This book is a most delightful read – if you know where to find the spiders. Those who don't know about them will certainly feel their bite. There is a spider on every page, and it hides itself very well.

Nine writers, none of whom are said to be very nice people, have pieces in this anthology. Measuring in at 55 pages in total, the stories average only a few pages each, though there are a few exceptions to the rule. Some of the stories were meant just to entertain. Others will make you think. One, entitled “Alva Boyle” by William Utterson, is nothing but depressing. The topics include a little bit of everything, ranging from the Loch Ness Monster, to alternative medicine, to the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Among the stories, two stand out from the others. “A Message to the President” by Robert Dennison, is truly the product of the Cold War. Peter, a millionaire and mall owner, cruises the mall looking for just the right people. Over the course of the day, he recruits 30 people, and along with Tram, his right-hand man, and two other friends, Peter's underground shelter, Graceland II, can hold 34 people. He runs his shelter in a monarchy, demanding manditory fun. Just 16 hours after he takes his crew of 30 into the shelter, the bombs hit. Giving them a few hours to grieve, Peter begins training his 30 recruits to live underground, and eventually to carry out a wicked mission that will take every back up to the surface.

What makes “The Pain Addict” by Valda Peach so scary is that it honestly sounds plausable. A technology that was originally intended to help students learn subject faster is instead turned into a medical device that allows the doctor to feel the patient's pain. They call them Sympathetic Diagnosticians, and they're a little less than respected in the medical field. Our narrator is in the SD field, but he's strange even for his peers. What starts out as just doing his job soon becomes an obsession, which always leads to something worse.

It's excellent reading material for waiting for your plane to board, or to just sit and enjoy at home. It may read as a Greek tragedy at times, but if you think lying, cheating, pain, death, and madness are all funny, you're sure to enjoy this anthology.

I know I do.

If it's a joke we're going to have insubordination. If you joke about the gun you may have to use it. Be careful.