Nightmares.....

And they are not only on Elm Street.

_________________________________________

Brutal

Synopsis:
One dark and warm October night in the heart of Arizona, a group of friends are out for an evening of fun. It was a night for celebration, and to draw them away from the world.

As they drink the night away, a dark and handsome stranger watches them in the distance. His observations going unnoticed as the girls focus on their own conversation.

Too drunk to make it home on their own, the stranger offers the group a ride home in his taxi. Reluctantly, the girls agree.

What follows is a dark and brutal act of revenge decades in the making.

Perfection

Synopsis:
Carol and Tammy Long have fought a constant battle with their weight all their lives. When a stranger on the television offers an amazing new diet plan with a weight loss success rate of 100 percent, Tammy feels like it was an answer to their prayers.

As the pair ventures off to the Verde Valley Weight Loss Clinic things start to take a darker turn. The owner Kathy Black gives them a new take on the classic idea of perfection.

Now, placed in a medical facility where they are constantly monitored, the women learn there is something wrong with perfection.

___________________________________________

Reviews on shorts are so hard to write without giving away the entire thing, but I shall do my utmost best to remain spoiler free. Also making this a bit difficult is that I positively shudder at the thought of having to think about these particular stories again. *shudder* <-- See! That's me shuddering. These are two horrific stories, straight outta someone's nightmares (maybe it was something they ate) and onto my ereader. Almost had me sleeping with the lights on, they did.

Brutal reads like the beginning of an episode of Criminal Minds or a really good murder mystery. One would expect, if this hadn't been a short, that we would have watched or read about the killer's next kills, the policemen who discover them and the crack detectives/psychic/meddling old lady who solves the case. And personally, I'd like to read how the storyline continues and how it eventually plays out.

Perfection reads like the nightmare a rather overweight person would have prior to signing up for counseling at a food addiction rehab center. Though I'm not even sure they would go to the places this story takes you. But I definitely do know that I would not be signing up for this version of perfection.

I also know that I will be signing up to read the sequel to both of these stories in the near future.

I give them each 5 out of  5.

Thanks to the wonderful people at Partners In Crime Tours for allowing me to be a part of this tour. Visit their site for a complete schedule, and a list of future tours.

Next Stop:

February 20-Guest Post@ Mama Knows Books

___________________________________________


Joel M. Andre was born January 13, 1981. At a young age he was fascinated with the written word. It was at fourteen that Poe blew his mind, and Andre began to dabble with darker poetry.

Between the years of 1999 and 2007 Joel was featured in various poetry anthologies and publications. In 2008 he released his first collection,Pray the Rain Never Ends.

Knowing there was something deeper and darker inside of his soul, Joel decided to take a stab at commercialism. Releasing the dark tongue in cheek, A Death at the North Pole, created a dark world among the death of Kris Kringle. Ultimately providing a tale of redemption.

October of 2008 saw Joel release his second book, Kill 4 Me. A tale in which a woman is haunted by a vengeful spirit through text messages and instant messaging.

Taking some time off and doing a lot of soul searching, Joel took things in a new direction and dabbled in the Fantasy Genre with, The Pentacle of Light. The tale dealing with five major races battling for control of Earth, and the acceptance of their God.

Finally, after missing his detective Lauren Bruni, he released the book The Return in October 2009, this time moving the action from the North Pole and placing it in the small Arizona community he was raised in.

Andre’s latest book is The Black Chronicles: Cry of the Fallen about a dead man who seeks revenge on the woman that tormented him in peaceful Northern Arizona.

Currently, he resides in Chandler, AZ.

You can visit his website at www.joelmandre.info