Spoiler-Free Review

Earlier this year, I read the short story, The Six Deaths of the Saint and loved it. Undercover is another 5-star short story from the same collection – and it was a trip.

It’s gory post-apocalyptic gangster noir with ghouls. If that sounds wild, it’s because it is. It felt like if the show Fallout had a baby with old school 1920s crime boss movies.

Don’t underestimate the gore. Click here for content warnings.

What’s Undercover about?

A stranger comes to a gang-run town and takes on the most unwanted job: bodyguard to a ghoul.

This was unpredictable, in the best way.

You wouldn’t know it by the cover, but this is a mix of horror, fantasy, and noir. And it was gory. Gory as hell.

For a story that wraps up in about 50 pages, I was astounded by the amount of plot twists packed into this tight narrative. It had constant tension from beginning to end, and it never went a direction I expected. It covers themes of revenge, survival, and justice, while also serving us an engaging plot.

Could it have been a full-length novel? Absolutely, I think it has that kind of potential. But, the draw of the short story format is it’s ability to throw you in the deep end and reveal information incrementally, and only as it becomes 100% necessary to keep up. And this is the kind of story that does just that, almost mercilessly. I was on the edge of my seat and trying to keep up the whole time, which I loved.

Should you read Undercover?

If twisty (and twisted) stories are your thing, you might like this. If your stomach is easily turned, I’d skip it. But if you do decide to read it, go into it knowing as little as possible – it’s only 50 pages, after all. The less you know, the better.