Chris Leek
Independent Reviewer
| Bio Blog |
Review
Tuesday is dead. Long live Review Wednesday! But let’s ignore the fact I’m a
day late and a dollar short and concentrate instead on why you should buy CS DeWildt’s
new collection, Dead Animals.
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| Buy from Amazon |
I asked her why not and she said, “Can’t. Daddy.”
Dead Animals contains 34 stories that together could perhaps be loosely described as Rural Noir. They range in length from tightly written, punchy flash fiction that pops like green wood on a hot fire, to more expansive pieces that burn slower and hold their heat longer.
There is
grit here for sure, the kind that hangs in the heavy air of the American southwest and clings to the sweat on your sunburnt brow. But DeWildt offers much more than just a swift back country kick in the literary balls. He
has a keen eye for the human condition; the abiding reality of his characters
is testament to that. These flawed human beings have their own dark gravitational pull that draws
you in and binds you to them. DeWildt then skillfully examines their fears and desires using stolen looks and sideways glances, before tearing them open and laying them bare on the page.
Okay, so
let’s cut to the chase here. Chris DeWildt knows how to tell a story and he
does it with prose that, at times damn near sings. This collection contains some
outstanding fiction. It also contains gut-shot squirrels, smashed frogs and a badly burnt
pigeon. Lovers of animals beware; lovers of great writing, rejoice.
Dig it?
