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Who\u2019s There? A Collection of Stories <\/em>by Dimas Rio (\u00a0Bookshop.org<\/a> |\u00a0Amazon.com<\/a> )<\/p>\n Self-published, 2019<\/p>\n ISBN-13: 978-1676174103<\/p>\n ASIN: B082T3MW2W<\/p>\n Available: Paperback, Kindle edition<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Who\u2019s There? <\/em>is a collection of stories by Indonesian author Dimas Rio. It is an interesting read. I was curious how an Indonesian author’s work in horror would translate across cultures, and I was not disappointed. Who’s There? <\/em>opens with the title work. A groom is waiting for his fianc\u00e9 with their friends at the hotel bar for one last party before the wedding.\u00a0 The hour grows late and still no bride-to-be.\u00a0 Where could she be?<\/p>\n In the second story, At Dusk<\/em>, a high school student is sent to interview a famous mystery novelist for the school paper.\u00a0 The elderly writer is eager to tell his story.\u00a0 But will the ending be more than the student can handle?<\/p>\n Third up is The Wandering. <\/em>\u00a0A night watchman struggles to provide for his pregnant girlfriend.\u00a0 He steals from the office he is trusted to guard and lies to cover it up.\u00a0 This is not the only theft in his past.<\/p>\n Fourth is The Voice Canal<\/em>, A homesick graduate student is struggling to finish his dissertation.\u00a0 His father tells him to stay and finish, it\u2019s only a few more months.\u00a0 They\u2019ll spend plenty of time together.<\/p>\n The fifth and final entry is The Forest Protector<\/em>.\u00a0 A mother is taking her son to visit his grandparents.\u00a0 At the start of the trip, she feels impure.\u00a0 She must cleanse herself.\u00a0 How can she raise her son and protect him from the cruelties of the world if she can\u2019t look after herself?<\/p>\n Throughout the work there was a good use of tone and pacing to build suspense and draw the reader in.\u00a0 The flow of each story went well.\u00a0 The descriptions were enough to envision what was going on without overwhelming me.\u00a0 It felt right.\u00a0 The characters were believable and helped ground the stories in the culture.\u00a0 \u00a0The author used Indonesian terms throughout, and the ebook edition includes links for each word to definitions at the back. Fun stuff!\u00a0 Even though a couple of the stories started out a little rough (The Wandering<\/em> in particular), they recovered and drew me in to a strong conclusion.\u00a0 There were some minor grammar issues, but I will chalk that up to issues with translation (the book was originally published in Indonesian).\u00a0 None of them were so glaring that I couldn\u2019t sort out what was happening.\u00a0 All in all, this was a worthwhile read.\u00a0\u00a0Recommended.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Reviewed by Aaron Fletcher<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Who\u2019s There? A Collection of Stories by Dimas Rio (\u00a0Bookshop.org |\u00a0Amazon.com ) Self-published, 2019 ISBN-13: 978-1676174103 ASIN: B082T3MW2W Available: Paperback, Kindle edition Who\u2019s There? is a collection of stories by Indonesian author Dimas Rio. It is an interesting read. I was curious how an Indonesian author’s work in horror would translate across cultures,<\/p>\n