Speculative Fiction

Dan Weiss Black Plankton Press BPP P.O. Box 1351, Cobb, CA 95426 Speculative Fiction Recommended for those who enjoy the bizarre -- 5 stars

 Fred returns home after a tiring day at work to learn that his wife Karen has had both a personality shift and has gotten rid of Gladys. Karen had just gotten fed up with the old dog. Fred now must take Spunky to work with him so the cocker spaniel will not meet a similar fate. Before long Fred finds not only Karen's personality but everything in his world seems to be changing. Duplicity, a beginning awareness of another life form, the draffs and a good bit of confusion surround Fred for a time until he realizes the true depth of Karen's affection for him. It does not take the reader long to begin to realize nothing in this fascinating tale is as it seems. The futuristic world portrayed in Mood Shifts is one where anything, or in all likelihood nothing is possible. From the seeming nonchalance of Karen for simply killing the family pet to the people Fred calls friends, the narrative is filled with astonishing twists and turns. Mood Shifts delves into a strange future where big business controls nearly every aspect of life. People in this society don’t bother with alerting themselves through surgery, rather they tend toward acquiring alterations in appearance and personality. The reader follows Fred as he frets over whether or not a personality change may have taken place in his life unbeknownst to himself. Weiss skillfully weaves a riveting tale to draw the reader into the work from the first page to the last lines by plunging the reader into an odd world where the characters all are professional consumers or have other peculiar jobs and are encouraged to spend without thinking. Characters often have more than one home, more than one spouse or family. The tale is more than the shallow surface fixtures. Fred travels a journey of disillusionment in this good-natured satire on the American affiliation of supposed self-improvement, mindless homogeneity, corporate icons. The progress of the narrative is rhetorical and aptly created with a queue of killings, disappearances and a slew of red herrings to catch the unaware napping. Just when the reader thinks they have at last gotten it all figured out Writer Weiss throws in another little curve.

Weiss takes mundane phrases and products from the world today, weaves them into his fanciful tale in Mood Shifts and produces a narrative of unique proportions. Should have great appeal to those who like a tale filled with the unexpected.

Reviewed by: molly martin

http://www.angelfire.com/ok4/mollymartin