Book Reviews and More: Meet Me Tonight - Barry Lyga

Monday, 4 December 2017

Meet Me Tonight - Barry Lyga - A Short Story

Meet Me Tonight:
A Short Story
Barry Lyga
ASIN B077WHVKD4

This is the final installment in Barry Lyga’s year of short stories. For 10 of the 12 stories in the collection it is the first time they have been published. And this is one of those 10. It was a little different than the rest of the stories in the collection in that there was no preamble to the story. But first let’s look at the collection first before we get down to this specific story. The year of short stories is a collection of short stories each being available for a limited run of one month. But they are more than just limited availability short stories. They are being released with a purpose, and all the proceeds are going to the ACLU. The purpose of these stories is defending free speech; for Lyga is donating the proceeds of the sales of the short stories to the ACLU. You can read more about why he is doing this on his site. In the author’s note Barry states:

“This story has a somewhat odd, herky-jerky provenance. A number of years ago, I conceived of a novel with a very specific premise. (I’m being coy here because I still plan to write it someday.) The novel would be a set in a special city, with strange perhaps even supernatural characteristics. I wasn’t ready to write that novel. I knew that I needed a hell of a lot more seasoning as an author before I could even attempt it. But as I kept thinking about it, an idea occurred to me: If the city was “magical” (for lack of a better word), then what about the surrounding areas? Might some of that spooky, ephemeral, numinous stuff “leak” into the areas around the city? And what would that mean? If the city was a novel, then surely a small town would be a short story.”

He also states:

“I was also influenced — heavily — by a Bruce Springsteen song: “Loose Ends.” I heard the song first in college, on a crappy fourth-generation studio bootleg. The refrain in particular obsessed me: It's like we had a noose and baby without check We pulled until it grew tighter around our necks Each one waiting for the other, darlin', to say when Well baby you can meet me tonight on the loose end I wasn’t sure precisely what the hell Bruce was singing about, but the image of lovers caught in a noose stuck with me. I stole both it and the name of the song for the name of my town, and then went to work.”

The story focuses around a man named Alex Beckman, he is driving to see his next client and is so tired he nearly goes off the road. So he pulls over in the next town Loose Ends. He checks into a hotel. But the town is not what it appears to be. And soon Alex realized there is something very odd going on in Loose Ends.

The description of this short story is “In a small town that is more than it seems, Alex Beckman confronts the woman he loved and left, a deranged homeless man, an innkeeper who may be living in the past, and most important of all, himself.” Alex if from Brookdale, and according to the authors note it may or may not be ‘that Brookdale’.

This story was very different. I could have been an episode of the twilight zone. Or even appeared in the Amazing Stories magazine. The story at least for this read instills a great desire to Lyga to finish the novel idea that this story spins off from.

This year of short stories by Barry Lyga was great for fans of short stories, but especially for fans of his works. We received 12 short stories from his masterful pen are a blessing this year, even if his reason for releasing them is a cause for concern. For Lyga it started in the fall of 2016 after the US General Election, for the very next day Barry asked himself what he could do, and as a writer he decided to use his words. For as an author words are his craft. And freedom of speech is core to him being able to write about what he wants to write about. He decided to publish a short story each month this year and to donate the proceeds to the ACLU. You can read about why he is doing this on his site.

But be warned each story is only available for a month so you need to get it while you can. And this one is well worth grabbing, especially for fans of the Brookdale books! This is a great short story so pick it up and give it a read.

Books by Barry Lyga: