‘The Cage’ – Brian Keene (Deadite Press)

I really enjoyed reading along with Brian Keene’s ‘Reader Recession Relief Programme’, a couple of months ago, and instead of hold off and wait for the next one (I hear there may be another one, I hope so), I thought I’d just carry on reading, albeit with some of the older books rather than my ‘go to’ favourites. They’ll get their turn, don’t worry 😉

This time round then, I thought I’d get stuck into another set of short stories and see what things are like… in ‘The Cage’…

For the employees of Big Bill's Home Electronics, it's just the end of another long workday-until a gunman bursts into the store and begins shooting. Now, with some of their co-workers dead, the hostages are disappearing one-by-one, and if they want to survive the night, they'll have to escape... THE CAGE.

We start off with the novella-sized ‘The Cage’ and damn… Without giving the end away, ‘The Cage’ is a pretty bleak old read but at the same time, one that is very easy to get into, given the open-ended nature of the setup and engaging characters who deal with their incarceration in different ways. There are plenty of questions to be answered and Keene keeps things nice and tense while we’re processing it all. No-one knows why this is happening, only that the gunman could return at any moment. I was on edge, let alone the guys in the cage. ‘The Cage’ is easy to pick up and very difficult to put down until… that ending.

Once ‘The Cage’ is done, we’re into bonus story territory with some early stories from Keene’s career. All three of them are a lot shorter than ‘The Cage’, more bite-sized chunks than a full meal, but there’s plenty to enjoy here.

‘Marriage Causes Cancer In Rats’ is a sweet little play on words that sets up the strange tale of Harold Newton’s demise. I can’t say much more than that other than that watching Harold crumble, under what happens to him, is compelling. Sometimes weird shit just happens and watching someone have to come to terms with it…? Well, lets just say I’m glad it wasn’t me.

I’m a big fan of both versions of ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ movies so ‘Lest Ye Become’ was a treat to read. It’s a very straightforward tale but one with that same sense of paranoia that you got in the films which is all I need really.

And then last but by no means least… ‘Waiting for Darkness’ is the shortest tale in the collection but packs just as much of a punch as the rest of them. Okay, probably not as much as ‘The Cage’ but there’s a lot happening here, in a very short tale, with no way out at the end. One of those stories where, like the tide, it washes over you and really lets you know that it means business.

Maybe not my favourite ‘Keene Collection’ overall (that’s not this book’s fault though) but there is plenty here to engage and yep, make you feel just a little queasy. Just what I was after in terms of a shorter book to get me through to the end of the week.