"A succinct collection of literary nuggets ..."

• ASIN: ‎ B0C4HW35PS
• Publisher: ‎ Disaster Books (10 May 2023)
• Language: ‎ English
• Print length: ‎ 121 pages
• Page numbers source ISBN: ‎ B0C4MJNKY3
• Genre:  World Literature Short Stories

The BookViral Review:

A good short story should reveal itself in a quick glancing light. But it’s often hard to lose oneself in the brevity of such short works so when an anthology like Nine Stray Shots comes along it’s worth taking note.

A succinct collection of literary nuggets where tragedy, relationships, death and serendipity are briefly illuminated, There’s no lyrical wandering with each story punching above its word count with unexpected moments encroaching on the reader’s headspace and demanding reflection.

The genre thrives on authors who can quickly tap into our imagination and in the main Soto achieves this through the economy of his settings which are readily absorbed and allow us to retain story arcs in our mind without relinquishing the detail.

With short story anthologies like Nine Stray Shots, you can engage with them briefly, nod and think about them, then forget about them later. But if you do stop to think a little more about Soto’s collection, you’ll come to recognise the intricacy of what he’s constructed as he holds his characters and events up to scrutiny.

At just nine stories in all, Soto is quite adept at evoking social nuance. This is clearly evident in stories like Wrong Short Cuts, Black Box and The Weirdo and whilst they couldn’t be more different each one is eminently readable and a testament to the passion with which Soto writes.

A must-read for fans of short-form fiction Nine Stray Shots is unreservedly recommended.