A weak hand grabs at my ankle. I look down and his face is turned to look at me, all pleading eyes and bleeding nose. Why does he think I’d help him? – “Keeping It Real”
Why indeed, as it quickly becomes apparent that the folks in the eighteen blistering stories in Julie Morrigan’s collection, Gone Bad, are far from a warm, fuzzy, altruistic bunch.
No, Morrigan has chosen instead to write a wickedly good group of stories which all revolve around some of the worst behavior and emotions which people are capable of. Greed, deceit, torture, murder, jealousy, lust, rape? Step right up, Gone Bad‘s got you covered.
The stories in the collection range in length from true “flash fiction” to a couple that are quite meaty, and though there is honestly not a dud in the group – no mean feat with as many stories as are included – there were a few that I found especially enjoyable.
“Searching” starts the collection off on a decidedly creepy note as a young boy joins in the search for a missing neighborhood girl. It’s not the first time he’s participated in such a search, his sister having gone missing recently as well, and it’s soon clear that’s not the only thing it isn’t his first time doing.