Review by Lemoizer -- You, The People by Pablo Digenio

[Lemoizer]

[Following is a volunteer review of "You, The People" by Pablo Digenio.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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You the People, by Pablo Digenio is a collection of six short thriller/mystery stories. The stories focus on six characters as each finds the actions of their past coming back to haunt each of them in different ways. The stories of Rebecca, Alfred, Gary, Mike, Johnny, and Teresa are all unique stories about different people in different situations facing negative repercussions of actions or decisions they have made in the past.


Rebecca is the rich boss of an auto insurance agency, hated by all her employees because of her indifferent and tyrannical treatment of them. Shortly after the tragic death of one of her employees, of which she was responsible, she receives a strange package that proves to be more than she can handle. Alfred is an older man living alone in the woods with his dog. He is eagerly awaiting the arrival of his family who is visiting him, but things go awry as he is plagued by footsteps in his home, and music playing that he cannot explain. Gary is a serial killer who eventually bites of more than he can chew and has to face the consequences of his actions. Mike is an alcoholic who cuts corners and is only concerned with his own well-being, he is faced with the opportunity for redemption, but his choices ultimately come back to bite him. Johnny is a young man who spends all of his time playing video games, as he is faced with a huge decision to make, he fails to think of the consequences his decision could have. Teresa finds herself stuck in a loop and must find out why she’s stuck where she is, and what choices she made that put her there.


Some of the stories in this collection are stronger than others, most notably the story of Alfred Ditezt in Russian Waltz, I find this story to be the biggest strength of the book. This particular story does an excellent job of capturing the reader's attention and not letting go until the very end. As with any mystery/thriller, it is also capped off with a very satisfying twist that is both creative and satisfying and this is the only story from the book that I would recommend. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for any of the other five short stories here.


The biggest weakness that I found with this book is the other five stories that it includes. All of the other stories in this collection suffer from similar problems such as predictable outcomes, uninteresting characters, and an overall amateurish style of story-telling. None of the characters in the other stories seemed realistic and their stories were unsatisfying to read at best. The author's goal of teaching us the importance of our karma and the negative implications it can have falls short due to a lack of any real impact from the other stories.


I give this book a 2 out of 4 stars due to unrealistic and uninteresting characters and a lack of any real suspense or impact in five out of the six stories. While the story of Alfred stands out as considerably better than the others, it is not enough to make up for what the other five stories are lacking. This book would mostly appeal to fans of mystery/thrillers and it has a touch of horror sprinkled in as well. Karma plays a large part in these stories as well, so this could also appeal to anyone who enjoys stories of that nature.

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You, The People
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