Slices [Kindle Edition]

Michael Montoure (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“ ... Montoure's spare, striking prose outlines characters in deliciously twisted predicaments .... ” — Seattle Weekly

Product Description

An imagined disease spreads across a city. A fading horror movie star crafts his replacement. Two thieves wait for rescue at the end of the world. Human monsters are put to their final tests. Time stands still in fairy circles, loops in on itself for a runaway child, and can be rewritten in the pages of a book. Fifteen unforgettable stories to be read in the dark from dark urban fantasy author Michael Montoure.

Stories include:

• COLD SEASON - His mother had always been a hypochondriac, but now a city has fallen ill with her
• ONE LAST SUNSET - She wanted a vampire to promise her immortality, but it’s nothing like it seems
• REMAKE - A horror movie idol confronts the man who will play his most famous role
• REST AREAS - A deadline, a suitcase full of cash, a stolen car — and something in the trunk
• DADDY'S GIRLS - Children will come when the time is right, and not before
• LIFE STORY - When the pages of your life are laid out before you, what changes can you make?
• ONLY MONSTERS - A young boy, an old woman, and tales of the most frightening monster of all
• LULLABY FOR TWO VOICES - Her perfect child, or his dark twin — one will be reclaimed
• ORPHEUS - The worst part of Hell is not knowing you’re there
• WATCH THE COIN - A secret pact, a successful heist, and a fairy circle
• LOST BOY - A young boy runs away to a fairytale woods, only to find he's not alone
• PUPPETS - The man who bought the doll from him will ruin his career, if he can't find it before it kills again
• THE THIRTEENTH BOY - All the papers say the man behind the serial murders is a monster, but the monsters think otherwise
• COUNTERCLOCKWISE - An imaginary time machine, a tragic childhood secret; a man who can see into “dead time” sees a chance to make things right

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 241 KB
• Publisher: Michael Montoure (April 10, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004W3LNTI
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #553,368 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

An unreliable narrator, Michael Montoure is an indie writer of horror and dark urban fantasy. His obsessions include hidden truths, secret dealings, and the changing and fragile nature of our own pasts. He is known as much for his spoken-word performances of his fiction at Seattle coffeehouses and conventions as for the stories themselves. Currently working as a writer and producer of the webseries "Causality," he lives alone with a gray cat by the edge of Echo Lake, Washington. He is standing right behind you.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended, January 9, 2012

By 

Elizabeth Twist - See all my reviews

This review is from: Slices (Paperback)

Slices contains a glorious collection of twisted, dark, and dreamlike pieces. The fantasy and horror tropes in Slices remind me, more than anything I've read recently, of the original Twilight Zone series. Featuring time slips ("Counterclockwise"), vampires ("One Last Sunset" and "Only Monsters"), serial killers ("The Thirteenth Boy") and the numerous ways in which perception governs reality ("Cold Season," "Life Story," and "Daddy's Girls"), the stories in Slices feel to me like the stories Rod Serling would be writing if he were still with us today.

The failures and beauties of human relationships are at the core of Michael's work. Few of his characters work on a solo basis, and those that do are drawn into unusual or regrettable positions. The fantasy and horror elements feel familiar in the sense that a recurring nightmare or a story heard in childhood feels familiar. These tropes resonate powerfully with the emotional problems at the heart of each tale. In my opinion, Slices is at its strongest when considering the many permutations of men's relationships, most sadly and beautifully in the context of male friendship, brotherhood, and love.

Slices

4.0 out of 5 stars Provocative collection of enthralling stories!, February 18, 2012

By 

Erik Gustafson "Horror that Sticks to your Brain" (Iowa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Slices (Paperback)

I read through this collection of creepy, thought-provoking stories and was captivated! There is a story in here for everyone who loves to a good horror tale. Each story is well written and gripping, filled with vivid detail of a world you, as the reader, willing enter in, all the while knowing something horrible is going to happen. Although its hard to pick a favorite, I think my favorite is Counterclockwise. Don't miss out on this one!

4.0 out of 5 stars A Regional Appetizer From A Self-Teaching Chef, February 14, 2012

By 

Clint Hutchison "wordy" (Fort Worth, Texas, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Slices (Paperback)

"Slices" is a collection of early horror short stories by Michael Montoure, and it is a good example of horror short stories and an author's early work.

As Stephen King noted in his forward to "Everything's Eventual," the literary world has largely abandoned this genre, everyone except for himself and now Montoure. Thus, we aren't surprised by the appearance of

(nerdjustsayityoushowoff)

a demuirge author

(shutupknowitallprickshutup)

or a well-used literary device, but we aren't disappointed, either. If all the cookbooks in print are by Julia Child, it's forgivable if your recipes have some butter. What's great is that about half of Montoure's stories go off into unfamiliar territory, providing welcome relief from King's increasingly cramped oubliette of mirrors.

Two of the stories in "Slices" -- "Daddy's Girls" and "One Last Sunset" -- filled me with great dread, and another story, "Orpheus," still makes me sad to think about. Whereas King found great strength as an author of addiction, I expect Montoure will find his in the contemplation of loneliness.