.Since I posted this, T. Joseph Browder has made a book trailer that you may want to check out. While you are here, read my review and, if interested, you can pick up the book at the end of the post.

Dark Matters by T. Joseph Browder

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These 7 short stories take a ride on the wild side. They are dark, creepy, and end of the world scary, except for the first one, which I think T. Joseph put in just to mess with us.

TOBY

My father got me a Saint Bernard, Toby,  when he was a puppy. He saved my life when I was only eight years old. Little did I know, that when he passed away, it would not be the last time I saw him.

A touching  and uplifting story for the paranormal lovers. Just because someone is gone, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t looking out for you.

A personal note from the author:

“Toby is my personal favorite, possibly because most of it, right down to the boy falling off the roof, being punctured through the leg, and being saved by the dog, is true. And yes, I did bury him at the base of a lightning split elm in the back yard.”

ROUGE

When Jessie crashed his truck and rolled over the cliff, he thought the worst thing he would have to worry about was the freezing cold weather. Think again Jesse. You may wonder, what does a bear have to do with a car accident?

What goes around comes around and sometimes it is worse than you can imagine.This was my favorite story of the book. I guess it is probably because I love any kind of horror story that includes a creature of a critter of some kind.

    HAMMERFALL

He heard a voice, but didn’t hear it clearly. Where was he? It was  the Livestar operator. She said no one could respond at this time because of Hammerfall, an asteroid. Everyone had disregarded the Mayan prophecies. would they pay the price now?

Well, you’ll have to read the story to find that out. What do you think would be the end result? Would there be anyone left? Would you want to be one of them or be taken out in the first BIG BANG?

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THE VISITOR

Lucas had a run in with Nicholai before, thus his ill-health. Lucas’ plan to destroy him was so out of the ordinary, that he felt Nicholai would never see it coming.

Just goes to show how far some people will go to see justice served.

THE CONTRACT

He hired me to kill him. I thought he was out of his mind, but when I heard the price, I jumped on it. I wasted no time, I shot him on the spot. Uh-0h. I should have waited until he told me the details.

I sure didn’t see the ending coming on this one.

AFTER HAMMERFALL

What do you think would be left? How many humans would survive? How many plants? How many animals? And what would they be like?

     EDUCATOR

I was beaten nearly to death, stomped on, then shot in the face. No one knew why it happened. I kept secret, that I no longer needed the cane. I did not want people to know what I was really capable of, because I had a mission to fulfill.

How far would you go to seek revenge for the death of a loved one?

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  4 STARS – Would Highly  Recommend To Others  

It’s funny how many of the books I review have trees on their covers, in some shape or form. This cover is  beautiful and fits in with the season. It brings back many memories, of when I lived in the wintry, northern states.

The stories were well written and flowed smoothly, making them very easy to read. Pick it up at lunch time, while waiting at the doctor’s or dentist’s office, anywhere you are when you have 10, 15, maybe even 20 minutes. Depends on how fast you read.

The characters are easy to love, hate or feel like they got what was coming to them.

The  first story is a “make me feel good”, lovely story. I think T. Joseph Broder did that to set us up for what was to come, because he quickly moves on to things that are not so pleasant, in fact they are down right horrific..

I always find short stories very hard to review. I want to get across  how interesting and unexpected so many of the stories are without giving away the good stuff. So how do you do that? I hope I did it well enough to peak your interest and wonder, “What in the hell is she talking about?”   ^_^   Then pick up your copy to find out.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

   After an extremely interesting childhood rich with the writings of Poe, King, Koontz, and many others, I left the real world in 1995 and lived for thirteen years in a timeless, soulless void. While there, I spent countless hours reading and studying Philosophy, Psychology, Parapsychology, and, oddly enough, Business. Ultimately, I returned to the real world (with virtually no identity or personal history and no official history whatsoever) and set about the business of making a life for myself from scratch, the pitfalls and hurdles of which, in this post 9/11 world, could fill an entire book.

I now live in Ellinwood, KS, with my wife and four granddaughters (the comedy and drama of that would fill an entire series of books) and published my first book, a short story collection of horror, science-fiction, and suspense, in April, 2012. I am currently working on a novel that defies genre classification with the greatest editor in the world.

T. Joseph Browder invites you to listen to a recent podcast review:

To see what’s happening in the mind of T Joseph Browder, follow the links below:

Goodreads

Twitter

To pick up a copy of the book from Amazon, simply click on the cover below.

GIVEAWAY

T. Joseph Browder  is offering  for the Giveaway, 10 (ten) ebooks. International. Easy entry as always, just leave your email address and answer the question:

I know there are a lot people who love short stories. Are you one of them and why? 

GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED.

CLOSED. WINNERS are:   Pragya – Alana Perumal – Emma Meade – Joseph – Lada Ray – Lee (JaxGrampy) – Dia Palaez – Marianne – Vickie Evans and  Cecilia.

Congratulations and thank you everyone for stopping by and commenting.