First, the two stories I didn't think worked:
"The Interview" features a woman who tries to decide whether to tell the man interviewing her for a job she wants that he has something embarrassing hanging from his nose. The problem I had with this story was that the payoff was simply too obvious and too juvenile.
The titular character in "The Doctor" is a bit of a sadist who is delighted about revealing bad news to his young patient's mother. I suppose this was intended to be a character study, but ultimately it seemed flat to me.
Now the stories that did:
The best, at least in my opinion, is "First Day at Work," in which lives intersect in surprising ways. A new security guard at a bank seems familiar to some of the workers, and their lives soon entwine. I can't give away too much, but this is a story well worth reading. Of the five, it's the one that rings most true in terms of human emotions and the human condition.
Next comes "Every Day," featuring a man whose wife is in a vegetative state and who, every day, vows to kill himself as he seems to have little to live for. While the narration in this story seems rather distant, thus preventing us from getting too close to the man, his actions speak loudly enough, and the story is, all in all, rather moving.
Perhaps the best story in terms of craft is "Guardian Angel." When we meet the titular character here, he tells us that he is a guardian angel sent to take a boy when the boy's abusive parents kill him. The theology here might not quite fit with some people's understanding of The Bible, but stay with the story to see why. "Guardian Angel" is a good exercise in misdirection and setting up a twist.
Both "A Weird Situation" and "Miss Lucy Parker" are fun, don't-take-them-too-seriously stories. In the former, a woman cannot accept her boyfriend's medical condition, namely that he turns into a woman from time to time. But at the same time, she has to admit that he (that is, when he's a he) is a good man and that she loves him. Maybe she should give him one more chance. The latter involves an old woman whom death claims. "Miss Lucy Parker" offers nothing especially new, but it's a fun story, and it offers the best example of author Q. Kelly's ability to create a fully-formed and entertaining character. Yes, Lucy's a bit of a stereotype--the cranky old woman with a long list of things she's angry at or about. But she's fun.
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Top reviews from other countries
Meera
Not for the faint of heart
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 30, 2017
purpleonionuk
Dont waste your time
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2013