The Blurb
For the first time, the best of Jim Ody’s published short stories are together in one anthology, which also includes four previously unreleased ones. Twelve twisted tales that touch on psychological/thriller, horror and YA, including: A detective sent to a travelling circus to find a missing boy; A guy with a mysterious trunk must meet a stranger at a motel to survive; A doll turns up and becomes a little girl’s best friend. Then things turn strange; A surprise birthday party is memorable, if only the birthday boy survives; and a group of orphans find the world is about to end…
1 The Reveal
2 A Moth in The Jar
3 The I-Scream Van
4 Teaching Tom
5 Boat Trip
6 The Trunk
7 The Day
8 A Doll Named Sasha
9 Surprise Party
10: The Orphans
11 Hide & Seek
12 Virgin Women From Outta Space
Purchase Links
Amazon UK
Amazon US
My Review
With a title like Tales From The Coffee Pot you could be forgiven for thinking this is a collection full of light hearted tales, the sort swapped around the water cooler at work. But look again at the strap line - the coffee in Jim's pot is blacker than night.
Tales From The Coffee Pot contains 12 short stories of varying lengths, often several chapters, interspersed throughout with short pieces of flash fiction and poetry. The first tale, The Reveal, about a private investigator looking for a missing youth was an uncomfortable and disconcerting read - I thought I was reading one thing and then it turned into a whole other thing, which completely threw me, as, of course, it was designed to do. And it was a good indicator of what was to come as all the stories, pretty much, did that to me.
The standouts for me were The I-Scream Van where children are going missing and rumours abound of a ghostly ice cream van, A Doll Named Sasha, because dolls with porcelain faces freak me out anyway, Hide & Seek about three friends playing a game in the woods at night - it broke my heart, and Virgin Women From Outta Space, a sci-fi tale, much lighter in tone than the rest of the collection (although Teaching Tom is also quite light) and lots of fun. I should also mention The Trunk, where a man is tasked with guarding a mysterious trunk - again it went on a completely unexpected direction.
There were a couple of zombie-esque stories that weren't for me - well written and cleverly done, but zombies just aren't my thing. And whilst I loved the concept of Surprise Party, it was a bit much for me.
The pieces of flash fiction and poetry also included follow the general dark mood of the main collection and many of them are really quite sad. From those, I loved It Only, about being lost in a book, was shocked by Sometimes It's Not Enough and wanted to know more in Burning Desire.
Tales From The Coffee Pot is a strong collection of original, quirky, entertaining, dark and twisted tales. Ody successfully toys with our emotions and takes us places where we never expected to go, knocks us off balance and makes us question ourselves and what we just read. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
The Author
Jim writes dark psychological/thrillers, Horror and YA books that have endings you won’t see coming, and favours stories packed with wit. He has written over a dozen novels and many more short-stories spanning many genres.
Jim has a very strange sense of humour and is often considered a little odd. When not writing he will be found playing the drums, watching football and eating chocolate. He lives with his long-suffering wife, three beautiful children and two indignant cats in Swindon, Wiltshire UK.
Author Social Media Links
Awesome review lovely! Thank you so much and for being a part of the tour x
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure! xx
Delete