Ann Patchett Books Ranked Novels & Stories

but it’s not a book, no way. But as he eased closer to the counter he couldn’t deny what he saw. The object looked just the right size for a hardcover novel. He squinted, trying to make out the author’s name or the book’s title . . . No. No, his stubborn mind protested, it can’t be. But as he moved closer, his unbelieving eyes discerned an adolescent boy’s gray profile, features shrouded by darkness, and printed across the bottom was: Gavin Patchett.

Olson Embers: A Collection of Dark Fiction by Kenneth W. Cain Visions of the Mutant Rain Forest, by Bruce Boston and Robert Frazier Tribulations by Richard Thomas Eidolon Avenue: The First Feast by Jonathan Winn Flowers in a Dumpster by Mark Allan Gunnells The Dark at the End of the Tunnel by Taylor Grant Through a Mirror, Darkly by Kevin Lucia Things Slip Through by Kevin Lucia Where You Live by Gary McMahon Tricks, Mischief and Mayhem by Daniel I. Russell

I didn’t hesitate. I pulled Fifty Shades of Grey first (cliché, yes, but I needed an entry point), then The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice, Story of O, a slim volume called The New Topping Book just to balance it out, and two anthologies with titles like Bound Hearts and Surrender to Me. The stack felt heavy in my arms, like contraband. I carried them to the my corner and hid them under the table. I sat down, and opened the first book.