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Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite
To See Behind Walls is a collection of flash fiction short stories written by J.M. Erickson. The author was inspired by James Thurber's classic short story, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. While the original followed the imaginary adventures in heroism of a middle-aged man in the years before World War II, Erickson's Benjamin Wood is a modern-day family man. His own flights of fancy and adventure, while having a decidedly modern touch to them, are still in many ways the same stuff. While technology has leapfrogged into the future, and the environment is poised for destruction, Benjamin's fantasies feed from the same source as Mitty's dreamer's did. In the first flash fiction tale, The Bedroom, Colonel Wood is defying Mission Control in his efforts to save a young Chinese astronaut, his only real contact with the outside world being Ola, the computer's AI. In The Basement, Wood remembers his time spent at McMurdo Station in Antarctica thirty years earlier, as he braves the Observation Deck of Mount Washington Observatory in deep winter to bring a generator to an unheated shed housing smallpox patients. In The Kitchen, Captain Benjamin Wood pilots an aging plane filled with supplies bound for England, now under quarantine for Ebola.
I've read, and thoroughly enjoyed, a number of J.M. Erickson's novels and short stories in the past, so I was eager to get started reading To See Behind Walls. As expected, this prolific and talented author had me vicariously experiencing the adventures of Benjamin Wood, and I loved every minute of each one. Erickson has the ability to instantly create scenes that crackle with intensity and that skill works marvelously for flash fiction. I was there with Colonel Wood as he raced against time, deep in outer space, and I could feel the tension of Captain Wood as he and his copilot attempt to make contact with the control tower. However, for me, the real gem in this collection is The Basement. Perhaps, it was especially up my alley as I've had a life long fascination with Antarctica, and I can still visualize a recent YouTube video set on the Observation Deck of Mount Washington Observatory in exactly the kind of weather described. But it was more than that. Erickson breathed heart and soul into each and every one of Wood’s tales, and his discussion with his daughter about the original ties everything up beautifully. This tale of courage, conviction and adventure will most likely thrill any reader who has the good fortune to come across it. I'm hoping for more flash fiction from Mr. Erickson. To See Behind Walls is most highly recommended.