Dead Money - Srinath Adiga

What's the one thing they say you can't take with you if you die?

What if you could?

Ladies and Gentlemen, from the Bank of Eternity, I give you... Afterlife Dollars.

Spawned as an idea from a city trader, who was trying to get back the considerable amount of money that he had lost of a gangsters. Using Chinese fables and old stories of leaving money for the ferryman to take you to the other side.

Afterlife Dollars came into being. A load of unethical shit, and lie after lie a backstory evolved.

What was being sold? Nothing, a belief. Did it not matter? No. People thought they were investing in money that was going to be available to them when they died. They knew that they would not see anything till they were dead. The perfect fleece.

Then came Europe, a trader who had, had enough. Warnings made and ignored and a folio being built that would be more than profitable when the crash eventually came. With far right politics thrown in for good measure.

From something I thought that I wasn't going to enjoy to being engrossed within half an hour. Not my usual thing, but good just the same.

Status: Completed

Rating: 4.4/5.0
 

Shiver - Allie Reynolds

 A possibility of two shorter novellas. Two stories, a decade apart, friends and rivals. The snowboarding set, in their heyday, when nearly everything done was groundbreaking. 

The rich that, don't worry, the sponsored who manage by video and photo shoots and the poor that work three jobs throughout the closed season to be able participate.

Following a group of friends, with the ups downs, downright dirt and the death or thought of murder of one of their own. Regrouped at the last place that they were all together. Here's where the fun begins, played with, manipulated and left to stew.

A debut, that has you wondering just what was going to happen next,a good old fashioned 'who dunnit'.

Status: Completed

Rating:    4.3/5.0

The Word Trove - Elias Vorpahl

Surreal, from start to finish.

Think of a word. All that we know is that is female, not the word the gender.

What happens when a word forgets its meaning. Is forgotten over time or replaced with a newer one.

A journey, a chance encounter with vocal chords and a friendship with Rhyme and Reason

Status: Completed

Rating: 3.8/5.0