Wrathbone and Other Stories

This is my second read of Jason's and this one is a short story collection. Without further ado, here we go:

Wrathbone-

The "title track" of this collection and it's an eerie display of watching a man sink deeper and deeper into madness. What makes this story even more unsettling is that it's based of true historical facts. Henry Rathbone was indeed a major in the Union army. He, and his wife Clara, were the guests of President Lincoln and his wife attending the play at the Ford theater where Lincoln was fatally shot. Rathbone did suffer from extreme guilt and eventually went mad from not being able to prevent the assassination of the president. This is Parent's imagining of what went on in Rathbone's mind after that fateful night. Impressive.

4 out of 5 stars


The Only Good Lawyer -

Bradley is a scum bag lawyer. A damn good one and he defends other scum bags for obscene amounts of money with no conscience hampering his ability to defend these lowlives. He gets a taste of his own medicine when a victim's father takes the stand. A fun ride that you know where it is leading, but still love the ride.

5 out of 5 stars


Dorian's Mirror -

What if your looks were what made you a success and defined you? What if every mirror you now gazed in reflected you as hideous and aging more every time you looked into it? For Dorian, the mirror was his best friend. Now it is his enemy.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars


For The Birds -

Nev's parrot has a peculiar craving. One warped story that is guaranteed to make you cringe!

4 out of 5 stars


Revenge is a Dish -

Maurice is hired to be a chef aboard a private yacht. Everything was going great until Maurice gets caught sampling the owner's wife's goodies. Oops. So what do you do with a guy when you're out in the middle of a vast ocean and days away from any land? Well, for Maurice, he gets tossed in the drink wearing nothing but his skivvies in shark infested waters. Needless to say, Maurice isn't in good mood after he's been floating on life ring for days fighting for his life. The only thing that keeps him going is his burning desire to enact revenge. Pass the salt, please.

5 out of 5 stars



Parent keeps getting better and better. There were 3 absolute gems out of this collection and, overall, there wasn't a clunker in the batch. That's saying a lot. His writing style is fluid and easy to read with an impressive vocabulary without being pretentious. I'm a reader and I read many books. It's been a month since I finished Wrathbone and these stories are still clearly tattooed in my brain. That's the sign of a good writer.


Overall - 4 1/2 President's Friends with Blood on their Clothes out of 5



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Late October evenings beckon for the enjoyment of dark fiction. Don’t get me wrong, horror is a year round thirst. But it’s when the nights start to get longer and take on a bit of a chill that the yearning turns into a need. Enter Jason Parent with a collection of top shelf horror to fit the bill. Sit back, relax, and allow Mr. Parent to pour you five fingers of superb, at moments exceptional, terror.

Wrathbone and Other Stories, five tales of the good stuff kicks off with a fantastic piece. A man haunted by his mind, or perhaps something else, ignited by the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. It is such a vivid and captivating read that it sets the bar awful high for the rest of the collection to follow. Hell, horror for the rest of the year.

The follow-up tales have fine moments in their own right: A lawyer has his Devil’s Advocacy challenged, a human god sees a monster in the mirror, a bird with a particular craving, a gourmet chef begins serving sin & revenge. While not quite attaining the level of Wrathbone they are far from filler.
Jason is a great storyteller with a knack for solid characters, nerve wracking tension, and memorable scenes.

And while all five of the tales in Wrathbone and Other Stories are great, it’s the opening piece, the title cut, that will stick with me for a long time to come. A standout in the genre, and in fiction as a whole. Mr. Parent, always a pleasure, sir.

An eclectic blend of stories that make up a terrific book. From the unnerving cover till the last page, it will keep you hypnotized. Another great job by Jason Parent.

It has been years, YEARS, since I've read something so positively diabolical that it made my skin crawl and, at moments, made my stomach threaten to spew. It was awesome!

This book is composed of a few short stories that are so masterfully written you'll be left speechless. I haven't read a book that relied simply upon the raw bones of horror and pulled it off so well in such a long time. This, this right here, people, is what caused me to fall in love with the horror genre. The suspense, the awfulness that builds and builds. Jasen Parent is a master at it and I will be following his works in the future.

I highly recommend this one to horror lovers everywhere.

Wrathbone and Others Stories by Jason Parent was received direct from the publisher.  I just recently "discovered" Jason parent and after reviewing one of his novellas I said I would seek out this author and I did.  I am a lover of short stories/novellas.  i wold have to assume this is because of the busy modern day world dictates i can read and move on, not having to remember what happened five hundred pages/three months ago (yes I work also, I can stay up all night and read a book).  Anyway, on to this review.  Jasons stories do not get boring (a BIG PLUS) and cut to the bone.  If you or someone you buy gifts for likes unflinching horror, give this author and his collections a try.

I've been fortunate to read some of Mr. Parent's other short stories in various anthologies, and I've never been disappointed. I liked his writing so much that I've actively sought out his other stuff. When I was given the chance to read this I jumped on it. It had been on my private wish list for awhile! So, her goes nothing...
Wrathbone. I had never heard of this man until 20 years ago, "I was well into my 30's." This story was a heartbreaker. The coulda, shoulda, woulda's could drive a person mad. I think it did in Major Rathbones case. Great story, but I think it was too drawn out.
The only good lawyer. This is something I'd like to see happen to all those showboating, criminal defense lawyers!
Dorian's mirror. I kinda felt bad for this narcissistic a-hole!
For the birds. Are you kidding me? Ugh!
Revenge is a dish. My absolute favorite of the bunch. Don't even get comfortable and think you know where this one's headed!
Jason Parent did a great job on these. I'll admit that I didn't like a single character in any of these short stories, but the story itself made up for that. My thanks to Comet Press/Red Adept Publishing, and my very beloved Netgalley! Yep, I'd recommend this collection.

This collection of stories is so good! I particularly enjoyed the author's take on the Dorian Gray story, as well as the tale of what (or who) really caused the assassination of President Lincoln. Pick this up for a quick, but haunting, read.

Very enjoyable collection of 5 horror short stories. Usually I dislike short stories as they are too quick to really get you into them and feel like you have a full story on your hands. But these deliver! It is hard to choose a favorite among the stories as they all have their own unique flavor to them. Definitely a good way to spend an afternoon!

I was given an ecopy by the publisher through NetGalley.

This collection of five tales by Jason Parent were all devilishly good.

Wrathbone was the longest of the stories and started out a bit slower than the others but gradually built to a feverish pitch of horror.

"Wings like those of a bat's reached from his back to the walls, scraping along them, wilting the paint and rotting the wood."


My absolute favorite was "The Only Good Lawyer"

Bradley is a slick and sleazy defense attorney who has made his living representing guilty clients. Justice may finally be served when his latest client murders the daughter of a voodoo priest. It reminded me of a twilight zone episode that I dearly loved when another shyster was cursed to tell the truth. I loved hating Bradley! The ending could not have been more perfect.

Dorian's Mirror was a new twist on the picture of Dorian Gray, this time as a young, full of himself bartender sees his reflection rapidly aging in the mirror.

For the Birds left me so sad for poor Nev who lives all alone with his parrot. A polite parrot with strange tastes that is. He knows there's been so many break ins going on but he is not at all prepared when it happens to him.

Revenge is a Dish was terrifying!

Maurice the chef is stranded in the ocean with all manner of creepy biting yucky sea life (can you tell I hate biting yucky sea life?) He is plotting revenge on those who left him behind. The end was quite surprising!

A creepy collection that I would highly recommend to all horror lovers.

5 out of 5 frightening stars from me.

This is my third experience with the author, first being an audio book and second a novella. Neither were either particularly awesome or particularly otherwise and his freebies seems to find his way on my Kindle, so I thought I'd check him out in a short form. Seems to be more of the same quality wise. Parent might not be the best of the best, but he's terrifically consistent at coming in just above average for genre unknown to lesser known authors. I enjoy his imagination and originality, though I think his characterizations need work, lots of it. There's an insistently one dimensional quality to his fictional protagonists in every story. The eponymous novella taking up the bulk of this slender volume was a somewhat one note ode to PTSD. The rest were short nasty slices of life gone off the rails as it were, relying more on dark psychology than supernatural, but with a nice variety to it. Plenty of scares for genre fans and occasionally humorous to boot. Stories were slightly gorier than my current preference settings, very entertaining and good for a quick fun read. Thanks Netgalley.

A great collection of short stories! All very creepy, but also very different from each other. The author's pacing is good and all the stories held my attention. The writing is descriptive and the characters well done. I loved this book.

A great collection of three horror stories. Somewhat predictable but good fun.

4 Stars!

Since I recently read my first book by Jason Parent, I seem to keep stumbling across more of his work. This is not a bad thing, however, as I have enjoyed the ones I have read so far. I was looking forward to Wrathbone and Other Stories and was quick to dive into this short collection.

The collection kicks off with the title story of the book and it provided something a little different than what I was expecting. Major Henry Rathbone attended a performance at Ford’s Theater on April 14, 1865, and witnessed the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. That horrific night would be enough to haunt most people for the rest of their lives but it was only the beginning for Rathbone. He becomes haunted by the demon that drove the murder of the president and is left to wrestle with this demonic force in a struggle for his sanity. The story is beautifully written as it takes the reader into the mind of a man driven toward madness with guilt and despair. The reader is left to try and decide if the demon is real or if it is just a figment of Rathbone’s imagination conjured up to keep his sense of loss and guilt alive forever. With a heavy dose of gothic and psychological horror, Parent shines in this novella and sets the tone for the stories to follow.

Parent knows that no one like a lawyer but “The Only Good Lawyer” that even a lawyer may do the right thing. Maybe. If he is forced to. Bradley had made a name for himself as a defense lawyer by putting aside all human emotion even when representing the worst criminals that society had to offer. He was defending one such client when the victim’s father intervened and made him look inward to search his soul for a conscience. This story sunk its teeth into me from the very beginning and I read it at a feverish pace. While “Wrathbone” was a deep and intricate read, “The Only Good Lawyer” is a simple thriller of a story that had me from the very begging and did not let up until the final word.

“Dorian’s Mirror” tells the story of a man who is in love with himself. Dorian saw himself as the perfect man who could get anything he wanted through his appearance. This is why he was so shocked when he saw the old man staring back at him from his mirror. He was reassured when others saw him the way he had always seen himself: young and beautiful. The old man in the mirror, however, was not prepared to let him go so easily. This is a short yet vicious take on what happens when the man behind the public mask that we all wear is exposed. The story quickly takes the reader to the black heart of Dorian and crushes the reader in its black grip.

“For the Birds” tells the strange story of a man and his pet. Nev had no friends in the world except his pet parrot and the bird’s strange appetite. What at first disturbed Nev became a novelty that he indulged. When Nev’s house is invaded by burglars, it is the bird’s appetite that may save him. Or destroy him. This is a strange little story that had me scratching my head at the conclusion. It is not that I did not like the story. It is just that it did not click for me and I was left feeling as if I missed something. This was a strange story and remains more of a curiosity than a fully formed tale for me.

The collection finishes with a brutal story entitled “Revenge is a Dish.” Maurice thought he had it made when he landed the job of private chef for the doctor and his trophy wife. It got even better when the wife took an interest in him to spice up her otherwise dull sex life. The yacht was not very big, however, and when the doctor discovered the affair he had Maurice thrown overboard and left for dead. Fate intervened, however, and Maurice did not die. Maurice will have his revenge in a way that he could have never imagined. Parent pulls no punches in this vicious story with its bloody ending. “Revenge is a dish” is a work of extreme horror that provide an exclamation point to the collection as it draws to a close.

Wrathbone and Other Stories is a collection of a horror writer at the peak of his talent. Parent shows the range of his talent by taking on stories that have very little in common in both theme and execution and making all of them effective and entertaining.

I would like to thank Comet Press and NetGalley for this review copy. Wrathbone and Other Stories is available now.