Michael G Casey

Divers Kinds Michael G Casey

The first of these short stories, Epitome, is about Elvis Presley as you have never seen him before. Elvis is, in fact, one of the most endearing of the characters who people these darkly humorous tales. There are other fabulous 'Kings', e.g. the Shah of Iran, who feature in some of the subsequent stories, but they are not as charismatic as Elvis. Neither is Hitler who appears in another story in reincarnate form. In a couple of stories, bullies get their just desserts in intriguing ways. In others, bad behaviour in Hollywood and the Vatican is exposed. One cautionary tale features the obsessive-compulsive behaviour of a 'failed priest' in a refuse and recycling facility. Another concerns a white-collar criminal who buys the prison he's incarcerated in. There are a couple of quirky love stories, and others in which characters slide into madness or are driven to murder. The collection as a whole deals with people in all their splendid, dark-side variety. "This is a collection of great creativity and play. Some stories give full rein to a what-if idea; others develop protagonists in their unbridled quirkiness. The stories always entertain, and they always make you think." -Peter FitzGerald