Denise Dietz

Told from the perspective of a cat that prefers to be considered “feline” because he is house broken, this short story mixing humor and mystery is an enjoyable read. The cat----or feline---in question goes by “Grateful” as his full name is “Grateful Dead.” He is okay with the name though, if he had a choice, he would have gone with Elvis since his great grandmother lived at Graceland and there are other family connections. It’s a good life as his pet is Annie (his owner) and Grateful has a favorite female feline, “Fluffster” close by.

Annie isn’t happy much at all these days. In large part Grateful blames Annie’s boyfriend Robert Dumbrowski. They were high school sweethearts back in the day. In the here and now he is with a struggling band, calls himself Rocky Dove, and wants to be a rock star. When he isn’t around to boss Annie, he spends a lot of time out on the road doing whatever. Home or on the road he is not really around to help Annie who is a struggling artist with very little income. Also against him in the mind of our feline narrator is the fact that he doesn’t like felines. Grateful also does not much care for Annie’s mother and for good reason. But, Rocky Dove is the biggest problem in Annie’s life according to Grateful.

From the start, Rocky’s latest visit to town proves Grateful Dead’s point. The feline has quite a few other observations about life and more while also managing to solve a mystery in “Annie And The Grateful Dead: A Short Story.

Originally written as “a story to benefit the international fund for animal welfare” this is a fun read that blends some mystery, quite a lot of humor, and more into a quirky tale. It isn’t clear in the beginning where the story is headed, but once the ground work is laid for the mystery, the short story powers along quickly working things out. Well worth it, Annie And The Grateful Dead: A Short Story should be on your short story reading list.

Annie And The Grateful Dead: A Short Story
Denise Dietz
http://www.eclectics.com/denise/
Self-Published
October 2014
ASIN: B00P1J2KF8
E-Book
$0.99

Picked up this material during the author’s recent free read promotion to read and use in an objective review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2014… (mehr)

This was the book I chose to read for Colorado. It was somewhat disappointing in that respect, as just about the only local color was connected with the Denver Broncos. Also, it was set at a high school class reunion -- which was also the setting of [book: The Last Song Dogs] by Sinclair Browning, my Arizona book. There's only so much class reunion stuff one can take in a short period of time. The book also billed itself as having more involvement of the protagonist's dog than was actually the case. I wouldn't say this was a bad book, but it just wasn't the right book for me at this point.… (mehr)