A Man With An Agenda

Like with any story collection, there are some ups and downs here, I found about a third of the stories enjoyable, a third take-or-leave, and the last third some pretty dull stuff. The good news is that, of course, this doesn't mean you won't like it. A number of the stories were released separately as ebooks and whatnot and plenty of others liked those - even though they were my least favorite (the nerve!). Only three stories here have never been released before (none made my top tier, wahwaaah).

"Faun" was an absolute blast and easily my favorite story, with a comfortable second prize going to "You are Released" (collected in 'Flight or Fright' already) but every story here showcases Hill's growth as a writer, even those I had issues with. I'll hold out for a new, full-length work.

Two stories were co-written with dad Stephen King: "Throttle" and "In the Tall Grass", the first was a pointless road-revenge skit and the second, hyped as a movie on Netflix, was too similar to 'The Ruins', and worse, not very thrilling. "By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain" started as a great mood piece laced with humor and had a meh ending. "Twittering from the Circus of the Dead", was an interesting concept, but didn't have one. single. hashtag? No one saw those tweets. Also, I've been over zombies for a long time. "Wolverton Station" was a flash fiction piece that was stretched out and didn't land. "Thumb Print", following an Iraqi War vet with warped morals, failed to generate a single care. I don't know, maybe I'm just feeling bitchy, but as much as I enjoyed a few of the stories, I was shocked at how many I didn't like at all.

Overall I just didn't feel the full-bore creative engine that got me into 'Locke & Key' and 'Strange Weather', but the collection gets rated above-average because when Joe Hill lands a story, its worth it.