I found the first stories in this collection rough going. I always hope in a short story for some sort of profundity, perhaps a moral lesson or a focus on a particular emotion. I found several of the stories in the collection flat where I could do no more than shrug at their conclusion. The characters themselves were not contemplative and expressed no curiosity about themselves, others or their situation in life, and nor did Killian offer these up in the telling of the stories. The flow of the writing was often interrupted by odd syntax that had no purpose (that I could determine). Some tales are written in close third person and then jump, for one paragraph or one sentence, to first person. Odd and distracting.

The latter part of the collection improved immensely. Dietmar Lutz Mon Amour is the longest story and seemed to be reaching for some sort of purpose, some message that it can't quite grasp. The reaching itself fit perfectly with the story as does the anti-climatic end. Hot Lights is a fun, very brief, and perfectly rendered tale of an endearingly innocent porn performer who is jolted into some self-awareness, some insight at the end of the tale. Rochester was my favorite of the collection. A little absurd, a little campy and a character who learns more about himself and his relationships with others during the strange encounter he has with an admired author/mentor. Greensleeves delves into darker territory and while the characters themselves seem to devolve rather than evolve in their situation, the reader is able draw their own lessons from the choices the characters make.

I wasn't left with a desire to read another book of Killian's work but I wouldn't pass him up in a short story anthology. ( )