Pacific Sun and Other Stories

Each short story packs a punch. Sometimes a real punch in the gut. The stories are intense, high wire electric pieces of life. The writing is often raw and jagged, but then so are the stories. Each story left me haunted by the tales of desperation, violence, and gut-wrenching pathos. The author writes with such authentic emotion that I thought he must have lived those experiences. The stories in this collection range from the horrors of the war and ethnic cleansing, to violent abuse and murder, to the futility of life in a small hick town. Each story depicts aspects of human nature that we may not want to look in the eye, but we know they are there and true and in us. Many of the stories have no resolution at the end. They just stop and show more you are left holding your breath, standing at the edge of the abyss that the story has taken you to. These are not stories you want to read before you go to bed.

The author has captured and mastered the genre of short story fiction. At times, I felt I was reading a form of haiku in that the story telling is swift, succinct and powerful. I would recommend this collection of stories, especially to high school and college students. I would also recommend for Book Groups. Both the topics of the stories and the writing would be well served with discussion.

There are a couple of typos and some punctuation that need to be corrected. show less

This was the first book I have read on an iPad and I would rank it a distant third behind reading a physical book, followed by using my Kindle, the iPad is too heavy and the screen has too much reflection. That said Pacific Sun and Other Stories is outstanding. With each story I truly believed that the author was the person narrating the stories, experienced what happened, and wrote about it. This is a very tough thing to do in one story within the confines of a full page story, but to do it repeatedly with multiple short stories is amazing. Each story was interesting and while they vary in their degrees of rawness (in the best way) these stories are definitely not for young readers, but each grabs hold of you immediately, and packs a show more wallop. I highly recommend this book. show less

The stories in this debut collection are bleak and gritty, but I'm not sure they have authenticity or depth. Markos' stories feel like they belong in glossy men's magazines. Pacific Sun will feel like a well-done debut if you're the right audience; for me, it was a skim.

Dark, gritty, realism. Don't come here looking for happy endings. The stories deal with depressing topics, but the writing is crisp and concise. The author does a good job of bringing the characters to life and showing the way they cope with the harsh lives they've been handed.

Pacific Sun and Other Stories is a collection of non sugar coated, real life, real world experiences. Markos writes from the perspective of characters involved in not so happy endings. If you are looking for a quick read and a collection of stories which may leave a bitter taste in your mouth, I recommend this book. It is not a feel good beach novel as the title and cover may suggest.

The Pacific Sun is a collection of short stories that illustrate some horrors of mankind, including genocide, sex trafficking, and terminal illness. These stories are not pretty and do not have happy endings. Overall, I thought a few stories were good, including El Paso, An American Fourth, and Reporting from Prijedor. However, short stories frustrate me because it's such a small glimpse into these people's lives. I enjoy more thorough novels so I can get to know the characters. These stories had great premises but I wish I got to hear more about them.

Pacific Sun is an excellent collection of short stories. All of the stories are written in the first person, and Markos does a remarkable job altering the writing to make all of the narrators equally believable. I highly recommend this collection for anyone looking for a high-quality, varied anthology.