Star review

I realised these were published before I created this blog, so here goes. Trying to create permanent links now.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/5/19/lifebookshelf/12059127&sec=

Dark City: Psychotic and Other Twisted Malaysian Tales


Author: Xeus

Publisher: Midnight Press, Venton Publishing, 353 pages

HERE is an entertaining and creditable collection of short stories by a Malaysian author. It draws on the dark and unsavoury sides of human nature festering in urban life: sex, murder, rape, abuse, hubris, revenge, greed and unnatural desires are only some of the subjects. The themes are so universal that anyone living in any city in the world would be able to find similar cases in the daily news. Written in the traditional short-story style, all 12 tales harbour suspense and surprises along the way and a particularly vicious twist at the end. See if you can spot it coming.

A foretaste of the tales: Psychotic – On her way back home from work, a young woman is waylaid in a dark alley by a serial rapist who takes her on a long, terrifying journey. Will she escape unscathed? One If By Land – What is causing the inmates of a prison to drop dead under mysterious circumstances? A new prisoner is forced to play detective before he becomes the next victim. The Resistance – A terrorist cell gathers to launch its most fiendish plan against mankind. A semi-clairvoyant flight attendant is the only one who suspects them, but is she too late? The Maid – A desperate housewife, butcher’s knife in hand, finds the bloodied body of her Filipino maid sprawled across the floor. Did she do it or are there other sinister forces at work?

Available at major bookstores, and most independent bookshops and airport newsstands in Malaysia and Singapore. The author has chosen to publish under a pseudonym due to the dark and explicit nature of the stories. This is the author's first book.