Review: Tales from the Longcroft Estate

I took some time to read the first two installments of
Darren Sant's "Tales from the Longcroft Estate" available from Trestle
Press. Individually, they are called "A
Good Day" and "Community
Spirit".

I wanted to familiarize myself with him, since we (the
collective "we", not the royal "we") are putting a little something together for
you gruesome fans out there. What I found was touching and sentimental, and
quite satisfying.

Darren delivered two stories with all the outlook of a
rainy day. In his first piece, we are introduced to a jobless drug addict. The
next story tells us of a single mother in deep with a loan shark. Darren does an
excellent job of setting the stage and revealing these characters to us. As I
read, I quickly moved passed preconceived notions of "life in the projects".
These were real people and I really felt for them.

Then Mr. Sant throws
us for a loop. I like surprises, so I am not going to be the one to spoil the
ending. These sad tales have a twist. No, not an "M. Night Twist". Still, I did
not expect it in the first story, but would have been disappointed if he did not
deliver in the second.

In the short story genre, it takes a deft hand to
satisfy in such a small space. Darren manages to pull it off like a child
playing in his parent's closet. What I mean by that is that to the child, the
closet is much bigger and full of amazing things. He has all the room he needs
in that short stretch of white space to give us something worth well more than
its $0.99 price tag.

I suggest you add both of these to your Kindle
today (and you wouldn't want to disappoint me, would you?).