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Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite
Mario Chávez Jovel’s 15 Disturbing Short Stories of Psychological Mayhem with Killer Endings is a collection of original tales, all with unique, unsettling, and completely unexpected arcs and even more surprising character fates. In The Survivor, a man wakes up buried alive, injured and disoriented, with no recollection of how he ended up in the ground, why, and if he will make it out. Amen, Then Fire follows Raúl as he plans to interrupt a church service to publicly accuse and shoot the priest who abused him, in an act of vigilante justice where the disparity between justice and power is skewed. In My Girlfriend, a man spies on his girlfriend, suspecting infidelity, and nearly shoots the wrong people before discovering if his suspicions are correct and the best way to handle it.
In his book 15 Disturbing Short Stories of Psychological Mayhem with Killer Endings, Mario Chávez Jovel delivers exactly what he promises—deeply uncomfortable, thoughtful, bite-sized fiction that forces readers to surrender to the ultimate collection of anti-heroes. The writing style is simple, crisp, and imaginative, with settings that are as textured as their eerie, invariably grim scenarios. It's hard to pick a favorite, but I eventually landed on two. The Wandering Stranger builds up a haunting meditation on guilt and the afterlife, following a man unknowingly walking toward his doom. Selling Coffins in a War Zone is an intelligently witty, darkly satirical glimpse into the ruthless world of funeral sales in a society numbed by violence. Jovel’s ability to balance macabre humor with existential dread is perfection, making this book a must-read for fans of short speculative fiction.