Missing
Pieces
I have a few of Scott Nicholson's short
story collections on my to-be-read pile, so when I wanted to read one
as part of this Summer of Shorts Marathon I had the task of
trying to choose just one. His collections tend to follow a
particular genre like thrillers, zombies, crime, etc. So when I saw
this one, which happens to be a more hodge-podge collection, I
decided to give it a shot.
Missing
Pieces brings together ten
stories of varying genres, but all of them carry the familiar style
of Scott Nicholson, steeped with southern sensibility. The story that
maybe best exemplifies the southern flavor of horror is the first
one, "Beaulahville Gospel Jubilee." I mean, the story
starts with the words, "Tater salad," and has a devilish
man mingling among the potluck crowd in search of souls.
"Apple Head Dolly" was an
effective story for me, reminding me of that impish greed inherent in
so many little boys. This one was followed by two of the creepiest
tales in the collection, "Fallow" and "The Rocking
Chair."
One
of the stories is actually the first chapter to his novel, As
I Die Lying, which might be a
good way to market your longer works, but I've never been a fan of
that sort of thing unless it's some kind of bonus material.
If I had to pick a favorite story, it
might be "Darker With the Day," which is a unique twist on
the zombie genre, about a soldier who has been infected and is trying
to get home to his wife in a world laid to waste. What made this
story stand out was not simply the subject matter, but the twist of
how the soldier maintains his identity and how Scott presents the
story with a first-person narrative that dips and dives with the
man's withering consciousness.
Missing
Pieces offers a solid idea of
what to expect from Scott Nicholson's storytelling, with a varied
enough batch of stories to impress fans of dark fiction. Some readers
may prefer collections more tightly focused, but this collection
provides a nice sampling to the uninitiated and just might convince
them to take a chance on his other books.
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