Rating: 3 STARS
Genre: Thriller
Type of Story: Short Story
Summary: Glen takes a forced pit stop when his car runs out of gas. He is running away from the police, and has little time to find a new ride. There’s a truck at the gas station, and he’s confident he can negotiate for the keys. However, it’s not that easy to fool Tim. Especially when Marla gets in the way.
Review: Boris Guzo’s ”Pit Stop” is an enjoyable short story sprinkled with elements of the paranormal and fantasy genres. It hooked me in the beginning, lost my attention just for a bit in the middle, but brought me back with an excellent, twisted ending.
The main character is Glen, a man on the run from the police. Glen flees across a state border and discovers a ramshackle gas station. He begins an interesting dialogue with Tim, a young boy who appears to be running the station alone. But all is not as it seems, and through a flashback we understand more about what Glen is running from and the reasons behind his odd conversations with a character named Marla.
Boris’s descriptions of characters and scenery were just the right amount in this short story. It was enough to provide a clear vision in my mind of what transpired and was not excessive. Here is an example of Boris’s writing from “Pit Stop”:
He resisted the urge to stride faster downhill, taking his time to scout the gas station as he approached. It looked battered and forgotten, sitting in the middle of nowhere. There was an old truck in the back, and there were no other cars in sight – no signs of life at all, really.
I enjoyed Boris’s writing style. There were a few spots of more extensive telling rather than showing through a character’s eyes, and some of the dialogue felt a bit stiff or forced, but the majority of the story flowed well. I was slightly confused by Glen’s conversations with Marla since the dialogue or thoughts were not italicized or separated from the normal text in any way, but I managed to figure it out in the end. The middle portion of the story, primarily the dialogue between Tim and Glen, briefly lost my attention. I knew the story was building to something and the dialogue went longer than I expected. The ending was excellent and caused me to go back and review the story again to see if I could pick up on any clues that I may have missed.
In summary, this is a well written story sure to entertain you. As a reader, I would enjoy reading more of Boris’s work, and hope he sends more submissions to Short Fiction Spotlight.
Available at: Amazon, Smashwords
Author Site: Website
