From the massive archive…
Anthologies designed to raise monies for a cause are becoming
more and more common. This is true here with Protectors: Stories to Benefit PROTECT
features stories about children in danger. Monies raised from book go to
PROTECT, and its parent organization, the National Association to Protect
Children, in order to help keep children safe, strengthen laws against child
abuse in its many forms, and to assist the victims of such abuse. Along with a
detailed explanation of the group in the introduction to anthology, there is
information on how to become a member and how to track the donation record. Then,
it is on to the stories arranged in alphabetical order by author.
The book opens with “The Search for Michael” by Patricia
Abbott. Max knows that he just saw his son on the crowded pier below a San
Francisco Restaurant. It may have been ten years, but Max knows what he saw was
his missing son.
“The Drowning of Jeremiah Fishfinger” by Ian Ayris comes
next. Jeremiah was the youngest of six children and arrived between the wars. As
WWII begins, the family experiences war in England and death while the rage
within Jeremiah grows day after day.
“The Kindness of Strangers” by Ray Banks opens with the
image of a gymnasium full of noisy kids.
It is picture day at the school and the photographer as well as school
staff has their hands full. It is time for the new picture for the access cards
and the narrator takes his job very seriously. He wants to help all the
students. But, then things do always go wrong.
Nigel Bird is up next with his story “Baby’s in Blue.” Rox
and Sox want to have a baby and want Les to help. His girlfriend Libby wants a child of her own
too and is all in favor of him helping out Rox and Sox. Of course, nothing is
that simple in this very unsettling story.
“The Black Rose” by Michael A. Black is a tale of Brax, Stevie,
and the fact that Tanaka Mishima wants them dead. Who knew the dead hooker would be a problem? While
many of these tales feature either the child victim experiencing abuse or the perpetrator
doing the abuse, this story one was one of my favorites as it had a more
distant relationship with the abuse angle of the anthology and was a complicated
mystery.
“Last Orders: A Gus Dury Story” by Tony Black follows next
featuring a man with a certain reputation in the fine city of Edinburgh. The
annoying man who has come over to him in the pub is Urquhart and he is a Church
of Scotland minister. His daughter is missing and he wants to hire Gus Dury to
find Caroline Urguhart as fast as possible.
Billy and Daryl are in an alley three streets over from
their target as “Repossession” by R. Thomas Brown opens. Daryl has been doing
repos for a while now and says the targets always park their cars away from their
homes. Bill is new to the business and wanted to learn all he could from the
old pro. That was at first, but now he isn’t so sure.
When you are paired with another young guard in Tempelmore
it might be best if one was good and one was dirty. Barrret was the good one in “Spectre” by Ken
Bruen. Spec was the bad one and he was very good at it.
“A Tall Horse” by Bill Cameron tells the tale of 10 year old
David who has had enough. He’d much rather hang out in the basement at home. He
has thrown down the challenge and the battle is on.
The kids are not happy in “Seven Ways to Get of Harry” by
Jen Conley. It is supposed to be a fun day at the “Great Adventure” park near
Manchester. But, Judy’s boyfriend, Harry, is being difficult and not just about
the safari deal Danny wants to do. At least his sister, Lisa, has ideas on how
to get rid of Harry.
The taxi driver, Billy Joe, in “Dark Eyes, Faith, and Devotion”
by Charles De Lint is not having a good Monday night. The woman who flags him
down outside a girl-on-girl club is way too beautiful to be playing for the
other team. She wants to go and steal her cat back and Billy Joe can’t say no.
Using the history of the Orphan Train program which ran from
the 1850s to 1929, author Wayne D. Dundee crafted a story where good intentions
went disastrously wrong. “Adeline” is
one of those children and she needs help. Miss Maybelle wants to do something
about it because Hiram Foster has her and he is the lowest of the vermin around.
She needs the help of Clete Rawson and she will get it.
Mercer thought he would feel something when he came back to
his old hometown. Instead, he feels nothing in “Go Away” by Chad Eagleton. He
wouldn’t be back if it wasn’t to help pull off a robbery.
You can live with somebody a long time. Years even and not really
know them. A point Les Edgerton makes well in “You Don’t Know Me.” Two shots
should do the trick.
A child hears a voice calling his name and does not want to
come out in the very short piece “Security” by Andrew Fader.
Charlotte hates her after school program in “Planning for
the Future” by Matthew Funk. She is sure she and Mama are going to hell. One could argue they are already there.
“Things I Know about Fairy Tales” by Roxane Gay comes next
featuring the story of a woman and her kidnapping in Haiti. Kidnapping is what happens
when you come from one of the better off families. When the inevitable happens
nothing will ever be the same.
An alligator is doing what comes naturally to it as “The
Lawyer” by Edward A. Grainger opens.
The body on a bank of a Louisiana bayou is bleeding into the water while
a man known as the “The Lawyer” stands above him. A chilling beginning to a
very good western tale featuring Marshall Cash Laramie. This complicated and
well done story was also one of my favorites in the book.
Baby Molly has what appears to be simple eye infection in
her eyes in the story “A Blind Eye” by Glenn G. Gray. However, Molly’s mom is
not the best caregiver by a long shot in this deeply disturbing story. If you
can read this one without getting very upset, you simply can’t be human on any
level.
While many are going a very long way to California, Lettie
isn’t. Instead, in “Lettie in the
Ozarks” by Jane Hammons, Lettie is following the old people to their house in
the Ozarks. She may have left it all behind in Oklahoma, but, she can’t leave
the painful memories.
“1983” by Amber Keller features Reggie and Troy and their
plan to go cool off in an old quarry.
The quarry is fun but it is no refuge from bullies--familial ones.
Joe R. Landsdale comes next with “The Boy Who Became
Invisible.” Marble Creek, a small town along the Sabine River in East Texas is
the setting. For Hap and his friend, Jesse, everything changed in the fifth
grade and not in a good way.
Most of the stories in this book are about bullying and the
effects on those bullied. Like the preceeding story, “Take It like a Man” by
Frank Larnerd is one of those stories. 7th grader “Squeak” is one of
those kids that everyone picks on. At least there is a gun at home in the
trailer.
Jack likes to slap his partner around in “Stoop-It” by Gary
Lovisi. The duo has done too many jobs back east and the heat is on so Jack had
the bright idea to go to California. Jack is supposed to be the smart one of
the pair. His plans get the narrator out of his cage and working.
In the twilight of the afterlife victims see things
differently in “Monsters” by Mike Miner. While they had no idea he was out
there, now as victims, they can see the predator as a burning flame moving through
the streets of Los Angeles. To see the predator this way would have been
helpful when they were alive. They can also see the detective and the toll the
killings are taking on him. They may not be able to stop the killer, but they
can help the detective a little bit.
The agencies supposed to help have a problem in “Community Reintegration”
by Zak Mucha. Patient Troy Gaylen is a
problem patient who is doing everything he can to resist treatment. Once he turns 21, he can do as he wants
despite his long history and other factors described in this story of emails
and clinical narratives.
It’s a bad situation in “Done for the Day” by Dan O’Shea.
Mom is dead, Billy is getting worse, and dad is overwhelmed. The fact that the
nosy neighbor next door keeps calling the police does not help.
George Pelecanos is next with “String Music” where Tonio
Harris lives for pickup basketball games. Life is very rough in the fourth
district of D.C. but hitting the asphalt with a basketball is escape. That is
until one game goes a bit sideways with ripples that will affect a number of
people.
Thomas Pluck contributes next with his story “Black Shuck.”
Nine years old and out with his dog, Shuck, life in the holler don’t get any
better. That was until Wade and his friend saw the guitar player known as Blind
Joe Death. He has a reputation and not in a positive way. Now there is a thirst
for vengeance in the air with death coming again before the night is out.
It is time for the threshing crew to get to work in “Jolly’s
Boy” by Richard Prosch. It is a cold ride on a cold morning as Tom and his
father ride in their Model T to where they need to harvest. Tom wants “Jolly’s
Boy” to hurry up and show up as Tom has a point to make.
Keith Rawson follows with “She Comes With The Rain.” Ella
went to God one Friday when the cancer became too much. For the widower left
behind, everything changed. That included his relationship with their daughter,
Sabrina. It has all led to this in a
haunting piece.
Ed came back from North Africa bitter and missing an arm in
“The Greatest Generation” by James Reasoner.” Coming back to Lockspur, Texas
this way is a far cry from going ashore in Morocco with General Patton. As bad as he feels about himself there is
somebody far worse off in a war at home.
It is a nightmare for Wade and his wife, Liana in “Baby Boy”
by Todd Robinson. Ben is missing and nobody knows anything. The hours pass into
days and the pressure mounts on the couple with no sign of their child.
When you live on “Gay Street” in this story by Johnny Shaw
you learn very quickly how to fight. It’s a hard neighborhood anyway and the
street name does the kids no favors. The boys live by a code of honor. Little Jimmy
Little is one of them at age 10 and has been hurt. He will be avenged.
Gerald So offers a poem with “Hushed.” A quick powerful poem about Cousin Lee and his
bruises.
The plan is to finish smoking dope in the 67 Bonneville and
then burgle the house they are watching. Tom and his older brother got stuff to
steal for Junky Bob who wants 10 percent of the take. Supposed to be an easy gig in “Wooden
Bullets” by Josh Stallings. It isn’t, of
course.
16 year old Joseph lives next door “In Dreams” by Charlie
Stella. Joseph also knows how to get an eight year old little boy up to his room
in this very disturbing story. Money and toys don’t make what is happening
right.
“Placebo” by Andrew Vachss comes next with a narrator who
knows how to fix things. Sometimes the stuff that needs fixing goes far beyond
his building or his normal jobs. One example is the little boy upstairs and his
monsters.
“Steve Weddle” is next with “This Too Shall Pass.” Staci and
Rusty are out in a field watching the stars. That is until they got interrupted
by other party goers. Teen angst, a
legendary story, and more is at work in this fine tale.
Austin Parker is missing in “Runaway” by Dave White. Coach Herrick
thinks the boy might have had good reason to take off considering the living
conditions at home. Haunted by guilt over what happened with one boy in
Afghanistan, he tries to save another here at home. Easier said than done in so
many ways.
The final story of the book is “Season Pass” by Chet
Williamson. It tells the story of Mr. & Mrs. Youngers, the passing of time,
and solving a problem in this twisted tale.
The 41 tales arranged in alphabetical order by author are
good ones in Protectors: Stories to Benefit PROTECT. While the stories are good ones, this book is
not in any way light, easy reading. Most of these stories feature horrific and
occasionally graphic child abuse in some form. These are stories that often
slap the reader in the face with the kinds of horrific abuse and neglect that
are all too common stories in the media today. The level of hurt in these
stories makes for very tough reading at times in a powerful book designed to
raise money to support the mission of PROTECT.
Material was supplied by Editor Thomas Pluck for my
objective review. Material was read on my laptop via the free “Kindle for PC”
program.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2012, 2014, 2022
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