Sanity’s Threshold: Slivers of a Twisted Mind by Angela L. Lindseth

I won a copy of Sanity’s Threshold: Slivers of a Twisted Mind during a book launch party on Facebook.  Not my standard disclaimer, but take it for what it’s worth.

 Sanity’s Threshold: Slivers of a Twisted Mind by Angela L. Lindseth is a collection of flash fiction pieces.  Some of the stories are close to complete short stories.  Others are no more than one hundred words or so.  The main themes of the collection run along the lines of dark fantasy and horror.  A few are just plain odd.

Likes:

I loved how much emotion Lindseth packed into each piece.  I don’t think I found one lacking in that aspect.  They were strong and poignant in just a short handful of words.  I would love to know how Lindseth perfected that skill.  On this score alone, I would recommend this book.

Lindseth also did a wonderful job of balancing the details in each piece with the need to keep the plot moving.  From the shortest to the longest pieces, Lindseth did a nice job of maintaining that balance.  The details were clear and concise, just enough to get the idea across while leaving much to the imagination, while being sparing enough to keep the story moving.

Finally, I also loved that Lindseth played with the dark fantasy and horror ideas beyond the murder and zombies so common right now, at least to me.  While I don’t mind some of that sprinkled into these genres, it is refreshing to see other ideas of how to give me the creeps.  Lindseth did a good job of this.  From peeking inside the mind of a housewife that has lost it to the epitome of sloth, Lindseth found wonderful ways to play with the darker side of the imagination here.

 Dislikes:

Honestly, there was not much I disliked about the book.  A few detail things that are probably just some of my hang ups, and one that certainly is my issue.  First, it would have been nice to have at least an intro to the collection.  Throwing the reader in felt a smidgeon abrupt to me.  Another thing is that there were no page numbers, which felt odd.  Maybe that one is just me.  Finally, a few pieces felt almost too short.  They ended before I felt like I had a chance to connect to the characters.  Again, this one may be just me.  That’s it.  That’s all I have for the dislikes for this book.

 Overall, Sanity’s Threshold: Slivers of a Twisted Mind by Angela L. Lindseth is a wonderful addition to the darker side of the genres.  The good far outweighs my dislikes for the book.  Easily a 4-star book.  It’s a quick read.