Like a Charm by
Karin Slaughter
hbk out February 04
Published by Century
at £16.99
This is a collection of sixteen tales by fifteen different authors, mostly
from North America but with some Britons contributing. Karin
Slaughter edits the book and writes the first and last stories, which are
probably the most peculiar in the book.
The stories are linked – albeit sometimes very tenuously – by a gold
charm bracelet, which gets a charm added at each contribution. The
bracelet originates in the early nineteenth century as a native American
artefact and is handed on - or lost and found - around the world until
the present time.
The book is really a collection of independent short stories – some very
short, some long, like Lynda la Plante's contribution. One gets the
feeling that some of the authors have forced in the bracelet aspect rather
reluctantly, as it plays virtually no part in some of the tales. Some of the
stories are very good, some indifferent, but maybe this is the jaundiced
view of a reviewer who does not care much for the short format, which
never has the space to develope a good plot like a full-length novel.
The transfer of the bracelet from one author to the other sometimes
leaves something to be desired, as there are some rather cavalier
explanations – in one case, the thing was chucked into the sea off Nova
Scotia, but somehow turns up on a British beach for the next writer to
find.
In all the contributions, the writing quality is excellent , as might be
expected from a coven of established authors, but somehow it remains a
disjointed collection of short stories and the bracelet thread, much
vaunted in the hype of the review copy cover, is poorly exploited.
It seems a good opportunity missed, as one gets the feeling that some of
the authors were determined to write their yarn as they wanted and
squeezed in the bracelet only at the command of the editor.
(
Bernard Knight
ex Home Office Pathologist and author of the highly acclaimed Crowner John series)
Like a Charm by
Karin Slaughter
