A Betrayal and Other Stories

by Brian Biswas

Overview

In the title story, “A Betrayal,” a doctor travels into the countryside to help a young patient, only to deliver a diagnosis with which the girl’s family vehemently disagrees. The peculiar narrator of “Sedgefield’s Diary” recoils in horror when he discovers that the hourly diary he keeps has taken on a life of its own and now threatens his very existence. The bereaved wife in "The Lake of Flies" takes matters into her own hands when she learns the truth surrounding her husband's death. In "Barnegat Inn," a strange visitation becomes the background for a poignant recitation on the nature of time. The themes of loss and betrayal between rival siblings are explored in "The Crystal," a story pulsating with an ethereal, otherworldly quality. And in "A Journey Through the Wormhole," a decades-old feud between rival scientists threatens to upend a scientific revolution.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798987625927
Publisher:	Rogue Star Press
Publication date:	05/14/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	248
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Brian Biswas has published dozens of stories in the United States as well as internationally. He writes in a literary style reminiscent of magical realism which attempts to convey a slightly exaggerated but internally consistent sense of reality. He also writes Gothic or neo-Gothic tales, and straightforward horror and science fiction stories, often tinged with fantastic elements. Brian was born in Columbus, Ohio. He received a B.A. in Philosophy from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He lives in an old neighborhood in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with his wife, Elizabeth, and an ever-changing assortment of animals.

Table of Contents

Contents

The Bridge. 1

A Betrayal. 3

The Crystal. 9

Tramp.21

In the Garden.29

The Museum of North African Treasures. 37

This Old Man. 49

Sedgefield’s Diary. 59

The Strange Story of Saxon’s Hill. 69

The Lake of Flies. 87

Solitary Confinement.101

Love in a High-Tech Age. 113

The Roses of Charon. 125

A Journey Through the Wormhole. 137

2038: A Mars Odyssey. 153

The Miners of Erin. 173

Barnegat Inn. 187

The Worms of Titan. 199

Puff. 219

About the Author. 233

Editorial Reviews

The stories in this collection remind me of the work of Kafka or Rod Serling or have their own unique style. I find Brian Biswas to be a writer of great descriptive skill and storytelling ability. His prose is lucid and straightforward, and it leaves vivid images in this reader's mind that come back from time to time, long after I've finished reading, to remind me of these satisfyingly strange and well-written stories.

Alice Whittenburg, Coeditor, The Cafe Irreal

From the Publisher

2018-08-21

A debut collection mixes horror and sci-fi—short stories laden with bizarre creatures, life on other planets, and homicidal proclivities.

In the title story, a doctor gets lost on his way to visit a sickly girl residing in a small, unknown village. It sufficiently captures the ominous atmosphere prevalent in many of the book's grim tales, which typically feature an intangible fear. For example, the protagonist of "In the Garden" takes a train ride home only to discover his town of destination isn't one of the stops and the engineer hasn't even heard of it. This gloomy mood carries over to the sci-fi stories as well, most of which occupy the book's latter half. In "The Worms of Titan," scientists of the late 22nd century discover wormlike organisms on the planet Titan. But what's truly unsettling is that the creatures are inexplicably identical to worms that have been on Earth for millennia. Biswas' writing is unassuming but arresting: "Bolts of lightning shot across the darkness and, out of the macabre silence that hung over the valley, I heard a horrible wail." He often establishes his narratives with traditional genre settings: a lighthouse in "The Crystal"; a castle in "Tramp"; and an outpost on that familiar red planet in "2038: A Mars Odyssey." The memorable tales, however, trek into dark, sometimes-surreal territory. The main character in "Sedgefield's Diary," for one, is a Boston accountant who obsessively chronicles his humdrum life on an hourly basis. After he misses an entire day of recording his activities, his diary fills the pages seemingly on its own. Likewise, "The Lake of Flies" is, at first glance, a conventional tale of murder. But the killer and victim are immediately revealed, with the story then centering on the anticipation of the forthcoming homicide and its aftermath (Will the murderer pay for his crime?). The collection ends with "Puff," which, contrary to its title, generates an explosive conclusion.

Consistently eerie tales that readers aren't likely to forget.

Kirkus Reviews