Review: Short-Lived by Michael Pritsos

Title: Short-Lived
Author: Michael Pritsos
Genre: Adult, Crime, Novella
Publisher: Nyx Writing Syndicate
Publication date: April 5th 2014
Pages: 104 (paperback)
Source: received from author







Short-Lived is a dark novella set amidst the grittier areas of Phoenix, Arizona. Nine stories tell tales of money, power, life, and death. Short-Lived intricately weaves the lives of a drug addict, his love interest, dealers, and those struggling for power in the streets. Who will come out on top, and who will get left in the dust?

Goodreads

At the beginning of this novella I thought that it consisted of different short stories. Mainly because it was always written from the perspective of another character. But after a few chapters I saw that some similar names popped up in each chapter. The author cleverly intertwined the story of all the characters. They were all connected to each other in some way; they could be friends, enemies, family…. It was definitely interesting to see.

I really loved how the novella developed. And I was always eager to find out what would happen next. It definitely wasn’t a happy story since it featured characters that were involved with the wrong kind of people. To say that the story was interesting is probably an understatement. I was really fascinated by it. The beginning of the book already made me wonder what exactly was going on but then when we neared the ending of this book I couldn’t figure out how it could turn out in a good way for all these characters. And then the ending. Seriously it was really epic. After I had read the last page I kept seeing if I had missed a chapter. It’s kind of cruel of the author to finish the novella like he did, but I kind of get it too. It can turn out in both ways for the last characters.

I might sound really cryptic but I just don’t want to spoil it for you.  If you are looking for a short read this book is perfect. I really liked it and it is probably one of my favorite novellas that I’ve read so far. 

El