Stanley's Last Trip and Other Stories

Book excerpt: “Stanley’s Last Trip and Other Stories” is volume 1 of the Urban Tales short story series: eight yarns exploring strange and quirky situations, set mostly in present-day and sometimes dystopian worlds of Berlin, New York, London, Lisbon and Dublin, with an illustration for each story. Stanley’s Last Trip. Stanley Braun is trapped on an S-Bahn train in Berlin, but he can’t remember how he got there. Noise and Death. After a noisy start to his trip to Lisbon, Charlie’s upstairs neighbour, Marie, uses her charms to entice him to cover up a murder. Vengeance. Louis plans revenge after Annalise’s death at her apartment block in London. Throwbacks. A research project in Berlin uncovers a group of people with ancient genes. Survival of the Species In London, the slow realisation that some humans have previously unknown brain mutations prompts new discrimination laws. Tube Travel A new form of super-fast travel in the near future runs into difficulties. Obsession Jack’s brief meeting with an elusive woman at an art exhibition in New York leads to fantasy and obsession. After the Blackout Jake is surprised at how fast everything descends into the ‘law of the jungle’ after a blackout in Dublin.