The Minotaur’s Son & Other Wild Tales @kevinansbro #2qtlimited #magicalrealism #shortstories #humor #fantasy @absltmom

If you are looking for something that will take you away, something that will make you giggle, and something that will leave a number of ah-ha moments, then you must take a walk a bit on the wild tale side with Kevin Ansbro’s short story collection. I had such fun with this group of short stories and since fun seems to be in short supply these days, I so appreciated the ability to be sucked in, mesmerized and even had times of laugh out loud loveliness.

“A woman is like an ocean, sir, beautiful to look at but dangerous to cross.” Already Kevin knows 50% of his audience well!

“A gentleman goes in search of flattery as keenly as a bee hunts for pollen.” and here we see the other 50%!

I am not really a short story reader as I have found that I no sooner seem to get to know the characters and events then they are gone and for me that relationship I look to have disappears. So truthfully, I was not the best audience for this book. However, I have to confess that each and every tale, left me feeling something. It’s hard to decide on a favorite though I am partial to the tale of the father-son relationship. DOTH THOU THINK ME A FOOL? really got to me and I had some teary eyed moments with that one.

There is a whole plethora of mystical, magical creatures and one of the human kind, who in all honestly act like we would figure them to. Some are greedy, some are so caught up in themselves that you want to kick them into the twilight zone, some are lovable, (the leprechaun in THE POT OF GOLD), and some are the opposite of that. (that would be you, Brian, with Matt coming in a very close second)

Kevin tickled my die hard devotion to Star Trek (yes I am and always will be a Trekkie!) with his CHUCK MONTANA IN THE TWENTY-SECOND CENTURY story. It was one of the lol stories I mentioned earlier. …….and if you are looking for more lol moments than Kevin’s THE CONCUBINE AND THE POSTMAN, will have you rolling as as trio of numbskulls, Om, Kabir and Sanjay, kidnap the maharaja’s favorite concubine. ……and I bet you wonder where the Postman comes in?

BRIAN THE BIGOT will set your teeth on edge but you will be cheering as Brian gets his just desserts in a most wonderfully devious way. In a close second place to taking the trophy home for being the most obnoxious person in the room (or maybe in the country, planet, galaxy) was Matt, a person we all have met, in THE SHOW-OFF. He proves to all that there are many who believe themselves just too cool for school!

Kevin has been able to masterfully engender all the emotions in this collection. He takes us to faraway places with kindness, an eye on the right, the just, and also an eye, that in the end, many of us get exactly what we deserve. Wickedly funny, showing a keen understanding of the human spirit or lack thereof, Kevin weaves his tales so well that this becomes a book that is hard to put aside.

Do I recommend this collection? Oh yes, indeed! It was a ray of definite sunshine with a bit of a rainbow attached and to me it was the perfect way to spend a day or two with many delightful and nefarious characters.

and here’s the author

http://kevinansbro.co.uk/