Talk about a gloomy Friday …

I use days like today as an excuse to stay cuddled up in my bed and binge read book after book. How many can I finish in one day you ask? So far I have finished two and on to my third .

All week I have read some amazing books (this rarely happens). I was looking for something different when I saw a friend post about A Sliver of Darkness as a collection of short stories I was curious as to why I had not picked it up before . I’m a huge fan of CJ Tudor so I knew I had to begin reading…

The cover is engaging, mysterious and really drew me in. The stories are all well done and get straight to the point . As per always, Tudor does not disappoint.

I was about 3 stories in when I have to tell you, I knew there was no way I was going to be able to put this one down.

This book was made for me .

If your looking for a bunch of quick stories to get into and leave you spinning then A Sliver of Darkness is perfect for you! I know you won’t be able to stop at just one story 😉

If you're in the mood for some great dark, thrilling short stories this is the book! It was nice to read a story every couple of days and come back to another short story. I loved the premise of each individual story!

I really enjoyed the short stories from one of my favorite authors! Each of them felt well thought out and I enjoyed each of them for different reasons. CJ Tudor's writing is detailed enough to make the story that much more creepy and engaging. I think I just realized by reading this that short stories aren't my favorite. I felt like for all of them, I was just starting to really get into the story and understand what was happening and then the next thing I knew, it was ending. I wanted more from all of the stories!

CJ Tudor had me as a dedicated reader from her very first book -- The Chalk Man. If she wrote a Compendium of Stereo Instructions, I would buy it and read it. I'm sure she could give even stereo installation a cool, creepy vibe! So, of course, I jumped right on a short story collection.

This collection of 11 dark stories has a bit of everything. Old friends. Love. Revenge. Jealousy. Mistaken identity. Time. Hidden things. Secrets. Killers. Teenagers. Even butterflies and a cruise ship. The themes are varied, but all are creepy and well-written. My favorite? Dust. Excellent story! There wasn't a single story I didn't enjoy. Even the cover art is excellent!

The best part? Before each story she includes an introduction about where her head was at when she wrote the tale.

Loved this book!! Not really a surprise though. I've loved them all so far!

And, I already have a review copy of her next book, The Drift.

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Random House/Ballentine. All opinions expressed are entirely my own**

Enjoyed this very interesting short story collection a lot! Like all short story collections, some are more successful than others - my personal favorite is "End of the Liner" with it's cruise theme, and I quite liked "Copy Shop", also. Make sure to read the author's notes & dedication. My sincere thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

Solid set of short stories. Definitely enjoyed some
Of the stories more than others but felt this was a great book for someone who prefers reading in this genre.

Short stories have become one of my favorite things to read in the last couple of years. They are the perfect anecdote for a reading slump or just when I am having a hard time concentrating. C. J. Tudor is one of my favorite authors- The Chalk Man and The Burning Girls are two of my favorite books of recent years. Thrillers that border on horror, they are perfection. So, when I saw she had released a short story collection I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. The stories range from weird to terrifying to apocalyptic and a couple had me chuckling out loud. I especially loved that Tudor wrote an introduction before each story. It is so interesting what inspires authors to write and hearing how Tudor’s idea for each story was developed was just as enjoyable as the stories themselves. My favorites were Runaway Blues, a story which pays homage to the writing of Stephen King and Final Course about an apocalyptic dinner party. So if you are a fan of short stories and the macabre do not miss this collection. Thank you to @netgalley @ballantinecorp for this arc.

This is a collection of 11 short stories. My favorites were Gloria and Final Course. I was totally invested in those plots and wish they were full stories! I love the horror elements of her writing.

A Sliver of Darkness is a great collection of short stories. Every story is different but they all live up to the blurbs by being bone-chilling, mind-bending, nightmare-inducing and spine-tingling. They are full of creepy people – and some people who normal but are anything but. Every story has a twist. Just when you’ve gotten yourself into the macabre mindset and think you’ve figured the ending out, bam, you’ll be surprised by something you never saw coming. Thanks to Ballantine Book and NetGalley for providing a copy of A Sliver of Darkness. I am voluntarily leaving this honest review. I enjoyed this book and recommend you read it; you’ll shiver, shudder and be thoroughly satisfied when you are done.

Some truly intr5iguing and timely short stories to enjoy from the mind of Tudor. Truly haunting. There is a lot to unpack and the pandemic had a role. A starring role, really. How do you etrapolate that? You put a bunch of people on a forever cruise. My definition of hell. And it just goes on from there.

Thank you to C. J. Tudor, Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine Books, and Netgalley for this free eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A Sliver of Darkness is a lovely collection of short stories that is sure to put you a bit on edge (in a good way, I promise!)

This is unrelated to the short stories themselves, but I loved the little Introduction bits from the author that prefaced the stories and gave a little bit of insight into how the story and the collection itself came to be. It really made C. J. Tudor seem more human and relatable and definitely caused me to read this work a bit more closely. The Introductions really show how Tudor makes sure to leave a little bit of heart in a sometimes bleak world.

Included are 11 short stories, each of which stands out on its own in unique ways.
End of the Liner
The Block
Runaway Blues
The Completion
The Lion at the Gate
Gloria
I'm Not Ted
Final Course
The Copy Shop
Dust
Butterfly Island

I don't really want to reveal too much, as I think that these stories are best enjoyed when the reader goes in completely blind. It is truly an experience that cannot be replicated.

A collection of dark, twisted short stories that are easy and fun to read. Tudor offers a bit of personal perspective throughout, making the entire book both entertaining and memorable.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC of #ASliverofDarkness which was read and reviewed voluntarily.

**Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House-Ballantine, and C.J.Tudor for an ARC of this book!**

If this was only a 'Sliver of Darkness'...sign me up for the WHOLE Devil's Food Cake!

This is a collection of short stories from C,J. Tudor, ranging from several apocalyptic scenarios, encounters with creepy monsters and mysterious creatures, and some twisted characters who aren't quite what they seem. All of these stories are indeed short and most move at a good clip. Being new to Tudor's writing, I can already tell she excels at characterization and setting the scene, even in a short amount of time.

I normally stray far from short story collections, and even though I've been dying for an excuse to check out this author, I was a bit hesitant to pick this book up. What came as a welcome surprise, however, was the Behind The Curtain look that Tudor gave in reference to her writing process, the circumstances that led to this collection coming out NOW, and the individual inspiration behind EACH story. As someone who had hoped to work side-by-side with authors in my younger days, I am always fascinated to hear where ideas come from, how writers write, and what inspires them, and I feel like I learned SO much about Tudor's personality, her life, and how her ideas grow JUST from this one book!

Honestly, reading these stories took me back to my early days of thriller reading (R.L. Stine, even!) but in such a good way. There is also a bit of humor in some of these stories (I'm Not Ted being a personal favorite) and I loved the 'expect the unexpected' twists at the end of each story. Some other memorable stories include Tudor's nod to Uncle Steve (Runaway Blues) and another slightly snarky tale about a real estate closing (The Completion). Also a quick shout out to my favorite pun in the book: in reference to a power-rationed cities, the character refers to the inhabitants as the "have-watts and the have-nots."

(Brilliant. Seriously could not stop laughing after that one!)

Though I some of these stories went on a tad too long and others lacked solid endings, hearing their individual origin stories was fascinating and honestly made this a fulfilling reading experience from start to finish. I am ready and waiting for Tudor's next book (which she spoke about briefly in this author's note and described as a passion project coming to fruition) as also exploring her back catalog. Although spooky season is drawing to a close, if you're not quite ready to pack away your pumpkins and skeletons JUST yet, this terrifying tome of twisted tales is sure to fulfill that need for one last round of thrills and chills!

4 stars

I’m not a huge fan of story collections but I enjoyed this one! There are eleven creepy stories and I liked how the author prefaced each one with a personal thought. If your looking for a spooky, creepy, entertaining read this is definitely it.


Sliver of Darkness is available now.

Thank you to netgalley and randomhouse for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

C.J. Tudor’s new collection of short stories, A Sliver of Darkness, is a twisty and terrifying mix of stories that will delight horror fans. This is a collection of ten short stories ranging from classic horror vibes ("Runaway Blues") to dark comedy ("I’m Not Ted"), and a whole range of thrilling twists (like, "Dust") and sci-fi scares ("The Block"), plus so much more. Her final story in the collection, "Butterfly Island", is my favorite and she teases that she may eventually expand it into a novella (YES, please). One thing I loved about the set-up of this collection is that she introduces each story with insights on pieces of her life and what inspired each tale. The stories are all quite different however there is a common theme of the apocalypse or a crumbling society. It’s obvious this pulls from recent events in our own history with the virus, lockdowns and an unsettled society. All in all, A Sliver of Darkness is an entertaining collection that is easy to read, fast-paced and full of thrills and chills. She has a flair for the paranormal horror splashes in her thrillers, so it was fun to read a collection where thriller takes more of a backseat and horror is on full display. It suits her.

This was such an interesting read. I honestly couldn't tell you the last time I read a book of short stories (could be high school??), but at this point I would read anything and everything by CJ Tudor.

I'm not going to review every single story; there are a lot! What you need to know: they were ALL wonderfully creepy and scary and dark in their own ways. I also loved the format: before each story, Tudor gave an explanation for why she wrote it, how it came to her, etc. I loved having the context.

My favorites were Dust (#1 for sure), Final Course, Runaway Blues, and The Block.

Thank you to C.J., Ballantine, and Netgalley for an advance copy of A Sliver of Darkness.

A short stories collection that I loved in its entirety?! This is a groundbreaking development in my reading life. I always say it’s hard to rate and review a short stories collection, but in this case it was actually very easy. There was really only one or two of these ten stories that I could’ve done without. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by C.J. so I did go into this thinking it could be a short story collection that doesn’t let me down and I’m glad that I was right.

C.J. prefaces this book by saying she was struggling to get a full length novel written for a variety of reasons and when it was finished, both her and her editor decided it best to scrap the book so C.J. came up with this collection of stories, some freshly written and some previously published in weekly magazines or what not. I admire her dedication to her fans in not wanting to disappoint and miss a publication and instead of giving us a piece of work that she was unhappy with, pulling together this collection so we get to see even more bits of her writing.

In lieu of giving too much away, because I think going into short stories blindly is the most fun, I will just list the story titles and my ratings with some brief reactions.

The Liner – 5 stars. I love a doomsday dystopian book that has us wondering if we’re putting our trust in the wrong people.

The Block – 4 stars. Think Goosebumps, good solid middle grade, early YA spooky goodness.

Runaway Blues – 3.5 stars. C.J. said that this story was inspired by Stephen King and it is evident; you will get the parts of King that you love the most in this one. Trying to gauge whether a character is morally gray or tipping the scales to evil is one of my favorite mysteries in a good book.

The Completion – 3.5 stars. I really enjoyed this one but it didn’t translate well to a short story to me, and that may be because I just wanted more background. It has the makings of a slow burn creepy horror story and I’d love to go deeper.

The Lion at the Gate – 2 stars. This one did not really work for me, it felt very juvenile and not in the way that The Block felt. It almost felt like it was a high school creative writing story rather than a story from a seasoned vet who we know can tell a bomb ass horror story.

Gloria – 3 stars. This was an odd one and I think that is because we see a character that we have met in one of C.J.s full length releases and it was hard for me to put them into a different story? I’ll take the blame on that one.

I’m Not Ted – 5 stars. Futuristic sci-fi, I could totally see the building they were in and picture the scenery. C.J. achieved gold in literally 5-7 pages of a story. Would read this again, would read a full-length about this, would watch a show or movie based on this, would listen to a podcast inspired by this.

Final Course – 4 stars. Dystopian sci-fi with a fun payoff. Who wouldn’t want to go to a dinner part at the end of days?

The Copy Shop – 4.5 stars. So fun and a really creative concept. There was one thing that was wildly predictable about halfway through the story, but it did not deter from the fun. Also, I couldn’t help wondering how many people in the generations after mine are unfamiliar with what a copy shop is.

Dust – 4 stars. Some vacations are just way too long and way too stressful.

Butterfly Island – 4.5 stars. As someone who has a weird kind of phobia surrounding butterflies, this one was a doozy for me. I’ve been super into isolated / locked room settings, so this was up my alley.

This was such a great collection of short stories, if you've liked CJ Tudor books, or in general are looking for some horror, I can definitely recommend this!
*
These stories range from creepy psychological fiction to true classic horror, and I absolutely loved every single one. Several of them had an apocalyptic theme to them, so it was interesting to see different interpretations of how a pandemic (or other cataclysmic event) could devolve.
*
My favorite story of the bunch was Final Course, about a dinner party where friends plan to take advantage of a manor to monetize the end of the world. Dust was also haunting in a way I can't describe without giving away the ending!
*
I enjoyed how every story, no matter how short, felt complete. Each character had a unique voice and was fully developed (at least as much as was possible, some stories didn't allow for that but that was needed for the plot.)
*
I very much enjoyed this and am now extra excited for her new book coming out next year! Thanks to @netgalley and @randomhouse for the early copy!

I kept going back and forth on whether or not to send this review in, but even if it wasn't my cup of tea, I should review. My own anticipation may be the culprit here, but these short stories fell very flat. Most of them were great ideas, but the actual plots were either rushed and didn’t leave any satisfaction, or there were specific things I took issue with that lingered throughout the story.

I enjoyed End of the Liner. The plot was super realistic – at times a bit too realistic! The idea that the “powers that be” are lying to us to keep us in line is not a new idea, but the extremes they went to in order to keep the population under their thumbs had me shivering!

The Block was an alright story. It dragged a little in the middle where I thought it should have had the audience hooked. There was action, but I just could not make myself care. However, I did like the twist at the end. That being said, this was the first story I took issue with. One little girl is bullied for being overweight, gets left out of the actual adventure, then ends up hurt. It may have added to the plot point, but I think making her weight a secondary trait may have been a better move.

Runaway Blues had me in the beginning, but again, in the middle fell flat. Where tension should have been building, I found myself wanting to just skip to the end and move on. The twist at the end saved the story. Again, I had an issue with the language around race/complexion. The specific quote: “Of some exotic origin anyway. Skin a warm honey hue. Long dark hair that cascaded in ringlets around a perfect oval face.” She could have been described without the exotic comment.

The Completion is where I gave up. Once I read the following, I quit: “There was just one problem. His indiscretions. Tastes that some find unpalatable. Although why people found an attraction to youth unpalatable always baffled him.” After having an issue with two prior stories that never resolved, it didn’t sit right with me.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books, and NetGalley for the review copy!

This was a fantastic collection of stories! I have been a fan of C.J.Tudor’s writing ever since I first got my hands on a copy of The Chalk Man several years ago. When I saw that she had a collection of stories being published, I couldn’t wait to dive in. I was not disappointed because I liked every single story in this book.

If I were to rate each story individually, I would give each of the either 4 or 5 stars. All of the stories were creepy enough to completely capture my interest. There is a little bit of everything here including a not-so-dreamy cruise, dangerous graffiti, a scary not quite abandoned building, a real estate transaction gone wrong, and even a butterfly sanctuary that could give you nightmares. really liked that the author wrote an intro to each of the stories that gave some insights into how the story came to be.

I would definitely recommend this book to others. I would be hard-pressed to pick a favorite story out of this collection and thought that each and every story in this book was well worth a read. I cannot wait to read more of this author’s work!

I received a digital review copy of this book from Random House Publishing Group.