Reviewed by Kathie Giorgio
The Three Devils
by William Luvaas
Cornerstone Press
January 2025, 182 pages, ISBN-13: 978-1960329622
I never expected to laugh while reading a post-apocalyptic short story collection. I expected to be horrified, terrified, and constantly comparing it to today’s world. To be fair, I did exactly those things too, but I also laughed and found myself deep in enjoyment.
Not that the post-apocalypse is a wonderful place in Luvaas’ short story collection, The Three Devils. It isn’t…and as the collection goes on, I found myself laughing less and less. As I drew near the end, suddenly, it wasn’t so funny anymore.
That was a very effective tactic. The laughter in the beginning made me feel like this couldn’t possibly ever really happen. But as I drew near the end, it became obvious that it definitely could, and possibly, was already underway.
The transition began to happen in the exact middle of the book, with the story, “The Los Angeles Culture Depository”. With many similarities to Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, an attempt to save valuable literature and artwork was gripping and the start, for me, of real horror. From there, it just grew darker and darker…but still impossible to put down.
Equally impressive in this book is the juxtaposition of hopelessness and hopefulness. While the situations grew darker and more dire, and a positive outcome seemed unlikely, the characters’ continued striving to right the impossible situation brought a feeling of possible redemption. I wept for the world while I planned for its survival.
What an amazing collection. The best advice I can give a potential reader: pour a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, or even better, both, sit in a dark room with only one light on to illuminate the pages, and sit in the most comfortable chair you have. Prepare to stay awhile. You won’t want to stop.
About the reviewer: Kathie Giorgio is the author of the upcoming poetry collection Let Me Tell You; Let Me Sing, a poetry collection, to be released by Kelsay Books. She is also the author of Don’t Let Me Keep You, a novel, released by Black Rose Writing, Hope Always Rises, a novel, released by Black Rose Writing, as well as The Home For Wayward Clocks, Learning To Tell (A Life)Time, Rise From The River, In Grace’s Time, If You Tame Me, All Told, story collections, Enlarged Hearts and Oddities & Endings; The Collected Stories of Kathie Giorgio,essay collection, Today’s Moment Of Happiness Despite The News, and the poetry books, True Light Falls In Many Forms, When You Finally Said No, No Matter Which Way You Look, There Is More To See and Olivia In Five, Seven, Five; Autism In Haiku. Find out more at: www.kathiegiorgio.org