A Sliver of Darkness by CJ Tudor

The debut short story collection from the acclaimed author of The Chalk Man, featuring ten bone-chilling and mind-bending tales

Timeslips. Doomsday scenarios. Killer butterflies. C. J. Tudor's novels are widely acclaimed for their dark, twisty suspense plots, but with A Sliver of Darkness, she pulls us even further into her dizzying imagination.

In Final Course, the world has descended into darkness, but a group of old friends make time for one last dinner party. In Runaway Blues, thwarted love, revenge, and something very nasty stowed in a hat box converge. In Gloria, a strange girl at a service station endears herself to a cold-hearted killer, but can a leopard really change its spots? And in I'm Not Ted, a case of mistaken identity has unforeseen, fatal consequences.

Riveting and explosively original, A Sliver of Darkness is C. J. Tudor at her most wicked and uninhibited.

---

Both of these covers are good, but I feel like the UK cover has the edge! It's more subtly creepy, the US one feels more in your face. Just my opinion, though!

Short story collections can be hit and miss, although with the same author writing everything I expected these to be all on the same level. I was almost right. A couple of them, I thought, could have done with more explanation, but they were all a lot of fun (I'm still not sure what was happening at the end of 'Lion at the Gate' but that might say more about me than it does about the story!) One or two ended quite abruptly too, but I often feel like that about short stories. I'm very greedy when I'm enjoying a story!

And these are all fantastically written. In general, the background is given cleverly without seeming like an info dump, the story is tightly written and the language is lovely. None of these left me unable to sleep, but they are certainly thought provoking! I was reminded of the old British comic Misty on a couple of the stories.

Definitely a good read, one I'll be recommending, and I'll be looking out for more by CJ. I like her style.

A Sliver of Darkness publishes on the 29th of September, 2022, in the UK (top image) and on the 8th of November, 2022 in the US (lower image). I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.