Edward Falco Sabbath Night in the Church of the Piranha: New and Selected Stories

Sabbath Night in the Church of the Piranha: New and Selected Stories

Edward Falco

Unbridled, May 2005, $13.95, 304 pp.

ISBN: 1932961054

This sixteen short story anthology is a great collection starring individuals with flaws that lead them into precarious situations often not of their direct making. Each story is loaded with unbridled suspense as the prime characters find themselves going from the frying pan into the fire as the heroes struggle with dark forces that seem overwhelming to the protagonist (and the reader). Interestingly in spite of these being shorts, in most cases the beleaguered hero seems developed enough to star in a novel. The audience will appreciate the genius of Edward Falco, as in almost every entry, a reader can picture themselves falling into the same type calamity that beguiled the respective lead character. Title aside since it is taken from one of the tales, courage comes from within, but that does not guarantee the outcome as piranhas feed on nice innocent victims too. This novel is worth reading but readers should keep the lights on or better yet peruse it in daytime.

Harriet Klausner