Lunch Reads

I'm a big fan of short fiction and just learned about this site called Lunch Reads, featuring short stories you can read on your lunch break. One per day, Monday through Friday. (For the legions of people eating lunch at their desk. Probably far too many, but that's another story.)

Anyhow, I read a story on the site by Jenny Milchman, a New Jersey-based suspense writer. It was highly suspenseful story of a seemingly close-knit marriage that may (or may not) be going south. Well worth the reading.

Check it out. It's a two-parter. (Don't you hate that? When you're left hanging and have to wait for the other shoe to drop? But that's part of the suspense, right?) However, I've got the links to both parts here: Part One and Two of "Gone."

By the end of Part One, I was dying to read Part Two. And I hung on every word of that part until I reached the end. It's the kind of story that keeps you guessing right up until the last lines. Milchman paints a vivid picture of Jersey and manages to create two fully-rounded characters within the constraints of the short story form, while telling a compelling tale. Hardly an easy task.

I'd call it a page-turner, except it's in pixels not pages. So maybe I should call it "fast scroller"? A "page-downer"? (As in hitting the "page down" button?) Or maybe a "mouse clicker"? (As in clicking the side bar to go down the page?)

Anyway, the site is something for you to check out during your lunch hour. Or any spare hour you might have.