Evil in the City

Reece Pocock has great insight into human affairs and a powerful imagination, and in this engaging set of short stories he turns his observant eye on many facets of human behaviour, said Boris of Adelaide. A man attempts to escape from his pedophile father in the only way he knows how, the victim of a frame-up wreaks an Old Testament revenge, two cops make the mistake of their lives, a killer's manic behaviour has consequences for an innocent youth, a woman is unexpectedly saved from sudden death, a young man finds a way back to his father after a period of alienation, a wronged man discovers that revenge has its own consequences, a private eye in the Sam Spade mode unsuccessfully tries to outsmart a wily client, a man loses self-control, true love succeeds in conquering all, a married couple finally share a guilty secret long unrevealed between them, children learn not to judge a book by its cover, one young man's misinterpretation of a scenario has terrible consequences for another, a man finds himself outplayed by a woman with dreams of a happy marriage, two farmers drolly discover the unremitting cycle of country life. Pocock writes with wit and compassion and his stories flow effortlessly.