as a young, full of himself bartender sees his reflection rapidly aging in the mirror.

For the Birds left me so sad for poor Nev who lives all alone with his parrot. A polite parrot with strange tastes that is. He knows there's been so many break ins going on but he is not at all prepared when it happens to him.

Revenge is a Dish was terrifying!
Maurice the chef is stranded in the ocean with all manner of creepy biting yucky sea life (can you tell I hate biting yucky sea life?) He is plotting revenge on those who left him behind. The end was quite surprising!

A creepy collection that I would highly recommend to all horror lovers.
5 out of 5 frightening stars from me.

I received an advance copy for review. ( )

There's nothing quite like a book of really great short stories. And, to be honest, horror short stories are really the only short stories I read. I'm not really a fan of the medium. However, the horror genre just seems to fit with short stories. For those of us who love the genre, the horror short story is like being deliciously frightened, over and over again.

Parent does not disappoint with this collection. Each story plays on an aspect of human nature and that person's demise, or downfall, at the hand of it.

Wrathbone - a story surrounding Abe Lincoln? I'm so there! In his introduction, Kealan Patrick Burke mentions the writing in Wrathbone having similarities to Poe. I couldn't agree more. The slow descent of Wrathbone into madness because of guilt and what can only be described as personal demons brought on by that guilt was truly masterful. I kept thinking of The Tell-Tale Heart as I was reading. Excellent.

The Only Good Lawyer - this story has greed and arrogance at its heart. A lawyer so motivated by the two that he's willing to do whatever it takes to win a case. He meets his match when voodoo comes into play. Chilling.

Dorian's Mirror - Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of my favorites and this story is a unique play on that tale. At the heart of this one...pride and vanity. A model wishes that the mirror would age, but not him. He gets more than he asked for. Be careful about focusing too much on looks. A creepy, cautionary tale.

For the Birds - Okay, this one is more centered on a stupid human mistake, rather than a facet of human nature. Some birds aren't meant to eat meat. I'll leave it at that. Bloody disgusting, yet horrificly satisfying.

Revenge is a Dish - you guessed it. At the heart of this one...the desire for revenge is human nature, perhaps at its worst. Maurice is thrown overboard...in the ocean. My stomach dropped because I just knew the sharks were coming (shark phobia alert). Nope. It didn't go there, sort of. This one is a little tricky becasue technically the outcome is in Maurice's favor. But is it really? You'll see what I mean.

This is a perfect read for the Halloween season, or really any time of year for horror fans. I'm very impressed with Parent's writing. Very well put together and paced, the stories keep you on the edge of your seat and wanting to quickly proceed to the next story to see what's in store. Highly recommended. ( )

Wrathbone is a story collection which rivals the best out there! Every single tale delivers, and that's such a rare thing, at least for me.

My favorite among the bunch, (and believe me, it was HARD to choose!), had to be:

Revenge Is A Dish A tasty little tale, (forgive the pun, you'll understand when you read it), about a master chef aboard a private yacht until... he's not. He's tossed overboard, with only one of those lame rings on which to float. Alone, he finds himself bobbing on the ocean like a cork, with no land or other boats in sight, and with unseen things brushing against him below. And then..., you'll have to read it and see.

As I said above, every single tale packed a real punch, but almost tied for first place was the story The Only Good Lawyer . Voodoo dolls and medicine men are a favorite horror trope of mine and this one is a doozy; it brings on ALL THE CREEPY. Plus, the lowlife lawyer, (this guy's really bad), gets his due in this one, so what's not to like?

For the Birds I thought in an earlier story one of the characters might have been named for the son of someone I know, but in this tale, I'm almost positive I know who the main character was named after. That said, I think it was hilarious what then happened to him and couldn't help but laugh at the man's truly horrible fate. Yep, that's the kind of gal I am. If this situation happens to you, you know what you can expect from me and it isn't help, it's laughter.

I'm happy and confident in saying that this will make my best reads of the year list. I think you should give it a chance to make it onto yours.

Highly recommended for fans of short fiction! You can purchase your copy here: Wrathbone and Other Stories

*I was given a free e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This is it. In addition, I *know* this author, (online only), and consider him to be a friend. In no way did this affect the content of this review.* ( )

Read this on a flight between Dallas and LAX.

Really, really liked the title story,Wrathbone. The reader is really left to decide if Major Rathbone is suffering from some sort of PTSD after seeing President Lincoln assassinated right next him, failing to stop John Wilkes Booth when he had the chance, or if he is really experiencing a demonic possession and event. Either way, it's a tragic story.

The other stories were pretty good, too, if quite gruesome, especially the story, "For the Birds". ( )

The title story (**** stars) is an atmospheric, very dark tale of a man who sat next to Lincoln when he was assassinated and has been haunted by a demon ever since. Or maybe he's just crazy with guilt for not doing anything to stop John Wilkes Booth because he was too busy admiring his own beautiful wife. In any case, this is pretty well done and memorable. The second story, The Only Good Lawyer (*1/2 stars), is the real clunker here. It just goes on too long and doesn't deliver the same level of suspense. Dorian's Mirror (*** stars) follows and provides a modern-day look at a 28-year old stud model, part-time actor, and part-time bartender who suddenly confronts his rapidly aging visage in every mirror he looks at. He isn't pleased. This has some good writing and doesn't linger too long. For the Birds (***1/2 stars) is definitely one of the most gruesome stories you'll read--not much here to offer relief if you have a sensitive nature (or stomach). Definitely memorable. Revenge is a Dish (**** stars) concerns another stud, this time a chef, who finds himself adrift on a life preserver after being caught with the yacht owner's young wife. This one has some pretty horrid descriptions of his travails while afloat, then shifts gears for a rather unique finale--at least I never remember reading a story quite like this one. Again, well done. ( )