Confession: Past a certain point in this collection every story seemed to be about pandemics so I couldn’t finish it. However, the title novella alone made this a five-star read. ( )

GRACETOWN 
The Lake  - 3.5
Summer  - 3.5
Ghost Summer  - 5

THE KNOWING 
Free Jim’s Mine - 4
The Knowing - 4
Like Daughter - 4
Aftermoon - 4
Trial Day - 4

CARRIERS
Patient Zero - 4
Danger Word (with Steven Barnes) - 4
Removal Order  - 4
Herd Immunity  - 4
Carriers  – 3.5

VANISHINGS
Señora Suerte (2006) – 3.5
Vanishings (2015) –  3.5

This is a truly good collection of shorts stories (and one novella). I can say the only fault I see is that every story could be a book. I will not write a review on each story for two reasons. First, the review would be way too long and second I feel that the stories should be read with no knowledge what they are about. I feel that they should be experienced without the reader knowing what they are about.

But I will say something about how I have rated the stories. The ones I gave 3.5 stars to are really good, great writing and everything. But I can't give them 4 stars because either they feel too short or the subject doesn't touch me as some of the other stories did. The 4-star stories are really good. I was tempted to give some of them 4.5 stars, but I do feel that they were a bit too short, they would have been incredible good if they just had been a bit longer because they are so good written and I love the characters.

That is why Ghost Summer gets the 5 star; here we have the books only novella. And, it's incredible good; yes it could have been an incredible book as well. But a novella is still a good length when it comes to a story. The story is given enough length to really get to know the characters and to tell a story.
I loved this collection. I would without a doubt buy this collection because every single one of the stories is good.

Thanks to Diamond Book Distributors and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! ( )

GRACETOWN 
The Lake  - 3.5
Summer  - 3.5
Ghost Summer  - 5

THE KNOWING 
Free Jim’s Mine - 4
The Knowing - 4
Like Daughter - 4
Aftermoon - 4
Trial Day - 4

CARRIERS
Patient Zero - 4
Danger Word (with Steven Barnes) - 4
Removal Order  - 4
Herd Immunity  - 4
Carriers  – 3.5

VANISHINGS
Señora Suerte (2006) – 3.5
Vanishings (2015) –  3.5

This is a truly good collection of shorts stories (and one novella). I can say the only fault I see is that every story could be a book. I will not write a review on each story for two reasons. First, the review would be way too long and second I feel that the stories should be read with no knowledge what they are about. I feel that they should be experienced without the reader knowing what they are about.

But I will say something about how I have rated the stories. The ones I gave 3.5 stars to are really good, great writing and everything. But I can't give them 4 stars because either they feel too short or the subject doesn't touch me as some of the other stories did. The 4-star stories are really good. I was tempted to give some of them 4.5 stars, but I do feel that they were a bit too short, they would have been incredible good if they just had been a bit longer because they are so good written and I love the characters.

That is why Ghost Summer gets the 5 star; here we have the books only novella. And, it's incredible good; yes it could have been an incredible book as well. But a novella is still a good length when it comes to a story. The story is given enough length to really get to know the characters and to tell a story.
I loved this collection. I would without a doubt buy this collection because every single one of the stories is good.

Thanks to Diamond Book Distributors and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! ( )

Ghosts, monsters, humans who aren't quite monsters, monsters who aren't quite human, apocalyptic diseases, and a zombie grandpa who woke me out of a sound sleep at 2am this morning convinced that if I dared cross the hall to the bathroom, I might well feel teeth tearing at my shoulder. I'm not susceptible to zombies as a rule. Sign me up for the Tananarive Due Fan Club. ( )

This is a collection of 14 short stories and one novella. The writer writes stories about black people and their plight. There is a story about black people escaping from slavery in the 19th century. There are two stories about black people in Jim Crow era. The rest are about black people in modern times, or in a future dysphoria setting. Six of the stories belong to the horror genre, with supernatural monsters or ghosts or zombies. Four of the stories are involve some supernatural power a character holds, or a supernatural phenomenon that was experienced, but the stories themselves were not scary per se. Five of the stories belong more in the sci-fi genre, about a futuristic technology, or about a super virus wiping out people from the earth and the dystopia that followed.

All stories are enjoyable. The characters experience their supernatural or sci-fi problems through the lens of their unique racial baggage and tensions. The characters are relatable. Some stories give you a spooky feel, but none of them are terrifying, except for the one with zombies ("Danger Word"). That one is chilling. It took me some time to recuperate from the shock after finishing that one. I didn't go back to the book until the next day. (I guess in a sense, that probably also means it is the best story of the book?) But my favorite stories in the book are those with the scary-but-not-too-scary monsters ("The Lake," "Summer," "Free Jim's Mine"). The virus apocalypse tales piqued my interest a bit, given our current situation, but I don't find them very satisfactory because they are not realistic enough :P When you've gone through it yourself, you know the communities in the book could have responded to those problems differently. ( )