This box is for you. It's all yours, to do with as you wish. Keep it closed and it stays dark in there, entire worlds trapped in endless night. Keep it closed and its inhabitants are unable to excite you, thrill you, touch you. Maybe it's better that way. It's difficult to judge what is safe and what is a rotted beam ready to give way beneath your foot. Yes. Better to keep the box closed and spare yourself.
One peek might be okay. Just a fast glimpse to see what stirs at the corners of the eyes.
There. Men and women forced to march for their daily bread.
And there. A friendly fisherman who won't stay buried.
Oh, and there. The children are insane. The elderly play games of chance with wicked prizes, and a man is in love with a machine.
A crazy lady frets over pennies on the sidewalk. Cannibals dine together over pitchers of beer. The end of the world doesn't guarantee you a trip out and you could find yourself journeying to the afterlife and back.
This box is unlike any other you have ever held in your hands. It demands restraint. The longer you look, the more you wonder. Who killed JFK? What are they hiding at Area 51? What really happened on 9/11 and where do we go when we die?
It's your box, the choice is yours. Put it down and walk away. Or open it up and explore a world of treachery and terror, greed and gloom, love and lies. From the mind of Mark LaFlamme, this is a box filled with things from which most will hide.
And it's all yours.
Professional Reviews
Take the first bite...
Are you ready? Are you ready for something completely different?
If you are a fan of LaFlamme's work, this will seem at first like familiar territory, but it won't be long until you realize the path he is leading you on is much much different. Much darker, more complex, more thought provoking than any of his previous work. I adored all of his earlier writings, but this one raises the bar significantly.
Some stories leave you satisfied, some may leave you wanting more, others may leave you feeling unsettled and looking over your shoulder, but all will sit in your mind, your gut for days.
There are big stories here, neatly packaged in tiny little boxes. Go ahead, just start with one or two. But trust me, once you open the first box, the first story, take the first bite...
You're not going to want to stop.
So enjoy this first taste in the video as an appetizer. You know its going to be delicious.
Lauren Zito, FrancisRocks! Productions
Crisp, creative, thought-provoking
I've read Mark LaFlamme's work before, so I thought I knew what I was in for with his BOX OF LIES. Shivers at the back of my neck, furtive glances over my shoulder, a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach... delicious! But I didn't bargain on the cumulative effect of more than two dozen stories, each with its own chilling atmosphere. LaFlamme is like a graffiti artist sliding around a corner in the dark with his collar turned up, a few bold strokes and he's moved on--but the territory of your mind has been tagged with his distinctive images.
If you're about to say that short stories aren't your thing, put that opinion on hold for a day or two and peek under the cover here. See if you really can resist. Each story opens with a line that yanks you in: "Trevor Garbo liked dead things." "My name is Rudy Weather and I can read your mind." "It was two days after the world ended when the old van rumbled up Route 4." "'Do you ever worry,' Randall Albee asked him, 'That they might come for you?'"
I wouldn't know where to start, telling you about these stories. Read a few here, a few there, put the book down and think about them for a while, go back and read a few more. One thing you know for sure is that, whether you're reading about a band of murdering fourth-graders, a shopkeeper defending his territory after the apocalyse, or a man who made a very poor bargain for eternal life, the characters are so real you can reach out and touch them, if you only dare.
Many of these stories spoke to me of some truth I don't quite dare to believe. For example, if you were moving into a new house as I am this week, what would you think of a story like "Our House," about a home that nurtures one of its new tenants while abusing the other? And do you hope that we'll adopt a gentle new paradigm when the oil is gone but fear that, instead, as it does in "The Neighborhood," it will come out of our hides? And perhaps creepiest of all, do you ever think about what could happen--or not happen--because you stopped to pick up a penny (or, perhaps, didn't)?
If you've let your imagination get a little rusty, prepare to be challenged by Box of Lies. Stylish writing, great characters and some wildly skewed concepts; it's a whole lot of entertainment with the mind-bending thrown in for free.
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