Counting Sheep & Other Stories by D.I. Jolly

Title: Counting Sheep and Other Stories

Author: D.I. Jolly

Publisher: Tinpot Publishing

Date of publication: July 3rd, 2015

Genre: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Thriller

Number of pages: 295

POV: 1st person and 3rd person

Where you can find Counting Sheep and Other Stories: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Counting Sheep is a thriller by author D.I Jolly set in an alternative reality where sleep can be stored in batteries and used when required. There is also a small collection of short stories ranging from twisted romance to horror and the first chapter of his up and coming Novel Mostly Human.

Trigger Warning: None

My review:

When D.I. Jolly approached me to review Counting Sheep and Other Stories, I was pretty excited. I have reviewed his other books and I have become pretty attached to Syn Island. Knowing that Counting Sheep and Other Stories would be set on Syn Island made me very excited. D.I. Jolly has created a world that gets under your skin. You can’t help but start to care about the characters that live on the island….even if they are evil. Speaking of evil, he has successfully blurred the lines between good and evil in his stories. Those are evil turn out not to be and those that are good, well they end up being the bad guys.

I could go on about what was my favorite story in the book, which wouldn’t be fair because I liked them all. Each story struck me a different way and left me thinking about them after the fact.

Counting Sheep: I could see society evolve to a point where sleep is stored in batteries. I could also see it being abused like it was in the book.

Popstars – A Treatment: I actually had to read this story a couple of times. Each time, I thought to myself “This would make a great series”. A Batman-like hero who took out the bad guys. I would watch it.

Gonzo: This was an odd little story and I could relate to it in some ways. I mean, who hasn’t been on a bender and lost a few days (and to be clear, this was way before I had kids).

Pinnoccio: A creepy story and a different take on the story of Pinnoccio. I still shudder remembering what Pinnoccio turned into.

He Always Arrived at Night: A different twist on vampire love stories. Very different. I would love to see a full-length book made of it, I liked it that much.

The problem….with Love & Faith: I enjoyed reading this story. A different take on mermaid stories.

Winter’s Tale: A disturbing story of a mentally ill ex-bodyguard who is hired to find the girl he used to protect.

If I had to make a complaint about the book is that I noticed several misspellings of several words in the book. It didn’t bother me but I did have to go back to reread a sentence because it didn’t make sense to me. Other than that, I enjoyed reading it.

My Summary of Counting Sheep and Other Stories: 4 stars

Counting Sheep and Other Stories are one of those books that you cannot put down. This book takes you from dreamless sleep to an ex-bodyguard who is willing to put his life on the line to protect his former charge and beyond.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Violence, language, and sexual situations

**I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it**