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Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
Sean M. Tirman’s A Rap on the Door is a collection of short stories built from speculative premises that turn familiar fears into strange pressure points. And they all start with a knock. Among them is Polaris Breach, where a widowed sailor leaves shore after cancer treatment and grief, then finds her solo voyage tied to wounded, sharklike creatures moving through polluted seas. The Burning Fields follows a father whose work disposing of covered bodies keeps his daughter housed until a silver locket suggests the system feeding them may have reached home. Small Portions for Wealthy People places a condemned Michelin-starred chef in a prison bargain, where each meal cooked for Warden Hadley marks another day before execution.
Sean M. Tirman’s A Rap on the Door is first-rate short fiction, and the author writes with a dark imagination that feels entirely his own. Every single story is unique and, frankly, weird in the best, most intelligent, and unsettling style. Tirman takes large genre ideas and cuts them down to the human moment that matters most. My two favorites are The Voices and Listening Post Omega. The Voices is a hair-raiser, when Ofelia’s motel voicemails turn one locked room into a whole missing-person case, and the repeated knocking becomes creepier each time a familiar dead voice answers. Listening Post Omega is just as strong, with Edward Cochrane, an elderly sanitation officer on a remote station, suddenly asked to become humanity’s face for first contact. Readers who enjoy stories that pack a huge punch within a bite-sized word count will adore this book. Very highly recommended.
