The Remorseful Day

Do Not Exceed The Stated Dose by Peter Lovesey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In a foreword to this collection of short stories, Peter Lovesey wrote that he doesn’t care much about the comfort of the reader. And, that if the reader feels comfortable while reading the stories he would assume that he has failed as a writer. Isn’t that a pretty insensitive thing to say for a writer? I guess it is.

But, then I wonder, why all writers aren’t as insensitive as him. I would love if every writer would just throw away all the worries regarding the reader’s comfort and write stories that would push the reader to the edge of their seat, increase their heartbeat, and make them uncomfortable. I wouldn’t even mind if I had a heart attack while reading it. At least I would die happy, knowing that I died because I was reading a thrilling book which made me perspire, increased my heartbeat and led me to my demise.

Do Not Exceed The Stated Dose, is a collection of fourteen short stories and one novella. Short stories are a different ballgame. Not only there is a restriction on the number of words but also an added responsibility of providing a twist. So, naturally not every writer is not capable or rather manages to write good crime short stories. Apparently Peter Lovesey does.

The stories in this book were delicately short, cunningly clever and dangerously twisted. And, not only there were crime stories, but there were also a couple of stories with distinct supernatural element in them. And, among all the stories only 3 could be said to be not up to the mark. Not that they were not good, but they were not as exciting as the others.

A highly enjoyable book recommended to everyone who wants to take a break from reading novels and would be in a mood for going for short stories.


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