Strainge Stern Stuff

Short Story Collections

Three of the first five stories feature Charlie Task. Ever wonder what goes into making a psychopath? Find out in "The Odd Task." Ever wonder what it might be like to sit down in a psychopath's home and interview him? Check out "A View to the Curious." In "A False Sense of Finality," a bereaved mother comes to a realization... again. In "The Ethics of Murder" Charlie returns to his hometown to visit with an old friend at a high school reunion, at the friend's request. Or at least that's how it started. It's always a good idea to be careful what you wish for. In "Heart to Heart," Charlie's buddy and connected guy Joey Di Salvo helps a slightly twisted psychiatrist turn the tables on his socialist, hypocritical father in helping the downtrodden. Of course, help can take many forms.
In the last five stories, a woman is drawn to a shop that looks like an antique store; she's looking for furnishings for her home in the French Quarter, where she lived a very, very long time ago. Jim Cable has been sent to stabilize the Grenlow, a Morgan-class interplanetary transport, and bring it home. The engine room holds a mystery he didn't bargain for. Marco and the author chase down Joey Bones to teach him a lesson. Joey's been trash talkin' Marco and threatening to shoot him. The threat doesn't bother Marco, but being called a rat? Now that bothers him. Can a man have a relationship with an EnviroSuit? Could an EnviroSuit, especially one with a female personality, long abide the imperfections of a human male, especially when she compares him with a massive, god-like creature machine? Marisa, a woman trapped in a nightmare in a nightmare in a nightmare, destined to flee through unimaginable terrors and horrors until her captors choose to release her... or she releases herself.