Dan Salerno

STORY-LINE 20 SHORT ONES: 20 SHORT STORIES

20 Short Ones: 20 Short Stories, filled with stories of hope, redemption, and in some cases forgiveness, the reader finds a relaxing and inspirational read. Each story's short, however, all are complete. Exploring human relationships and the human heart, Salerno crafted a glimpse of romance and friendship.

My Christian fiction novel review of 20 Short Ones: 20 Short Stories follows.

CHARACTERS, PLOTTING, DEVELOPMENT:

In 20 Short Ones: 20 Short Stories, the reader finds 20 stories which are short in length and long in content. Filled with hope and expectations of good things to come, 20 Short Ones' a feel good read. Each story is complete unto its self. This book does not focus on one religious group, but features several from Catholic to Jewish and ones in-between. Salerno is an equal opportunity author.

With skillful development, Salerno, holds the reader's attention and causes the reader to think. Each story's different with a different meaning and concept, however each is filled with hope of better things to come. The pace of each story's correct for its length. Short Stories and novellas do not allow the author to develop complex characters and story-lines, however Salerno did a good job of developing the story-lines in a short space of pages.

Finally, in concluding my Christian fiction novel review of 20 Short Ones: 20 Short Stories, I found solid story lines, original premises, and skillful writing.

20 SHORT ONES: 20 SHORT STORIES RECOMMENDATION: STARS 4

I would not hesitate to buy this book for my self or a friend.

FINALLY, PLEASE NOTE:

Additionally, I received this book from the author and chose to voluntarily review the book with an honest Christian fiction novel review. Lastly, book reviews of any novel are dependent on the book review author’s opinion. Consequently, all book reviews on-line and on my blog, are my opinions. In addition, the ARC did not affect my voluntary Christian fiction novel review.… (más)

"Between you and me, I understand your logic, Miss Meade. But thinking thoroughly about what everyone else accepts without thinking often upsets the applecart."

I'm a fan of fiction that makes me think, and 20 Short Ones by author Dan Salerno is a thinking kind of read with a conversational quality to the storytelling.

The short stories take an engaging look at human relationships of different kinds, and even the religious themes among the Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant characters are relationship-focused. I especially liked the depictions of characters who are introverted or socially awkward; it can be easy to portray a character's shyness or introversion as a "flaw" that he or she needs to grow out of instead of a human attribute that can be appreciated as much as another person's outgoingness.

Though this is far from being a "read one story and you've read them all" kind of book, I thought there to be a little redundancy between some of the stories' themes and characters. There are minor punctuation issues throughout the book, and perhaps there are a few too many instances where children in the book speak and come off more like adults.

Nonetheless, this contemplative but still down-to-earth collection conveys plenty of hope while still leaving room for the reader's imagination, and I'd recommend it to other fans of short stories and warm, "thinking" fiction.
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I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.… (más)