The Cold Dark Heart of the World Book

**SOME ELEMENTS OF THE STORIES ARE GIVEN AWAY BELOW. SLIGHT SPOILER ALERT**

I feel like writing a full review, so I'll go by story:

Lament of the Devil- Very interesting view of how the devil would look at different souls. I normally am not a fan of poetry, but this one was good. :)

Deliver Us From Evil- Good short and to the point. I love that Dan was able to write a scene like this, because of the bashing on the male species. Even though it turned macabre, the story was still good. It had enough detail to keep me reading but enough to keep you wanting more.

Epi3Demic- Just typing out the title now finally got me to understand it, haha. It was a very interesting idea, and could possibly happen. I worry about technology advances sometimes. When they finally invent Neuro-headsets, I'll be very scared, haha. But this story has a touch of darkness as well as a lovely cliff-hanger that leaves you wanting more of the terrifying story. You really do seem to like cannibalism, by the way. xD

Quid Pro Quo- By far my favorite tale in the book. This story has a little more to do with the paranormal side of things, and less on the gruesome blood and guts that appear throughout the book. The story of both Laura and Louis ends sadly, but has a harshness to it that I personally love. Steven is an interesting character-there and not there. I think it'd be interesting to see what Dan could do if this story was added on to. -hinthintnudgenudge-

Rite of Passage- I'm not going to lie here: this story freaked me out. It also didn't become clear to me what exactly was going on until the end of the story, which is a sign of good writing. =) Gruesome and good, I gobbled it up. ;)

Out, Damned Spot- Not one that I particularly liked, but it was probably just me. Staring at things in the dark drives me insane too, though, so I could still connect.

Briar Trace- Creepy little story. Not one of the best in the book. It seemed a little unfinished.

What Tangled Webs- The books namessake kept me reading, wanting more. I don't like spiders, and so the thought of this ever happening to me is absolutely nauseating, but it makes for a good story. The moral of the story is probably to make sure of your fiancee's ring size before buying. ;)

The 'A' Word- Very odd indeed, but one that I loved. Creepy things like that always make me flinch and look in the dark before going to sleep each night. Very well written, and I must say, you have a very dark mind indeed.

Saranormal- Another one dealing on the more paranormal side of things, which is always good for me. It's the kind of story like 'The Others' (if anyone's ever seen it), and I liked it very much. I might not really believe in the machines that supposedly 'make you see and hear ghosts', but there was really no use for them in the end, which made me happy. A pair of eyes is really all you need for the truth.

The Wager- Ah, here we are. The longest 'short' story in the collection, with a total of eleven chapters. It really is a heartbreaking story in the end, but the people that 'Kane' ends up killing really did deserve it. It's hard to believe that there actually are sick people like that in the world. By the by, the story had a nice plot, and I especially love the time jumps. (As an aspiring writer, I also like to play with time.) The story was a nice finish to a good book.


All in all, the book was good. There were good elements and bad elements, but the former definitely seemed to outweigh the latter. Especially when I won this book (signed and all) off of the Giveaways page on this site. If I see any of Dan's other books in stores or happen to come across them online, I'll definitely give them a chance. His next book, The Unauthorized Autobiography of Ethan Jacobs will definitely be showing up on my 'to-read' list.

Good job, Dan. =)