If you are not yet a fan of short stories, this book will change your opinion. In Lighting the Dark Side – Six Modern Tales, William Potter has written three novels and three short stories that, as he puts it, “feature main characters living their lives as normally as possible and then suddenly finding themselves in extraordinary situations.” . These six stories span nearly every genre, from thriller and suspense to mystery, detective, and even romance. The character development in each story is amazing. All the main characters are superbly written. Dialogue never comes out as forced or fake. Mr. Potter may well find himself in extraordinary company with some of the best authors sooner than he expected.

The first story, Bent, Not Broken, introduces us to Dwayne Johnson, a character who suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, a disorder that obviously makes him socially backward. When Dwayne passes a certain bus stop every morning on his way to work, he’s looking for someone very special. Someone he has called “Black Coat Girl”. The unexpected happens and Dwayne’s life takes a dramatic turn when he finally meets her face to face.

The next story, In the Gray is a very short story where the reader can take a glimpse into the life of Michael Conner. Most of the story is a phone conversation with his mother, but from that call we can learn everything we need to know about Michael, his family, and his past. It’s amazing how much information the author can squeeze into less than a dozen pages.

Prominent Couple Slain is a great old fashioned detective/murder mystery. In this story we are introduced to Detective Jack Staal, a burnt out homicide detective who has just been transferred from the stresses of the big city only to be faced with a horrendous murder of the most prominent couple in his new small town.

The premise of the following story is that May 18, 2010 will be the last day of civilization. Comet Ivan is on a collision course to destroy everything and will be here soon, but all Trevor wants to do is get home to his girl, Kelly-Anne. For some reason, it’s not Comet Ivan that worries Trevor, but something else. He feels that he has lived through this disaster many times before. Can he change the future?

Who has not dreamed of winning a multi-million dollar lottery? The fifth story of Lighting the Dark Side, Blessing or Curse? It deals with exactly that topic. The main character, Brad Stewart, has won 11 million dollars? He imagines all the things he can do with that money. Imagine what he will buy. Imagine how much his life will change. Brad envisioned all of this, but what he didn’t plan on was that, as a lottery winner, he would become the target of an extortionist who kidnapped his son!

The latest story, Surviving the Fall, is an exciting thriller that takes place about a week before Christmas. In it, James Goodal witnesses how a young woman is thrown from a moving vehicle and takes her to her house to take care of her. Unfortunately, Ashley has a very dangerous past that catches up with her and James. This story is fast-paced and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Each and every story contains two of the most important elements in good story writing and they are believable characters and interesting situations. This book offers much more than expected. I look forward to more William Potter works in the future.