ABSENT THE SOUL  by BJ Bourg
Author's website: http://www.bjbourg.com; http://www.mouthfullofbullets.com/
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Absent the Soul is one of the best short story collections I've read and the fact that all the stories deal with mystery, crime, and the punishment of evil just makes it better. You'll suffer as Cynthia must have before she was found in a cold lonely marsh with no one to care for her in Muddy Waters. You'll wonder what's the right thing to do as Valerie did before the choice was taken from her in Picture Perfect Murder.

In other stories, you'll suffer with daughters of abusive fathers, rejoice when those fathers are brought to justice, and hurt with the heros who have to deal with this kind of horror day after day. You'll laugh over the experiences of Brock and Devin in their investigations of suspicious happenings in a neighbor's house in All In A Day's Play. You'll fight by young Brandon's side as you recall your own nighttime experiences while reading Bedroom Battle.

Last but not least you'll face the horror of a new, and yet not so new, type of criminal (the kind who kills for body organs to sell so that others may live) in the last, unforgettable story called Heartbeat to Hell (a horror Stephen King would have been proud to write.) You'll see how good fights evil, law fights crime, in these short stories and learn that not only the dead but a few of the living are missing their souls.

I recommend this book for several reasons. Absent the Soul is a highly entertaining book that touches the reader emotionally. Plus, it is an anthology of short stories meaning it doesn’t have to be, but can be, read from back to front. BJ Bourg, being a cop as well as many other roles he plays at the precinct where he works, has experienced knowledge of the workings of a cop’s mind as well as the procedures dealing with various crimes and misdemeanors.