{"product_id":"9781925590395","title":"30 Shades of Darkness: 30 Twisting Tales","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThese 30 short stories are bound by a collective eclecticism, shades of darkness and narrative twists.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe darkest themes – violent crime (\u003cem\u003eBlood Red and the Eighth Dwarf\u003c\/em\u003e), and suicide (\u003cem\u003ePin Back Your Ears and Smile\u003c\/em\u003e) – are tempered by the light (\u003cem\u003eIf Horses Could Talk, Old Lady’s Dream, Crown for the Coronet\u003c\/em\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut even in those, darkness lurks.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo character in these tales – the overzealous cop in \u003cem\u003eSweet Transvestite\u003c\/em\u003e, the brutal husband in \u003cem\u003eCutting Board Killer\u003c\/em\u003e, the mysterious man on the run in \u003cem\u003eStrangers on a Plane\u003c\/em\u003e – will stop to smell the roses.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe convicted rapist \/ killer in \u003cem\u003eDevil’s Doorway\u003c\/em\u003e will hardly get the chance, but is the Death Row inmate guilty, or innocent?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe reality is that the world can be a dark place. It turns bleak and forbidding in the futuristic \u003cem\u003eThirty11\u003c\/em\u003e when, fortunately, none of us will be around.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe reader, I hope, will feel for the victims: the terrified eyewitness of \u003cem\u003eSnitch in the Ditch\u003c\/em\u003e, the bullied boy in the \u003cem\u003eSheriff of Rottenham,\u003c\/em\u003e and desolate paraplegic in \u003cem\u003eCrushed\u003c\/em\u003e. They may see humour in \u003cem\u003eNuts at Christmas, \u003c\/em\u003eand the sadness behind it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDay of Reckoning \u003c\/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003eRush Hour \u003c\/em\u003eare meant to be fun.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is a book for those who love animals. They have important roles to play in many of these tales – as does the odd insect.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is the writer’s most earnest wish that no story will end the way you think it might.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Fontaine Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47044000776432,"sku":"9781925590395","price":26.89,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781925590395_p0.jpg?v=1763634973","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781925590395","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}