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Alan Haworth returns with a collection of short stories – most of them set in Boston. Hitchhiking in Boston visits a man who has outlived his apartment on Comm Ave. and his time on this mortal coil. With the tax collector breathing down his throat, the reader follows him through a typical day hitching rides around Boston.
“Carjacked” and “Disappearing Ink” read like old episodes of The Twilight Zone, as if Haworth has channeled Rod Serling to come back from the grave and entertain us once again. “The Mortician,” dark comedy at its best, is based on the fact that home burial is still legal in Massachusetts. A hapless, young mortuary student attempts to start his own business, and the results are hilarious.
Indie Street Radio's Review — Alan Haworth‛s short story collection reminds me of the underground pulpy-ness of some of Mike Segretto‛s work, but also ties in some strong autobiographical themes woven seamlessly into fiction. The quotes at the beginning of the book, from Rod Serling and Carl Sagan, clearly set the tone for the duration of the collection as Twilight Zone weirdness pervades in more than couple of the stories. There‛s a lightheartedness to much of the collection, but Haworth should be taken seriously as an “underground” author. If fiction is your bag, you should give this one a shot.
Praise for Haworth‛s memoir of driving an 18-wheeler, The Peterbilt Journals:
“This set of memoirs really hums like the sound of a big truck. I can't wait to see what Haworth can do with fiction as his imagination and descriptions are excellent.” — Punk Planet
“Raw. Shows the under belly of the trucking world.” — Tatnuck Booksellers
“The author manages to keep the reader entertained throughout the book and provides a diverse collage of life amongst drivers, dispatchers, roadhouses, dock workers and ‘lot lizards’.” — Anonymous Amazon comment
