Fight the Sky: A Collection of Short Stories | Paperback

First of all, if you are looking for a happy-go-lucky read, this is not it. Unless you plan on just reading A Carrot Seeking Freedom, that is.

There is a great sense of sadness to nearly every tale in this collection, be it from the portrait artist who no longer paints lies and loses his custom, the burned out, nigh-on-suicidal private eye Rusty Halo, the absolutely heartbreaking loss in Only Mine or Sparrow, the lonely caretaker of a circus. Each character comes alive with the emotional baggage they carry.

This is not to say the book is all doom and gloom though, there is the somewhat darkly comic Eyebridge (at least I found the young policemans over-active imagination a tiny bit amusing), the success of Vortigern Jones and his associates in a less than reputable business and even Sams final escape in Never Seen The Sky go to show that this author can be a little more humane with her characters, allowing them small victories in the ever growing symphony of bad… more »

First of all, if you are looking for a happy-go-lucky read, this is not it. Unless you plan on just reading A Carrot Seeking Freedom, that is.

There is a great sense of sadness to nearly every tale in this collection, be it from the portrait artist who no longer paints lies and loses his custom, the burned out, nigh-on-suicidal private eye Rusty Halo, the absolutely heartbreaking loss in Only Mine or Sparrow, the lonely caretaker of a circus. Each character comes alive with the emotional baggage they carry.

This is not to say the book is all doom and gloom though, there is the somewhat darkly comic Eyebridge (at least I found the young policemans over-active imagination a tiny bit amusing), the success of Vortigern Jones and his associates in a less than reputable business and even Sams final escape in Never Seen The Sky go to show that this author can be a little more humane with her characters, allowing them small victories in the ever growing symphony of bad luck.

Content aside, the author also shows a well versed lexicon which she uses to weave these tales together seamlessly. Her description is full of striking detail and really pulls you in to believing each word you read.

A wonderfully talented young lady has shared her imagination with us and I for one am truly grateful of it! I look forward to reading more of Rustys adventures when her follow up, Doors is released upon us.

Keep an eye out for the name Sinead Kent, at the moment it sits between Aldous Huxley and Ken Kesey on my bookshelf and it looks quite comfortable right there and I am pretty certain it will not be the only Sinead Kent book there in due time.

So go forth, readers, and take a chance with my greatly talented friend, you will not regret it. Support her writing, and give her a little money for it too.