Holm’s ebook Eight Pounds is a steal

So, I just finished Chris F. Holm’s ebook Eight Pounds: . To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect.  I had seen Holm’s stories in some of the same places I have published (Thuglit) and those I aspire to (Needle, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine), so his name was familiar. For 99 cents, however, I figured it was worth taking a flyer and gave it a try.

Having just finished the last story today, I can say I’m glad I did. Eight Pounds contains eight solid stories, most of which wouldn’t feel out of place in an anthology from a major publishing house. Their quality is among many reasons why I have been recalibrating my internal gauges and measures when it comes to finding good things to read. I, like most others, have been trained to expect that things offered for free are somehow less valuable than things we pay for. But I have increasingly found that, while there is obviously a lot of supbar writing out there on the Internet, there is also a lot of top-notch work to be found.

Holm has been offering a good chunk of the good stuff over the past few years, if this collection is any indication, and it feels like he’s on the cusp of something bigger… and more lucrative.  I know he priced this at 99 cents to get the word out, but reading this provided more entertainment than the last movie I saw, and you can’t see one of those without a transaction involving large bills taking place. But no matter how and where he ends up publishing his next work, I’ll be paying attention. As I get serious about my own writing, being in publications and on sites with folks like Holm is a big boost. But reading Eight Pounds, I also know I have some work to do.