A couple weeks ago I shared a photo of a book I was reading with the new #snaps feature on #peakd and the folks over at the Hive Book Club invited me to write a review.

I'm not ready to write one on that book yet, as it's heavy subject matter that I need to process for a minute. I'm going to read that book again so I can really get a grip on the info provided.

Instead, today I'm going to review a FUN book I picked up at the library recently.

My local library has a rack of new books that are stacked in a way where one can see all the book-covers. As I walked by, this cover caught my eye and I grabbed it. Also, the title is just great 💯😂

I've read the first 8 stories so far and my favorite is The Blessing of the Waters.

The opening sentence grabbed my attention and made me smile:

Greek coffee at midnight was Gus's last bad habit, except for his vain belief that he only had one bad habit.

😝

The author, Nick Mamatas, is from a small Greek-American community on Long Island, NY, where the local congregation practices the blessing of the waters to celebrate Theophany and the end of the Christmas season.

I'll go into the story a bit here but I will not reveal any spoilers, in case you are planning on reading this story.
The story, a short 10 pages, takes place almost exclusively in the small kitchen of Gus's small, Long Island apartment, and though it's short story it is packed with tension that begins in the second paragraph, when Gus's brother in-law shows up at his window, having just escaped from jail.

The writing is very tidy and compelling, and is mostly a conversation between Gus (the priest of the local Orthodox church) and his brother in-law (Nasos), told from a third-person point of view, so there are some reflections and explanations of past events which define the tenuous relationship between the two characters.

On the second page the author presents another facet of the story that creates an enjoyable tension for the reader, "Nasos said no in his normal voice, as if he did want to wake Elpitha, Gus's wife (and Nasos's sister), a lady who would do the right thing and call the police immediately and scream at Gus until they showed up."

This tension runs through the entire story, right up until the crazy awesome ending. Of course I will not reveal the end, but I will say I never saw it coming, and it was good, real good.

Whether you love the holiday season, or are the person complaining about seeing Christmas decorations in the store in October, now is a perfect time to dig into this book and I recommend checking it out from your local library ASAP!

Here's to a spooky holiday season for you and yours ;)