Frame Story

Domenic Migliore has no interest in making you feel better. Entering his world comes with risks. But, then again, so does living in ours. His writing is a cracked rock bouncing down a grungy hill: the speed of the descent leads to blur; the accumulation of nasty debris is unavoidable. In one tale, a father tells his son, "You don't go fudging around with the factory presets." In Migliore's storyworlds, the presets are as unreliable as experimentation with them is. In either case, things fall apart. You're likely to laugh at some stories, cringe at others, and skip some passages that are too uncomfortable to imagine. But you're unlikely to forget the experience of meeting artist and filmmaker Migliore's cast of weary, ill-fated souls. They ought to be in movies. And probably will.

-- Bill Obesrt Jr. (from Rob Zombie's 3 FROM HELL, TV's THE ROOKIE: FEDS and Criminal Minds)

"...a memorable batch of moving tales. Migliore's short story collection dishes out dread, violence, and gallows humor in equal measure... The author's tales navigate through such bleak territories as homicide, nuclear strikes, and other assorted crimes. It's hardly surprising that violence marks many of the stories, from bites and stabbings to meticulously detailed head shots. But Migliore deftly leavens the heaviness with satire... The author displays a knack for direct, concise sentences that stoke the narrative pace.

While well-drawn characters pop up throughout this collection, the cast is largely aloof or hateful. They spew homophobic, xenophobic, and generally offensive slurs and sentiments that complement the savage acts they perpetrate. Readers won't sympathize with most of them, particularly the nasty American soldier stationed in Japan who seems to detest everything and everyone (The Tattoo). Stories such as these aren't prone to happy endings, but that doesn't make the book predictable."

- Kirkus Reviews

Domenic Migliore is a writer, filmmaker, photographer... A suburban robot that monitors reality.