Tuesday , March 19 2024
Have you ever wondered if there is more to the world than what we see? Can a chance look in the mirror take you places you could never have dreamed of?

Book Review: ‘Not From Around Here’ by Larry Hochwald

18753659Have you ever looked in a mirror and wondered what was behind the reflection? How about meeting someone for the first time and realizing you will be lifelong friends? With an influx of bizarre tales and strange phenomena many stories of the unusual tend crop up.

In Not From Around Here by Larry Hochwald, you are treated to a collection of 18 just such stories. The amazing and bizarre happenstance keeps you going as each creates an indelible mark in your thoughts. Can such things truly happen? There are times when a short story is all you need. This is a fine material for waiting for your kids at the school, or even waiting at the dentist or doctor’s office; you don’t have to worry about not being able to get back to the ending.

Each story is unique, and in cases just a bit creepy. In some there is a thread of humor that keeps you chuckling as you move to the next. Some contain morals that make you think while others are just on the verge of the impossible, but with just a question mark of ‘what if?’

Hochwald does a great job of building his protagonists with believable characteristics, as well as making them memorable. Each story has a unique and solid character in which you find the interactions to be stimulating and at times amusing. Then he takes his setting and either makes them dreamlike, or creepy, or just out of this world. Yet his descriptions draw a vivid picture that is often difficult with short stories.

If you are looking for a fun gift for that hard to please friend for Christmas, this might be a great direction to take. If you enjoy a bit of fun as well as the unbelievable you will enjoy Hochwald’s zany imagination, and is unique point of view, shared with verve.

About Leslie Wright

Leslie Wright is an author and blogger in the Northwest.

Check Also

If Only in My Dreams – A Christmas with My ‘Whole’ Family

I had a dream the other night that reminded me of my Christmases past.