Swift, Brutal Retaliation is a nice little ghost story. The author is new to me. It is well written but does not really stand out in any particular way. We have two sisters dealing with a somewhat dysfunctional household that is now coping with the oldest boy's death after a long illness. He was a cruel prankster in life, and now they see him when they play pranks themselves, pretty nasty ones.
One thing I think the story captures pretty well is the confusion such an early death brings. No one knows quite what to do with themselves, or how to feel about it. Especially with ambivalent, normal relationships. One certainly feels for the girls in the story, which means it was effective. Kudos for the nomination, and 3 stars from me.
I think you're right about the story capturing the confusion that early death brings. The story does a nice job of dramatizing that very private, internal feeling.
ReplyDeleteMeghan McCarron is a new face to fiction, but she's an interesting one. You can actually find an interview with her plus a writing exercise based on this story here: http://readtowritestories.com
Michael Noll