Review of The Shadow Dies Loudly: 27 Tales

[Mwatu]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Shadow Dies Loudly: 27 Tales" by T.L Oberheu.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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The Shadow Dies Loudly: 27 Tales by T.L Oberheu is a collection of short thriller stories. The stories cover topics like death, existential crisis, sexual perversion, drug use, among others. The book will leave you engaged, captivated and with chills down your spine. The final chapter in the book explains more about the inspiration behind each of the tales.

The story titled ‘A Man Walk into a Bar’ I found most captivating. The parents of a child killed due to a drunk driving incident carry out their revenge on the drunk driver. I felt through the words the absolute pain and hurt both the parents and the drunk driver experience. How they executed their revenge stood out for me as I did not expect the ending. The story titled ‘Here There Be Dragons’ was my favourite. A man gets lost in the forest and is found months later. The state in which he is discovered was unexpected. Another story that stood out for me was ‘The Blight.’ It speaks on the rat race that is life and the apparent inability to escape it. ‘Clara’s Fun House’ & ‘The Best Film Ever Made’ were the most disturbing and ‘Vermilion Man’ & ‘Moon Men’ most uncomfortable to read for me.

The stories are engaging and captivating. Oberheu’s creativity shines through. The endings are not always predictable due to the plot twists, and the author shares tidbits of information that leave you shocked. There is an element of justice and fairness in most stories. These are not solely stories meant to entertain or thrill. There are also elements of sarcasm that make the stories more enjoyable. In one story, the author defines a character as heroically cowering behind a mailbox. I enjoyed the representation in the book as there is a lesbian couple in one tale and a married gay one in another. The timeline of the stories is varied, making it easy to relate to the stories.

I only faced two minor inconveniences. I would have loved seeing clear differences between shifting scenes. For example, in the first story, the scene transitions from two men on the train to passengers getting on the train. I had to reread to get that the scene had transitioned. A broader space or some form of formatting such as a line would clarify that a transition is happening. After the first story, however, I noticed the transitions as I was expecting them. Second, I felt that words that didn’t fit into a line could have been moved to the next to avoid splitting words. This would offer a more polished look and a smoother reading experience.

I found over ten errors in the book. These did not distract from my reading as they are minor and spaced out across the book. For this reason, I rate the book three out of four. The book is enjoyable, creative and captivating. While the author promises that I would not see the dark corners of my room the same anymore, I was mostly disturbed than shaken. However, this is a personal experience, and I am certain a good number would be more bothered than I was.

I recommend this book to a mature audience that enjoys thrillers. The shortness of the stories will have you move through the book easily, and the writing style will leave you impressed. There are several themes like violence, murder, sexual degeneration, some profanity and more. These, however, are presented in an artistic context that highlights what we already face in the world today. In no way does the author promote such themes.

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The Shadow Dies Loudly: 27 Tales
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[TheMazeRunner]

Seems that every story has a plot twist, which is amazing. I think I will give it a try. Great review!

[Mayur Arjune]

The book must be about sexual perversion, because I feel book is read by reviewer well.

[Mwatu]

Seems that every story has a plot twist, which is amazing. I think I will give it a try. Great review!

I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did. The author does a good job making each story engaging. Thank you for reading through!

The book must be about sexual perversion, because I feel book is read by reviewer well.

The book does touch on the topic a bit and justice is served for the perpetrators. A worthwhile ending in my opinion. Thank you for stopping by!

[Ashiraf Sserwadda]

It loudly speaks that the reviewer red the book and internalise it deeply . thanks for the review