This collection of stories is about as mixed as you can get when they are all by the same author. They vary in length from four lines to seventeen pages and the variation in subject matter is even greater. Some of the stories come across as highly experimental, for example Nothing To Do With Anything uses no punctuation or paragraphing, Unsubstance resembles a stream of conscious, while Fragments of a Signal could be classed as speculative fiction. And then there are several little one to two-page vignettes.

There is no predictability. We careen from a man prepared to shoot people if it means getting his morning coffee faster, to a plane crash; from there to the running of a cult, on to the mundane observations of a service station operator. Like all good short story writers, Patrić offers us fresh and unique views on everyday scenarios, but he also gives us matter-of-fact views of highly unusual situations. Both leave the reader feeling a little off balance, but at the same time with the sense of having been treated to something out of the ordinary.

Patrić proves himself to be in control of a wide range of story-telling styles. His tone and voice are consistent and authoritative, inspiring confidence in the reader. There is an undertone of sadness or bewilderment in many of them, with people trying to make sense of the life they find themselves in. There is darkness but there is also wit. The most critical recommendation however, is that these stories are page-turners…not only to get to the end of each story, but to see where you will be taken next.