In Sunlight or In Shadow edited by Lawrence Block

In Sunlight or In Shadow is an anthology of short stories, each one based loosely or strongly on an Edward Hopper painting. As with all anthologies, some of the stories are good, some are less good and some I just didn’t like at all.

Also, like all anthologies, some authors are well known (to me) such as Megan Abbott, Lee Child, Michael Connelly and Stephen King and some were unknown such as Jill Black, Nicholas Christopher and Craig Ferguson.

The stories average around 15 pages each and most are fast reading. For mystery fans, there are some series names making an appearance such as Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch whose story was clearly one of the better ones (which is rewarding because I haven’t loved the Bosch recent novels all that much).

However, the story I liked best was the last one, by Lawrence Block. the anthology’s editor, called Autumn at the Automat.

If you’re a Hopper fan, then you’ll enjoy seeing some of his paintings and reading how they’ve inspired the authors. If not, you’ll still enjoy some of the stories. The thing I like about short story anthologies, is that you can stop and start, skip or read, as you feel the urge. In Sunlight or In Shadow is definitely worth your time.