My 10 Favorite Short Stories of 2012

It was another good year for short stories in 2012. It is great this format has made a comeback. The time investment is minimal, yet the entertainment factor is high.  Here are 10 short stories that I really enjoyed for various reasons. I hope you might take the time to give them a read, check out the websites they were published on. If you dig them, maybe visit them in the future, and if the fancy strikes you, submit your own story(s) to them. I huge thank you to the authors for entertaining me so much!

Favorite Story I Read in 2012:
*too tough to pick from these 2, so it is a tie

JUDITH OF THE LIONS by R.S Bohn
Published by Three Lobe Burning Eye Magazine
Link to the Story HERE

EXPOSURE by Nick Boldock
Published by A Twist of Noir
Link to the Story HERE

My Other 8 Favorites ( in no particular order)

WHITE PEOPLE PROBLEMS by Thomas Pluck
Published by All Due Respect
Link to the Story HERE 

HELL by Christopher Black
Published by Thriller, Killers -n- Chillers
Link to the Story HERE

7 SECONDS by Erin Cole
Published by All Due Respect
Link to the Story HERE

LOSING TRACK by Col Bury
Published by A Twist of Noir
Link to the Story HERE

BABY BOY by A.J Hayes
Published by Yellow Mama
Link to the Story HERE

SNOW PATROL by Laura Roberts
Published by A Twist of Noir
Link to the Story HERE

ANOTHER MANS TREASURE by Joe Clifford
Published by Thriller, Killers -n- Chillers
Link to the Story HERE

LIKE CANDY by Jarrett Rush
Published by A Twist of Noir
Link to the Story HERE

A Review: OUTSOURCED by Dave Zeltserman

Finished this eBook version  in two days. The length was 230 pages, using a fairly large font size. I certainly recommend this as worthy read, especially if you really dig heist stories. I put the following review up yesterday. 

5.0 out of 5 stars A Clever Heist Story December 18, 2012

By Sean P. Reardon

Format:Kindle Edition

This author has been on my radar for a while and after looking through his website, decided to read the sample of this novel. I was intrigued enough by the sample and purchased it. I love heist story's, the author is from the Boston area ( like me), and the story takes place in Massachusetts. A good start out of the gate, but still, the story had to be good to keep my interest, especially with a heist. Happy to report that my experience was very satisfying and I really enjoyed the ride. The author tells the tale in a format that I really love, ie; the story moves forward at all times, but characters are introduced as the story progresses and they all intersect throughout and in the end nicely. Very well done. I'd compare this way of storytelling to that of Guy Ritchie, Tarantino, Goodfella's, Casino, Blow etc... I enjoyed the heist crew, the unique robbery plan, and the Russian bad guys. The police / law enforcement piece of the story was done just to my liking. Just enough to add to the story, without too much annoying procedural detail and cliche, which will make me drop reading a story in a heartbeat. Bottom line: OUTSOURCED was decently priced at under $6.00, well-written and edited, a good story, and kept me very interested and entertained until the end. Can't ask much more for my investment and I will certainly be looking to read another novel from the author, which at this point looks like it will be "KILLER".

My Favorites of 2012:

2012 was a good year for reading for me, mostly because I discovered some writers who wrote novels I really, really dug. Along with them, I also enjoyed novels from writers I had discovered over the last couple of years and have become a loyal fan of theirs. So without further delay.....

Best Novel I read in 2012: TOLLESBURY TIME FOREVER by Stuart Ayris

This one really made a huge impression on me and the author is a top notch gent. Find out more about Stuart, TTF, his other novels, and where you can purchase them at his blog HERE 

Most Entertaining Novel I read in 2012: LOST VEGAS by Steve Brewer

Discovered Steve Brewer via facebook, and he has become one of my favorite writers. Lost Vegas was tremendous. so much so I also read, and really enjoyed his novels, The  Big Wink, and Calabama. I will surely be reading more from Steve. You can learn more about him and his novels at his blog HERE

Great "5 Star"  Reads: 

THE COLD COLD GROUND by Adrian McKinty

Adrian McKinty has consistently delivered the goods with every one of his novels and TCCG is no exception. He is one of my favorite authors and you can too can find out more about him and his novels at his excellent blog HERE

COLLUSION by Stuart Neville

If I had to pick one novel that absolutely changed the type of novel I like to read, and influenced me in both the genre and style I aspired to write in, it would be Stuart Neville's THE GHOSTS of BELFAST. It was truly a game changer. COLLUSION is the follow up to TGoB and it was a great read. Loved it. Find out more about Stuart and his novels HERE

TUMBLIN' DICE by John McFetridge

Rock 'n Roll, motorcycle gangs, and crime equal all the ingredients I love in a story. Been a fan of John's for a while now, and like McKinty, Neville, and Brewer, he seems to always deliver and writes in a style I love. Check out John and his novels HERE

THE OBITUARIST by Paul Waters

I found out about Paul by following his excellent blog and when I read that he had published a novel and read the description, I was intrigued. I read the sample, it was great, and purchased it. I really enjoyed this very much, for the unique premise, story, and writing style. Check out Paul's blog HERE

SAVAGES by Don Winslow

WOW. This one blew me away, for the story, but ultimately, for the writing style. This was the definition of cool.  Consider me a huge fan of Winslow, but it will be hard to top this one. Check out Don's site HERE

So there you have it. These picks are subjective of course and follow my tastes in reading when it comes to story, style, and entertainment factor. Hope you might give the authors and their novels a try, and visit their blogs / websites! 

OUTSOURCED by David Zeltserman

Thank the good Lord that 2012 is coming to an end. It was an incredibly shitty year ( see last few posts)  which continued as the last 4 weeks consisted of a 8 day bout with a nasty stomach virus, which immediately segued into arthroscopic knee surgery ( which was planned) to fix a torn meniscus. The good news is the surgery went very well, the bad news was that I have very bad osteoarthritis in the same knee.  But, the doc has also told me that I can still play lacrosse after 6 more weeks of recovery and start a daily dosage of glucosamine / chondroitin. Basically, that is what I wanted to accomplish..STILL PLAY LACROSSE, so that was great news.

I am a huge fan of heist stories, and have been following Dave Zeltserman's blog for some time. He's a Boston homeboy, and a pretty prolific novelist. I had not read anything he's written, but a post on his novel "OUTSOURCED" piqued my interest, because it was a heist. So.....I read the sample on Amazon and dug it. Enough so, that once my nook charges up, I'm going to buy it from Barnes and Noble. Once I finish, as I always do,  I'll be sure to follow up with a review.  Best of luck to Dave!

You can can find out more about Dave at his blog HERE and check out more details on OUTSOURCED HERE