Calpurnia's Window by Cindy Rosmus. (Fossil Publications., 92 pgs.) No price listed.

Cindy Rosmus pulls the Hat Trick with her third short story collection in a year. Three of these stories previously appeared in publications edited by yours truly, including the title story in which a troubled young man's lust turns deadly.

If you are a fan of Cindy Rosmus's brand of gritty, neo-noir fiction, you will likely enjoy this collection. If you are not a fan of this type of writing, or are expecting the author to break new ground you probably will not be that satisfied. Ms. Rosmus is a fairly consistent writer. She's very good at writing these down and dirty, working-class New Jersey tales about troubled, cracked-brained people whose world is a maelstrom of chaos and violence fueled by bad behavior and bad decisions.

Although I am a fan of this type of writing, I did find this collection to be a little bit skimpy. Most of the stories among the ten included in this book are short-shorts. I would have preferred a few more stories to be included in this volume to flesh it out more and give it a sense of completion.

— reviewed by JCE