[Close Call, a collection of short stories, is currently avaible for pre-sale. Published by Connerstone Press, it will be released October 1, 2024.]

Why did I read this book?

I read Nothing to Lose, Kim Suhr’s first collection of short stories, and loved it. So when Wisconsin Writers Association asked me to review Close Call, her second collection, I jumped at the chance to get an advanced copy so I could read her new collection without having to wait until October 1, 2024.

What is this book about?

Suhr serves up slices of life with intriguing, thought-provoking characters who face conundrums that will either be their undoing or their salvation. Carol, a young girl, works to save her parents’ marriage after a traveling salesman comes calling on her mother. A young married man experiences a new twist on the seven-year itch. Mrs. Morrison, once an artist but now a wife and mother, has lost her sense of self inside a calendar. Allan, an illusionist, has an unusual gift beyond ordinary magic tricks. Deena’s struggles, from childhood to adulthood, are revealed through a series of phone conversations that take place at significant moments in her life. Keith, a DMV employee, has a special talent with a camera. Isabelle, a newlywed, reconsiders her relationship with God after a tragic accident. Willie, a first-grader, gets caught up in a terrifying game of pretend. Dean, a young hockey player, meets Arnie, an old rink rat, who lives for the game of hockey.

At the end of her collection, Suhr gives us two longer stories to savor, “The Dip” and “Eradicated.” “The Dip” is about four women who have known each other since childhood. Now in their fifties, they struggle to maintain their friendship. The story is written through a series of DMs, emails, a Google doc, texts, a poem, scripts, online chat room comments, and an obituary. It takes superb writing skills to pull off this type of story, and Suhr’s talent as a writer shines through. She never lets the experimental techniques be the story, but rather she uses them to create a highly-engaging and cohesive narrative, giving us a lot to contemplate long after we finish reading it.

With “Eradicated,” Suhr presents the perfect dish to round out her collection. This dystopian tale is set in the future where artistic creativity, now labeled a disease, needs to be eradicated, a goal that is nearly complete when we meet Dr. Bells, a scientist. Wishing to observe creative artists before the last of them dies out, the doctor visits an artists’ colony where creative people, who are considered to have “disturbed minds,” have been contained after being extracted from society. Because the themes in “Eradicated” are both timely and timeless, the story sends chills up and down our spines.

What makes this book so good?

Close Call hooks us with one look. The stunning cover art features a red telephone receiver, untethered from its cradle and dropped at the end of its cord. Abandoned, the receiver rests on the floor near a dark shadow, setting the tone for the tales that follow. Stories about close calls, narrow misses, inevitable disappointments, and unavoidable failures. The cover compels us to pick up Close Call and open it, but from the first sentence, it’s Suhr’s vivid writing and intelligent, masterful storytelling that seal the deal and keep us turning the pages. Suhr promises us her collection will be exquisitely crafted, with every word, turn of phrase, and sentence essential in creating her nuanced characters and the thorny situations they face. And she delivers.

Each of Suhr’s stories in Close Call presents a fresh take on love, hate, jealousy, faith, loss, fear, conformity, and disappointment. Her ability to tell stories with unique characters, interesting plots, and captivating complications gives us a look at human nature in a different way, and as we read our way through her stories we hunger for the next one. And Suhr’s stories are a literary treat.

[To visit Kim Suhr’s website, click here.]