The Worst That Could Happen delivers eight dirty and dystopian slices of a certain style of overcrowded-dark-more-than-light science fiction garnished with elements of horror and dark drama. High action caloric count and more than a heaping helping of nightmare fuel imagery.  All of them populated by the fractured, the seedy and the downright diabolical.

The slim collection opens with "The Madness of Moray Moon" wherein a group of former gang members under the lead of God's hitman  arrive at their destination to get a handle on a revolutionary problem only to realize that maybe it's the setting that is the real problem.

In "Tracking" a renegade cyborgian assassin is set upon by a pair of hunters and the chase proves to be the easiest part of the adventure.  "The Partisan" is almost biblical in its revelation-esque imagery and drab beauty. As most of these stories, it involves killers for hire but with a very special and, um, possibly divine power.

"Desertion" is my favorite of the bunch. I was so excited to reach out the the author to see if I guessed correctly on the outcome and was thrilled to be told I had. I'm not telling you fuckers anything about it. Just strap in and read it...trust me!

"Cobra Roja" is that action-drenched late 80's USA network movie that you always wanted to see but they never made because networks are assholes like that. "In The Hinterlands" tells the tale of a group of drug-reliant surveyors who find out that green is not always good. "Love & Death Vs The Mole People" is an epic battle tale chewed up in a B-movie mouth and spat back into the waiting maw of early Lansdale.

The book closes with "Full Fathom Five" a short tale that not only gives the book its title but crosses the T that ends a wonderfully grim and gloriously depraved futuristic  tract.

Murphy writes like a person who has been bleeding words since birth, maybe they have but the deft and sturdy writing presented here is awesome. I mean that in the definitive way and not "Whoa, dude, awesome!" though it is that as well. 

Lemme throw out one of my Bodenly metaphors that might not connect with everyone but if you get it you'll really get it:  In the 1984 classic The Terminator, there is a scene after the cops have taken in Sarah Connor and Reese, the man who came from the future to prevent her assassination...Reese is interrogated and the police shrink is showing the chief the footage of said grilling. Reese is spouting off about his--to them--improbable future and about weaponry and conditions and the shrink says "This is brilliant, how it doesn't require a shred of proof but is so convincing..."  The Worst That Could Happen felt like that to me.  Even at its most fantastic and seemingly far-fetched there was enough humanism and realism for me to not eject myself from reading. I ought to also allow that I am not a fan of sci-fi, not at all...aside from an occasional story here or there.  So the fact that I am raving this little book means more than you could know.

Buy this.!
Buy it for your friends and even enemies!
Buy it!
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The Worst That Could Happen is available from Fungasm Press (John Skipp's  imprint of Eraserhead Press) and on Amazon

 Beneath Still Waters is a stunning study of parental guilt and the fallout of tragedy. Using a series of vignettes, the narrative gradually peels back the layers of a marriage in a state of slow collapse. It’s emotionally intelligent writing, and a pittyless study of the impact of guilt and PTSD on a relationship.
 
The Changeling feels in some ways a development of the themes of the first story; as the lead character is increasingly forced to confront an impossible possibility; that his child is not his child. This is a theme that dates back to antiquity, and Jones plays it straight, bringing the narrative to a modern setting and then just letting it play out. I loved how this tale walked the line between reality and unreality, using perspective ruthlessly to prevent the possibility of giving the tale an objective conclusion.
 
Swansong takes on similar ground, but from the POV of an older sibling. Jones nails the voice of the young narrator here, and that child’s perspective gives events a sinister edge. Jones plays out the tension of the tale superbly, and I was carried along, engaged but unsure where things were going, until the gut punch lands on the final page.
 
Swimming Out To Sea was my favourite of the collection - another first person character piece, this time a teenager whose banal fury at her parents leads her to swim out just a bit farther than is wise on a beach holiday. What I especially enjoyed about this one was how the essentially mundane horror of finding oneself suddenly too far out from the shore slowly transforms into something wilder and more strange, all the while preserving the core voice of the narrator. An accomplished short horror story with a strong narrative voice and an incredible sense of atmosphere.
 
It’s Not Just How Beautiful They Are is a lovely tight, nasty tale that does a fantastic job of misdirection before totally flipping the script in the final page. Brilliance.
 
Waxing closes out the collection in strong fashion, with a harrowing tale from the point of view of a child recently removed from a cult. Never breaking out, we see the world entirely through this paranoid lens, and the documentation of how the child’s love and tenacity have been weaponized against her is powerful and emotionally punishing, and a fine way to close out this collection.
 
Suffer Little Children is a superb collection; diverse in both voice and story type, thoughtful, and emotionally intelligent and resonant. Penny Jones is one to watch.
 
KP
12/10/19