The Girlfriend Game by Nick Antosca
Reviewed by Five
Okay, so I read very little fiction. On a rare occasion, perhaps. Once in a blue moon, at most. Seriously, that’s it. With that stated, I was feeling considerably less than euphoric when Uncle Paulie asked me if I could write a review for a book he had received in the mail from a publicist.
I asked, “Is it fiction?” “Fraid so,” he answered. &$#@… C^%&… ((*&… were the next three words that popped into my reality-based noggin. After a pro-longed hesitation, I told Mr. WhatUpHollywood, “Sure, I guess…”
To my unexpected surprise, when I finally sat down to peruse The Girlfriend Game, I was not only impressed with the author’s unique writing voice, but I actually found myself completely immersed in the twelve stories of short fiction by Nick Antosca.
Starting with the opener, “Rat Beast”—a story about a teenager whose grades start to deteriorate which prompts a sinister conspiracy involving his parents and the school faculty to get him back on track—I was instantly hooked.
Next up is the story from which the book is titled. “The Girlfriend Game” is sure to make any guy cringe, as the tables are suddenly turned on a young man when his girlfriend commits a cruel, psycho-sexual payback for critical words spoken in the past. It’s true, women remember everything.
Even the titles are fiendishly clever. There’s no arguing with “Predator Bait,” “Amphibian,” “The Thickness of Clown Blood,” and my personal favorite, “Soon You Will Be Gone and Possibly Eaten.”
All in all, this book is a very impressive collection of brutally substantive short fiction. The stories stay with you long after you have finished them… In a hauntingly good way!
The Girlfriend Game is available at Book Soup in Hollywood.