Cover the sky over chaos short stories by Markus McDowell

Chaos rattles our arrogance, shakes loose the dust, breaks rigor mortis. In chaos, you find out who you are—what matters, what you fear, what you love…Here is a collection of nine short stories about chaos in multiple genres: historical, speculative, stream-of-consciousness, poetic, literary, and more.

  • Morty loves his job. Really loves it. Perhaps not so strange, except that he is an embalmer at a funeral home. What happens when someone loves their job so much they don’t want to do anything else?
  • Becky’s husband is away on business, in the cold of a snowy winter, when her youngest of four girls develops diphtheria. In the late 1800s, what can a young mother do?
  • What if everyone had a hat but you? And it really mattered?
  • Poor Charlie. He really needs order in his life. He prides himself on schedule, structure, and sameness. So did his grandmother…and they found her dead in a house crawling with thousands of insects she had collected.

Included stories: “Three Days,” “Turn and Face the Change,” ‘Three Hours and Thirteen Minutes,” “Ringing,” “Hats,” “Preparation,” “Ten More Days,” “Behind the Bar,” “What Does the River Say?”

Available from select retailers in paperback, eBook, and audiobook.


Within a series of nine short stories, McDowell casts a stark, exam-room light on situations that test the extremes of human drama. These stories examine the range of what drives a person to the limit whether it be, stress, tragedy, or predilection. Reminiscent of Poe, McDowell remains true to his flawed characters as they survive the chaos in which they find themselves. Most enjoyable.
David, reviewer
Amazon
As a reader, these short stories took me deep into the internal complexities of our humanity, when the ‘wild card’ of chaos is played. Each story has been crafted with literary tension, designed to take the reader beyond the end of the story. Dr Markus McDowell will have succeeded, if like me, you find yourself lingering over the story, having been evoked to ponder, reflect and question.
Linda Zupancic, Writer and Artist
British Columbia

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