Book review: Slices – Scott Cole

 

Recently I reviewed Chad Stroup’s Secrets of the Weird and it certainly was a very weird read. Weird seems like an understatement when describing Scott Cole’s collection of bizarre short stories, Slices.

Slices is a collection largely consisting of flash fiction. Very few of the stories contained within last more than a couple of pages (on Kindle anyway) and so it’s a great book to breeze in and out of. Don’t expect in-depth character development or epic world-building, but do expect short, punchy tales that will make you question your sanity and the sanity of Mr Cole. Slices is chock full of some of the most absurd fiction I have ever come across. One or two of the shorts seemed a little too out there for my tastes, though, for the most part, I really enjoyed my time meandering through Mr Cole’s mind.

Highlights for me included Violins For Sale: a story about a salesman that isn’t actually selling violins at all. What he is selling is something much more troubling. Cat Tree Summer had a cool Carlton Mellick III vibe to it that I really dug too and the Skinny Puppy-influenced Drive I also enjoyed immensely. For me, Horns Up was the absolute highlight. As a huge metal and live music fan, this story ticked all of the right boxes. The body horror aspects are great and I wanted this story to never end \,,/ Elsewhere, Slices of Me should give you an idea as to what the story is about so I won’t say anything more and A Field of Poppies is another great tale with strong body horror elements. This one is like a twisted little fairy tale, I really loved it.

There is a playful element to this collection from Scott Cole. These stories are fun to read even though they are way out there. I don’t know what Scott puts in his coffee in the morning but I sure would like some.

4/5 sharpened knives from the Grim Reader.

Pick up a copy from here.