If you enjoyed "scary stories to tell in the dark" growing up, you're bound to enjoy these.

You get a mixture of very short stories, to a little bit more in depth. The perfect amount of spooky.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book. The description is perfect for this collection. Rare Specimen was my personal favorite and will absolutely stick with me. I enjoyed reading them all and appreciated the care that the author used in creating a world for each. I look forward to future releases.

I received this book for netgalley in exchange for a review.
Short stories and sci fi and aliens and monsters i mean all that was just amazing. And a quick read. I loved the writing style. I could easily flip through and keep reading. I recommend highly.

Rare Specimen features 8 short stories in the sci-fi genre - and I was really excited to be approved for this ARC.

Where some of the short stories in the book felt super engrossing and had me hooked from the get go - others fell a bit flat and felt a bit like random chapters yanked from a book I want privy to, so I felt like I had absolutely no idea what was going on.

That being said, I absolutely loved the authors writing style and would definitely be keen to read more of his work! This is a strong debut and his imagination is clearly insane - I would love to see something a bit more fleshed out from him.

A collection of thriller and suspenseful stories in all genres, everything from sci-fi alien species to fantastical monsters. I found the stories a bit confusing at first, but soon the action and narrative honed me in. This book is great for fans of short atmospheric horror stories.

Thank you to Netgalley and Carthago Nova Press for this ARC.

Shank’s collection of dark science fiction short stories makes for an extremely strong debut. The opening story, Para Bellum, is likely the collection’s strongest, and left me thinking about it for days after. Though I am not typically a fan of anything space odyssey-esque, Shank’s ability to weave in a strong element of horror into his science fiction left even me on the edge of my seat.

The seven remaining short stories have the reader following a myriad of well-drawn characters through terrain both familiar and jarringly surreal. Players from the stories On High and Unnamed are cleverly tied together through a plot line of busy cities, remote rituals, and a mysterious, deathly star.

Rare Specimen and Nivel Del Mar place the reader on a more-or-less contemporary Earth, leaving Shank to rely more heavily on the eerie aspects of his writing, which he does so successfully. The atmospheres created in these stories are enough to recommend reading this collection outside in broad daylight.

Overall, this is a unique and imaginative collection that truly leaves the reader mulling over monsters for days. I highly recommend for fans of science fiction, fantasy, and horror!

Eight short stories: some science-fiction, some fantasy, all dark and just a bit twisted. Wormholes, monsters, and a black pit that reaches deep into the earth. Survival that may be worse than death, victory that you may wish was defeat. A few of these stories wormed their way into my brain and will not let go. The dawning dread as each twist and turn unfolds doesn’t leave when the story ends. This is everything I want from short stories.

I finished almost every one of these stories wishing that they were part of a larger novel so I could read more. Please turn Para Bellum into a novel! I’m dying to know what happens.

(4.5/5 stars)

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me a free eARC of this book to read in exchange for my review!