Hearing that this book made the 2005 James Tiptree, Jr. Award short list, I was curious. Bender's writing fascinates and horrifies me; I have a love/hate thing for her novel An Invisible Sign of My Own. I've heard that short stories are her forte, so I was uber-curious about this collection. Needless to say, I was not disappointed.

What is gripping about these stories is the simple, quiet horror that steals across the pages. What can I say that everyone hasn't said before? Each story left me with a sick sinking in my stomach; you know what is coming and you can't avert your eyes. And if you don't know, if you can't imagine, you are trapped reading to the end until you find out exactly how awful it will be. After finishing this volume, I had to stop reading for a few days. I didn't want to keep the feeling but I didn't want to let it go, not exactly. I had to sit with it, remember the stories a few more times, then walk away, uneasy.