Tales of Our Time - Publishers of uncommon fiction

Excerpt from review by Gary Dudney

In a horrifying tale of deceit and revenge set in the late 1800s when immigrant-clogged New York was rampant with lost souls, the inner desperate lives of two men are revealed as their fates become entangled.

With painterly details, Davis brings the quirks and jealousies of the denizens of old lower East side new York to life while all the time ratcheting up the suspense.

Davis could have been channeling Edgar Allan Poe when he wrote the story’s ending. It has the same dark inescapable logic as the conclusion of Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” or “The Fall of the House of Usher.”

THE UNWELCOME GUEST

Excerpt from review by Bryan Clark

"The Unwelcome Guest" is the engrossing and often frightening story of Donald Hatch, a thirty-eight-year-old substitute English teacher….(who) falls into a misadventure of the mind.

What begins as a simple alcoholic mentality evolves rapidly into an elaborate scheme of paranoid delusion -- a cross between Rieux's rat-obsessed isolation in Camus's "The Plague" and Samsa's transformation in Kafka's "Metamorphosis."

Excerpt from review by K.E. Supriya

The story of Logan Drewry is, in a word, spellbinding.

The gifted, writerly style with an eye for legendary tales about chivalry and valor and detail is the stuff of a fine literary and cinematic imagination. Logan is part philosopher of life and adventurer with a passion for the ‘just’ way.

Like Miguel De Cervantes's Don Quixote who lives out a life of quirky valor, Logan with his magnificent steed sets upon an adventurous and perilous journey across the plains alert to the possibility of his decapitation by a cruel despot.

This story held my breath just as it propelled me to release it knowing that all is well with a world full of Logans.

THE DAY BEFORE TOMORROW

By Arthur Davis

Collection 5

Excerpt from review by Vironika Tugaleva

This is one of few stories I have encountered that captures human nature in an original, yet genuine way. This gripping tale is an exceptional portrayal of one man’s struggle to cope.

….. Davis creates a beautiful, deep character that is so real and familiar you will surely sympathize with him in the end.

Arthur Davis is a master of descriptive language, foreshadowing and suspense.

This work is powerful and provoking. It is worthy of comparison to the short stories of Anton Chekhov…..

THE ZERO-RINGS

By Arthur Davis

Collection 3

Excerpt from review by James Morone

The Zero-Rings is a strikingly original work about the survivors of a future plague.

… builds to an unforeseeable climax in which the most basic human passions are awakened as the characters find purpose in the face of impossible uncertainty.

By juxtaposing mundane human pleasures against the fall of the human race, Arthur Davis has written a story of breathtaking contrast, and a poignant and powerful portrait of humanity.

Excerpt from review by Jane Lytle

The author succeeds in bringing (characters) believably to life…..

Davis’s masterful use of comparisons goes much deeper than the literal meaning of the written words….

“No one quite accepted the possibility that the incident might be over, or that in spite of all the gunfire no one else have been seriously hurt or that their bravery or cowardice or innermost fears had been exposed,” describes more than just the end of an event as those who read this story will find out.

Excerpt from review by Janis Hunter

Set against the backdrop of a Lucian Freud art exhibit, Davis weaves a sometimes dark and insidious monologue….

“In Search of Lucian’s Echo” is mastery in its detail of the human condition....captivated at Davis’ ability to keep the voyeur’s discourse hovering on the edge of madness.

Anyone who reads “In Search of Lucian’s Echo” will find themselves ever more aware and wary of that before unnoticed “stranger in the corner”.

Excerpt from review by Todd Watson

In ‘The Power of Life and Death’, Arthur Davis laces the story together with character portraits so three-dimensional that they seem to be descriptions of people that we know, or even of ourselves, making his protagonists not only interesting, but believable. In this tale, his chief protagonist is an aging schoolteacher living a comfortable but unfulfilled life with his wife in New York City.

Infused with clever wordplay and an innovative prose-style often bordering on the poetic...

...this is an immensely satisfying and life-affirming tale, worthy of several reads.

Excerpt from review by Kyle Baddeley

Conversation in Black is a direct and unflinching study of the oppressive inevitability of death.

The story brims with dark imagery, fatigue and a haunting uncertainty. Michael is sure of only one thing - that mankind has been abandoned by God, left to its own devices, in a meaningless universe.

Excerpt from review by Jane Lytle

Guilt, abandonment, frustration, self-doubt and the need to feel worthy of being loved are the dominant emotions fermenting within the encapsulated shell that is Peter Osborne’s paralyzed body.

Davis offers an engrossing look into the vagaries of a mind grappling with “grief induced trauma”. Layer by layer, scene by scene the reader is led further into the disturbing complexities of the main character.

Davis has creatively woven a story steeped in subtlety and innuendo.

Arthur Davis displays the same sensitivity and in-depth understanding of the human psyche in his writing of this tale as South American author Gabriel Garcia Marquez does in his classic One Hundred Years of Solitude.

RONNALD

Excerpt from review by Lora K. Kaisler

Patience is rewarded, when you reach the gripping conclusion of Ronnald by Arthur Davis.

A powerfully stirring love story set in the surreal historical context of 1920 flapper days. This gritty, urban drama reveals a lighter side as we meet the local characters and take in a couple of cabaret shows.

It is a saga that toys with your senses as clouds of multicolored vapor drift in and out like chameleons. It defies your imagination as Ronnald clearly accomplishes feats impossible for even the most physically fit human body.

And it teases your ethical bearings, when Walter convinces Ronnald to hire him as manager with the ploy that their collaboration will lure the lovely Delores to Ronnald’s side.

THE BELLY OF THE BEAST

Excerpt from review by Todd Watson

In the cold winter of 1949, Stephen Connors meets his destiny in a musty Chicago bookstore. What follows is a roller coaster ride of fantasy tinged with Catholic mysticism that is as inspiring as it is entertaining.

As always, Arthur Davis is expert at pacing his story, allowing us to identify with his characters before sending us shooting off on a wild adventure.

He is drawn by strange forces to Scully's bookstore, a cluttered repository of rare manuscripts. Once inside the belly of the beast he befriends the shop's proprietor, the mysterious Yoda-like Mr. Henley. Their master-pupil relationship is evident from the first meeting.

This is a tale of personal spirituality told with grace and tenderness...

...an astounding thriller that will set your heart pounding as you rush to turn the pages.

GOD AND ALFRED PINKINS

Excerpt from review by Nora Weston

God, Himself, tells this story from an unusual perspective and sheds light on the fact that He interferes less frequently than believed….

Arthur Davis has written a story, which invites the reader to ponder about life and death and what a person does between the two that may enthuse God…just in case He’s watching.

Davis has a unique writing voice that is full of interesting details about characters and their surroundings.

Excerpt from review by Stacy Wegner

Although born with a silver spoon in his mouth Brinkley P. Henderson speaks with a forked tongue, marching into the McClane & Winthrop emporium with the obvious intent of venting his dissatisfaction for a failed coffee maker on whoever innocently attends to him.

Reminiscent of Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone, Lost & Found is an intense and dramatic read, and full of vengeful satisfaction.

Davis' tongue and cheek dialogue from the elderly employee is every bit what the reader would want to say should they ever find themselves confronted by a Brinkley P. Henderson.

Excerpt from review by Nora Weston

The Stonepills, by Arthur Davis, is a hard-edged story that scrapes the madness between the real world and the nightmarish world of abuse. The nameless, main character could be anyone…and she exists with deep despair, dark secrets, plus mental and physical pain, yet she possesses a courageous spirit that ensures her survival.

This haunting story floods the mind with disturbing images that certainly make the reader want to rescue this child.

This story does not shy away from the damage caused from abusive situations. The Stonepills is a thought-provoking, engaging read.

ROY’S DESERT MOTEL

Excerpt from review by Gary Dudney

Jerry Bishop’s life—full of alimony payments, worthless colleagues, and deadbeats late with their insurance policy payments—is as bleak as the desert he’s driving through on his way to drum up more business.

Roy’s Desert Motel captures the inner workings of Jerry’s second-rate mind as it misfires, misinterprets and mistakes one circumstance after another.

Davis is a master at making mundane coincidences seem ominous and foreboding. In the end, the low arc of Jerry’s life comes to a fitting conclusion.

THE DUMPSTER

By Arthur Davis

Collection 10

Excerpt from review by James Morone

Arthur Davis’ The Dumpster is a powerful, contemporary tale of a young man’s soul-searching journey from despair to hope. …..crafting a character of great depth and vulnerability.

Davis sets up an internal conflict in Ramon that builds convincingly to a poignant epiphany reminiscent of a Flannery O’Connor tale.

Like much great fiction, The Dumpster leaves the reader with the thrilling suggestion that even as we live our quotidian tedium, there exists the possibility that, on any day, a couple of small coincidences will change the course of our life forever.

Excerpt from review by Nora Weston

Life parades before Sam Weinstein and Abe Levy on Broadway as they plunge into the past to confront memories, while entertaining themselves with the drama of New York City.

Blindmen of Broadway, using witty conversation between the two widowers, unravels into a story about how daily observations from a bench change a normal day into a series of extraordinary moments.

Blindmen of Broadway explores the heart-warming bond between Sam and Abe, as the reader discovers these men have grown old, but their memories are still fresh enough to cause pain.

Excerpt from review by Jane Lytle

With the same insightful, captivating style of Dashiell Hammett, “A Belly Full of Bullets”, an Arthur Davis original, describes the thought provoking psychological profile of Eddie Sillers, Private Investigator extraordinaire.

With his usual skill in “A Belly Full of Bullets” Arthur Davis, delves into the oft times dark, nether regions of the psyche. For those who enjoy such a read I highly recommend this story.

NURSERY SCHOOL EXPOSE’

By Arthur Davis

Collection 1

Excerpt from review by Vironika Tugaleva

Arthur Davis’ genius quickly reveals itself in this multifaceted, complex character with the nature of a sardonic and skeptical adult and the interests, behavior, and appearance of a little boy.

…a delightful, sensitive blend of Shel Silverstein’s endearing and clever Peggy Ann McKay from “Sick” and Seth MacFarlane’s derisive Stewie Griffin from television’s “Family Guy”.

“Nursery School Expose” is a rare read, impossible to put down, and rich with warmth and profound truths. It will have you laughing and nodding along all the way through.

Excerpt from review by K.E. Supriya

Mr. Stinkysocks is an entertaining and riveting story about bourgeois American family life that is put to the test by the uncanny.

The writing is poignant….Davis excels in the art of elegant commonplaces.

The plot centers around a family vacation in a sprawling beachside house on the East coast. Mr. Stinkysocks restores the elixir of being around children while issuing a caveat that disorienting things can occur with the capacity to render the prima facie surefootedness of being an adult in fact a sort of unstable and fragile state.

Arthur Davis’ Mr. Stinkysocks is a wonderful allegory and parable about the importance of adults not taking themselves and their mirage of perspective too seriously.

……a dose of tonic for somber adult-heavy times and it has the tremendous healing energy to make us feel more connected to where we came from and, may I dare say, where we are likely to return to!

When Chris Logan receives a call from the woman he had once loved unconditionally, he admits that he is comforted by her voice and finds himself thinking about his past once again.

‘Fallen Angels’ by Arthur Davis is simultaneously honest and deceptive.

Just when the reader thinks they have Carol figured out, the direction of this emotional tale makes a swift reversal and Davis reveals another side of his characters.

What makes ‘Fallen Angels’ an enticing read is the way Davis uses his characters to twist morality, making the reader wonder just how far they themselves would go for love.