A review I wrote for a collection of short stories I really liked by author Tony LaRocca. If you enjoy science fiction, horror, or fantasy this is one you really need to get! Title: False Idols Author: Tony LaRocca Publisher: Privately Published ISBN: 978-0989416009 Available: Amazon Price: $2.99 (Kindle), $8.99 (Paperback) Im not really sure how to characterize the short story collection False Idols by author Tony LaRocca. I guess you could call it science fiction, although it doesnt really read like classic science fiction to me. Some of the stories you could say are horror, but not the real scary gory kind were all used to. Probably the best would be to call the book fantasy. Elements of science fiction and horror all mixed up in strange worlds, unusual situations, and with unworldly critters. I especially liked the story Ad Aware. What would happen if you decided to use an ad blocker on all those advertisements which show up on the biometrically-implanted computer software loaded into your brain to keep you alive? That might not be the best idea you ever had! I also really like Heaven 2.0. This is a little story about how you can have your dearly beloved pet digitally recreated to still live with you after it passes away. There is a small fee for the service, of course, but its only a year or two off of your life. And youll certainly want to get the additional special features, even though there is also a fee for that. But whats an extra few weeks off your life here and there to see that Fido is warm and well fed into eternity? It all adds up. But my absolute favorite story is Soul Mates. It concerns a happily [?] married couple living in [not so much] wedded bliss who have an unusual connection between them. When the wife loses weight the husband gains it - the same exact number of pounds. When hubby slims down the wife gets fat. And the two are always on a diet. I must admit that this was one of those face-palm stories! I really should have seen the surprise ending coming! In retrospect its obvious, but the author slips it in so slyly youll never even notice it. Im still kicking myself over this one! My only criticism is that some of the stories just feel like they want to be bigger. That is especially the case with Autumn People. There is just so much good story there that it really deserves more space to be told. Id like to see author LaRocca try writing some of those types of stories at novella length. I have no doubt that he would do very well there, and it would leave his characters and his plots a little more room. All in all there is nothing not to like here. The stories are just different enough from each other that each is fresh and unique. And some of the stories have an undercurrent of sly dark humor, which makes them fun if you can spot it. The style is loose and easy to read, so there are no problems there. And finally, some of the stories are obvious commentaries on our current social situation, which makes for some food for thought after reading. Highly recommended! [Four out of five stars]
Posted on: Tue, 22 Apr 2014 18:46:06 +0000
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