"Last Call" (in the anthology MORTIS OPERANDI). by 'Nathan Burgoine

Amazon.com

Powell's Books

Today I had a very "on" day at work, where the combination of customers and books that sprang to mind were in total synch. I love these days, where I'm asked to suggest titles, and the perfect ones are there at the tip of my tongue. I love hooking up customers with books that they're going to love, and as a treat today I also had a customer who picked up a Rob Byrnes, a Greg Herren, Fool for Love (edited by R.D. Cochrane and Timothy J. Lambert), and Jeffrey Ricker's first book. Helping people find books they'll love is one thing, but when those books are written by authors I know? A bajillionty times better.

That's one of the things I really adore about writing short fiction and appearing in anthologies. I always - always - end up finding a new author (or six) to track down for more stories, or a novel, or whatever I can get my hands on. I've said it before - I don't think of short stories as advertisements for novels, since I think they're very different animals, but I do love finding a short story by a new author and then seeing there's a whole tonne of other works to enjoy. Or, finding out that this is the first piece from an author, and sitting back with a sense of genuine pleasure knowing that I can look forward to more from this author as everyone else learns how good they are.

"Dead to Rights," by Rebecca Roque

The next story in Mortis Operandi is one of those stories that - I believe - is a first work published from the author. The world building here is incredibly well done (something it is quite difficult to do in short fiction), and sent me scrambling to see if there were more stories with these characters - there currently aren't, but I'm living in hope.

Basically, the tale is a group of variously gifted psychic investigators trying to figure out a string of bank robberies that are particularly difficult to untangle, and one lone woman - Lex, whose abilities work by touch - is in the right place at the right time to make some vital connections. Except, of course, in their line of work, the right place and the right time can often lead to puddles of blood, and much worse nightmares to come.

I'm a sucker for paranormal stories, so the whole collection is right up my alley, but this particular story made me sit up and take notice of an author I sure hope has more on the way.