Blog Tour: A Bowl of Cherries by F. E. Birch

Released: August 2020

Publisher: Independently published

Genre: Short story collection

Blurb:

There’s nothing cosy about these crimes.

Succulent, rich stories of the dark and unknown that might terrify, horrify, or deliciously delight. Thirty-two prize winning and/or previously published tales that contain themes of death, destruction, abuse and emotion, each one a veritable stride into a unique and different world.

From the psychologically disturbed, the raging mad, the vulnerability of the victims, and desperately needy, there’s not much that isn’t covered in the dark genre for those that like their stories to be troubling, distressing and quirky.

Not for the faint of heart ...

My Thoughts:

If you like your fiction dark and sinister, then this is one that you need to read. The tales delve into twisted places of revenge, death and dystopia and each one left me wanting more.

One thing that kept me compelled and spellbound was how the author was able to write a moving, innocent character for one story and then the next would almost make me feel like I needed a shower. F.E. Birch was able to do this with the most exquisite craft, each tale prickling the hairs on the back of my neck the same way that a horror film does when you don’t see the ‘villain‘ but the horror feeds off your own imagination.

I was blown away by this collection, my favourites perhaps being ‘On the Beach’, ‘A Way with the Kids’ and ‘Hedgehogs, Green Bottles and Lilies’. But then, ‘Forever Day’ deserves an honourable mention as I think that the diversity of theme and tone are what pushed this collection into the running for my list of best books of the year.

Obviously 2020 has made most of us scramble for some form of escapism, even for just a few hours. If you want a book to lose yourself in and take over your imagination then please support this author and buy a copy. I’m not surprised that many of these stories have won awards. Just wow.

Thank you so much to Anne Cater for inviting me to be part of this tour, and to the wonderfully talented F.E Birch for sending me a gorgeous signed and personalised copy for an honest review.