The fifteen speculative short stories in The Thing About Great White Sharks blew me away! This collection is creative, offbeat and really delightful. As each story unfolded, I had a steady stream of happy/excited/giddy feelings because I never knew what was coming up next.

Rebecca Adams Wright’s versatility shines throughout this book. In Sheila, a man makes a difficult (and shocking) decision concerning his robotic dog when “mechanimals” are banned after a single but horrific incident. Storybag makes you think: Are we living our lives as part of someone else’s story, or writing our own? Keeper of the Glass is a war story with a twist of fantasy, based on a true historical thread: Keeping panels of the cathedral’s stained glass windows hidden in people’s homes in order to keep them safe from destruction during the war. Orchids is a thriller with a paranormal twist. What To Expect When You’re Expecting an Alien Parasite is a hilariously terrifying, downright delicious satire on those fear-mongering pregnancy books. Aleph Bat is a nerdy tale of horror. And the title story is a dystopia unlike any other I’ve read; its premise would make for the coolest novel!

And let’s talk about the story order of the collection: It builds, builds, builds — then what?! holy crap! — then a cool-down that is fantastical and masterfully wraps up the entire reading experience.