One Last Shindig including bonus novelette “Watch Me Fly” by Mark Towse
One Last Shindig is Mark Towse’s newest novella, published by D&T Publishing on March 30, 2022. It weighs in at 147 pages and includes the bonus novelette “Watch Me Fly.”
Of course I had to snatch up a copy of One Last Shindig. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Towse so far, and I can add this book to that list. I will say, though, this novella has a bit more of a dark humor aspect than the other books I’ve read of his. That’s not to say his other books don’t dabble in some humorous moments. I just feel this story goes deeper into that dark humor, though it could just be the “old folks hilarity” the characters are oozing. Forget Dad Jokes, Towse is serving them up Grandpa style! It is very fitting for the story and the banter between the characters. I’m always a fan of “old timey” language and vocab in stories, too, so I was quite pleased.
If you’ve read Nana, you know Towse enjoys taking us on a trip to the senior side of life. In One Last Shindig, we board a charter bus with a gaggle of geriatric travelers bound for a cave with glow worms. Little do they know, this is going to be one of the most exciting charters they’ve ever taken, and it might just be their last. Towse does a nice job of giving each of the characters a distinct personality. There are a lot of characters, though, which can make you pause and regroup your thoughts on who’s who, but once the main group is in play it’s not difficult to differentiate their names and personas. The large cast did cause the story to start out a little slow, but once it got going I enjoyed building my own mental pictures of each character and eavesdropping on all of their snarky comments.
This book is heavy on the humor, but it does still pack in some horror and gore for readers like me who need a little bit of that. It’s splashed about here and there. The gore might be a little heavy for squeamish readers, but I found it to be quite enjoyable and even a tad humorous itself.
Despite the humor and gore, Towse finds a way to weave the human experience into the story. I found myself sympathizing with some of the characters who at first I wanted to strangle! There are some nice internal character journeys and transformations that take place as the story moves forward.
One Last Shindig featuring bonus novelette “Watch Me Fly” by Mark Towse
“Watch Me Fly” is a bit of an anti-hero story about David Jenkins, a man who can’t seem to be free of his mother’s harsh influence - no matter how hard he tries to do the right thing.
This story also brings a sense of dark humor to it, though definitely not as much as One Last Shindig. I felt the subject of toxic parenting relationships and how they can negatively affect children was a strong underlying theme. Despite a few laughs here and there, this is a dark fiction piece that touches on feelings of hopelessness as well as the experience of living in a society where David feels helpless against the attitudes and actions of others, no matter how good his personal intentions may be to help.
These are both horror stories, but there is a very different feel to each of them. Grab your muscle spray and your cape and check them out!
Need more Mark Towse writing?
WHO IS MARK TOWSE?????
Mark Towse is an Englishman living in Australia. He would sell his soul to the devil or anyone buying if it meant he could write full-time. Alas, he left it very late to begin this journey, penning his first story since primary school at the ripe old age of 45.
***Taken from Mark Towse’s Amazon author page
About D&T
D&T was started in 2020 in Corinth, MS. Dawn Shea and her husband Timothy, are the team behind D&T. Dawn, an avid lover of horror for most of her life, went from a small dream of one ABC based anthology, to now publishing other authors work. Our main goal here at D&T, is to spread more authors words out into the world.
-Speak your truth, through words and deeds.
D&T Publishing
***Taken from the D&T Publishing website
