Customer Reviews

Blanket of White

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I absolutely love stories that are disturbing; disturbing to the point of closing the book and saying "What the hell?" "Blanket of White" is of no exception, providing readers with the very feeling and wondering, "What just happened here?" Morbid, depressing, and sometimes just plain sick - "Blanket of White" is a collection of short stories to creep you out.

The very first story I read was about a small girl with debilitating cerebral palsy, in constant pain, asks her father for her only wish - to help her pass on. This story is pulls at the heart strings, having a young child myself, and the pain I imagine the parents must have to go through making this sort of heavy decision. Do they hold on to her, because they can't quite let go? Or do they love her enough to want what is best for her -- a life without pain and suffering? Do they give her what she REALLY wants (a mercy killing?)

"Blanket of White" is full of stories that will have you catching glimpses at the illness of man, the decisions made under pressure and seeing the mind snap- and blood. Lots and lots of blood.

I did have a few personal gripes about the story, however. For one, there were entirely too many stories in an unstructured order. Each story is so incredibly short, you are just getting "into" one before having to get "into" another. Little time is given to get to know the characters, bond to them, so that their madness is truly contagious. I felt that the thrills would be much more effective if the entire collection of stories were limited to about 5 short stories, on average about 35-50 pages each. This would give the reader the proper time to adjust to the book's inner voice, get to know the characters, bond to the characters - and then be disturbed by them. (Which is what the author is going for, I imagine.)

I also feel that it is incredibly important that each character has their own distinctive voice. In regards to a "voice" in novels, I am simply saying that it must be obvious to me that this person, this character, is a well developed person with a history, a personality, and a way of speaking. When all characters have the same "voice", it creates a detachment from the reader and the character. In order to truly pull a reader in, your character(s) have to be uniquely believable.

With a unique and enchanting style, Amy Grech delivers an incredibly provacative collection that definitely brings the goods. Each story takes the reader into a new and exciting world that is sometimes sad, sometimes scary, and always dark. Grech's style is unmatched and her voice is all her own. This is one book no fan of the macabre should be without. Highly recommended.

The titular story of Amy Grech's collection, Blanket of White, is the perfect lead in to what reads like a conglomeration of the darker side of human nature. As I read through the first story, I became more and more unnerved as I realized it seemed the story would in fact end the way I thought it might. It was a truly deliciously dark start.

I admire the way the stories in this collection seem to fit together, flowing from one to the next as they each explore more darkness and depravity. Once you finish one story, you can't help but read the first page of the next, just to see where it starts. Then you realize you've read five pages instead of one, then you've finished another story and your starting the first page of the next, "Just to see how it starts."

A personal favorite of mine is "Raven's Revenge," which like many of the stories weaves a wonderful setting through great imagery and atmosphere. True chills, of course, follow.

The only gripe I have is that there were one or two (very minor) formatting issues. Nothing that detracts from the collection per se, but just little things that jump out at you. Overall this is a superb collection that deserves your undivided attention.

Amy Grech's second collection of short stories is as good as her first (Apple of My Eye)---then again, this is basically the same collection with two new stories added.

So how do the new tales stack up? The title story is a spooky heartbreaker in the vein of Gary Braunbeck or Christopher Conlon (and if you have a daughter like I do, it'll hit you even harder). Russian Roulette, the second new offering, features some dry humor and is perhaps the most different tale in the lot.

If you haven't had the pleasure of reading Grech's first collection, you'll surely enjoy Perishables, Cold Comfort, and my favorite Grech tale, EV 2000, a sci/fi vampire story that's to die for.

Apple of My Eye went out of print after two printings. If you missed it, Blanket of White is a must read. If you own Apple and are a big Grech fan, you'll want this---or at least get the e-book edition to check out her new stories. Also includes a movie trailer-like introduction by Michael McCarty.

Amy---we're waiting for a novel!

::Quick Points::

+ I found the short-short scenes of BLANKET OF WHITE to be an effective technique. It made me want to get to the next story, to see "what facet/snippet of life (through a dark lens)" I'd receive next.

+ Personally, I usually prefer reading more "uplifting" material, heh! - which in this case, means the author has done well with showing the dark(er) aspects of humanity (it kind of reminds me of the movie, Se7en, which I loved).

+ I found the writing style of this book to be more mainstream than literary, so readers who like literary/classic fiction might want to take note of that.

::Longer Version::

The stories are bite-sized -- I enjoyed the "to-the-point" aspect of Amy Grech's BLANKET OF WHITE very much. The writing style stays focused on the theme -- a theme which runs through the whole book (the "dark/er aspects of humanity"), a theme which gives the book a heartbeat and life of its own.

Thoughts about some of the stories - 'Prevention' puts a new twist on sibling rivalry. 'Come and Gone' - was/is very original (a dark, erotic journey; not for the faint of heart)! 'Perishables' reminded me of a story in Annie Proulx's collection of short stories in Close Range: Wyoming stories -- I can't remember which story exactly, but a similarly concise one. 'EV2000' is a timely wakeup call, in the era of advanced technological pursuits. Shorter scenes = more stories = more "glimpses" through different perspectives for the reader. Maybe this wasn't the author's intention, maybe it was - being a magpie type myself, I loved this in this book. It covered many different settings/situations, because of the writing style the author chose.

Minor gripe - there were a few typing errors which the editor had missed. I counted at least four spelling errors in the first story and I _know_ I'm being persnickety, but that is part of an editor's job - it gets in the way of my enjoyment of a story ;).

Paradoxical and ironic/cliched as it may sound, there can be order in chaos (a seemingly unstructured style), which is what I found in Blanket of White. Lacking a thorough overboard of character's backgrounds, history, etc, can have its advantages (in a way) -- the characters become a little more faceless -- they could be anyone -- they could be your neighbor, your friend, a family member, a friend of a friend, a colleague, a distant cousin, the guy that works at the nearest gas station. That in its own way, is character building.

The fourteen tales that comprise author Amy Grech's second collection of short stories, Blanket of White, are all about finding people's limits. Grech takes common themes - love, death, coming of age, sex, family relationships - and drags the reader across the line of comfort on an exploration of the dark side of those familiar situations.

In some, Grech forces the reader to confront that darkness head on, sparing no detail in the horror that people can inflict upon one another: "Prevention," a demonstration of how the pressure of decades of sibling rivalry and parental neglect can explode horribly sideways; "Raven's Revenge," a supernatural tale that tips its bloody cap to the master, Edgar Allan Poe; "Russian Roulette," in which a love triangle turns decidedly deadly; and "Perishables," a post-apocalyptic exploration of just how far one man will go to survive.

In others, however, Grech builds her stories around the more nuanced psychological and emotional traumas that people encounter: "Blanket of White," the title story, is a poignant look at the desperate measures people are willing to take in the name of love; "Initiation Day," in which a young man makes a life altering choice between fitting in and standing alone; "Crosshairs," where a father learns, with devastating consequences, just how much his young son has taken his teachings to heart; and "EV 2000," a clever, futuristic tale of an electronic vampire run amok in its desire to understand what it is to be human.

It is in exploring those emotional shades of gray where the true power of Grech's writing shines through. As such, it is the wonderfully understated "Damp Wind And Leaves" that is far and away the standout of the collection. Set against the backdrop of a Halloween party, the story skillfully unfurls the emotional evolution of a seventeen year old, over the course of a single evening, from that of a child trying to hold on to his delight in the manufactured scares of Halloween to that of a young man ready to let go of childish things and take the truly scary step forward into adulthood.

While each stands on its own, taken collectively the stories in Blanket of White represent a complete journey through emotions that everyone has experienced - love and hate, jealousy and rage, pride and shame - and does so in an unflinching way that packs a huge emotional wallop.

Each tale in this book comes at you from a different angle--each an unexpected detour down a wrong-way street of terror. The stories are tight, well-crafted, and original and find a way to wriggle their way under your skin and stay there. Well done!

I really enjoyed this collection of stories. It's sexy and unexpected and really, really creepy.

Many times I read story collections from authors and find that all the stories are basically the same. Not here. Amy does a great job at diversifying her tales, keeping the reader interested in what he or she will find in the next story.

I love collections of short stories, and I dove right into Amy Grech's collection of stories in Blanket of White. This collection delves through a range of human emotion. Each story is gripping and unique and stands alone. Grech truly flexes her creative muscles by examining a range of characters, places, and emotions. This is more than just a collection of horror stories, this is a collection of human feelings.

I have to say one of the stories I found most enjoyable was 'Crosshairs' where a father's teachings about hunting are taken far too seriously. I wanted this story to be longer because I was so drawn in and horrified by the story as it developed that I wanted the chance to savor it more.

The same was true with almost all of the 14 short stories in this collection. The biggest disappointment I had with Blanket of White was the dialogue in some of the short stories is very stiff and doesn't feel natural. At moments the dialogue threw me out of the magic of the story.

"Damp Wind And Leaves" is one of the most poignant and beautiful story in the collection and was a welcome breath of fresh air to the collection. It highlights the grace of Grech's prose and her ability to create a wholly round character in a matter of pages.

The wide range of emotions, fear, lust, love, panic, hate, and confusion permeate every story in this collection marks Grech's skill as a writer and the scope of plots and twists each story takes highlights a vivid imagination. I look forward to more of her work in the future.