UNCAGE ME

Uncage Me, was just released by Bleak House Books. Edited by Jen Jordan, the anthology contains twenty-two stories and is a follow up to the 2007 anthology, Expletive Deleted.

Irish author John Connolly provides a very insightful Introduction. He points out that boundaries and limitations are meant to be challenged and in this anthology, twenty-two authors give us their boundary smashing best. Connolly writes, “It has been argued that one of the roles of art is to break taboos, which brings with it the assumption that such taboo breaking is always good . . . Yet not all restrictions are necessarily bad in themselves, just as not every act of transgression is worthy of note simply by the fact of its existence.”

And that brings us to the stories in Uncage Me.

First off, let me tell you how the book came to be in my possession. Bryon Quertemous offered PDF copies of the manuscript to twenty-five bloggers who would be willing to review his story and one other. Bryon also asked that the bloggers buy a copy of the book since he didn’t want his hunt for reviews to thwart sales.

I sent Bryon an email and asked for a copy. I said I would read and review his story and at least one other and that I had decided I would purchase and raffle off a copy of the anthology here at Women of Mystery. When I opened the manuscript file, I was delighted to see so many top quality contributors: Declan Burke, Tim Maleeny, J.D. Rhoades and Patrick Shawn Bagley to name a few.

And when I saw there were stories by two old friends of the Women of Mystery, Steven Torres and Joe Konrath. I decided on the spot that I would tell you about three stories.

“Games” by Bryon Quertemous focuses on sex, violence and violent sex. I was uncomfortable reading it, but that may just be the Irish-Catholic Grandma in me. “Games” is very well written with exceptional pacing and Bryon keeps us keyed to the dynamic that exists between an extremely self absorbed woman and the man who is obsessed with her. This story is not for the squeamish.


“The Biography of Stoop, the Thief” by Steven Torres is both heartbreaking and inevitable. The characters are beautifully and painfully drawn. I usually try to avoid stories that will leave me sad, but from the first sentence, I could not abandon Stoop, nor could I abandon Steven’s exquisite prose.

The sub title of “School Daze” by J.A. Konrath says it all—A Harry McGlade Mystery. Everyone who reads Konrath’s Jack Daniels mysteries knows Harry. Derisive, offensive and often disgusting, Harry is a perfect fit as the protagonist for a story involving children in an anthology that illustrates transgressions. As an aside, the newest Jack Daniels novel, Cherry Bomb just hit the bookstores.

True to my word, I have ordered a copy of Uncage Me, and will raffle it off here in early September. The time gap serves two purposes. First, I will try to find time to read a few more stories so I can give you a better idea of the entire anthology when we hold the raffle. Second, the Women of Mystery already have a book review and giveaway scheduled to begin very soon and I don’t want to get in the way of that long planned event.

Terrie