I took some time to read the first two installments of Darren Sant's "Tales from the Longcroft Estate" available from Trestle Press. Individually, they are called "A Good Day" and "Community Spirit".
I wanted to familiarize myself with him, since we (the collective "we", not the royal "we") are putting a little something together for you gruesome fans out there. What I found was touching and sentimental, and quite satisfying.
Darren delivered two stories with all the outlook of a rainy day. In his first piece, we are introduced to a jobless drug addict. The next story tells us of a single mother in deep with a loan shark. Darren does an excellent job of setting the stage and revealing these characters to us. As I read, I quickly moved passed preconceived notions of "life in the projects". These were real people and I really felt for them.
Then Mr. Sant throws us for a loop. I like surprises, so I am not going to be the one to spoil the ending. These sad tales have a twist. No, not an "M. Night Twist". Still, I did not expect it in the first story, but would have been disappointed if he did not deliver in the second.
In the short story genre, it takes a deft hand to satisfy in such a small space. Darren manages to pull it off like a child playing in his parent's closet. What I mean by that is that to the child, the closet is much bigger and full of amazing things. He has all the room he needs in that short stretch of white space to give us something worth well more than its $0.99 price tag.
I suggest you add both of these to your Kindle today (and you wouldn't want to disappoint me, would you?).
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