Pieces of Eight by Jay Dubya

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Pieces of Eight is a collection of eight unique short stories and novellas from author Jay Dubya, published in e-Book format by eBookstsand.com.

The collection is a bizarre mix of genres, including the paranormal, science fiction and mythology. The author's narratives are peppered with adjectives, perhaps at times a little over-written, yet the individual story ideas are very clever and original.

The standout tale for me was The Inimitable Dr. Spencer, a highly original story that plays out like a high-tech pyramid-selling scheme. The story is intriguing for the most part and quite well paced, and I found myself laughing out loud when I read its final pages.

Winslow Junction graphically overstates the horrors of parenthood when confronted with the unyielding stubbornness of a troublesome, yet gifted child. The battle-of-will scenarios are frightening while the paranormal twist-in-the-tale perhaps a tad predictable. Nevertheless, in spite of its somewhat stilted dialogue, this story was also an interesting and perplexing read, even more so, I would imagine, if you are the parent of a precocious three-year-old!

I'm sure there is a story in this collection that any reader will warm to, though for mine, some were a little drawn out and somewhat clumsy in their execution, especially when I found myself tripping over the plethora of adjectives, which rather than adding to the tales, perhaps detracts from the originality of the ideas that Jay Dubya has presented us.

Reviewed by Neil Cladingboel
Author of 'The Erebus Equilibrium' trilogy.

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