See you in paradise - J. Robert Lennon

Bizarre, darkly funny and disconcerting, this collection of stories explores the surreal that lurks in everyday life. Deftly blending the everyday at its most uncanny with smatterings of sci-fi, these fourteen stories probe moments when family members move apart, or drift back together, when dreams crumble and convictions falter, moments when suddenly things fall into place from a new perspective. A Japanese Hibachi grill rekindles a wife's passion for her husband and for revenge. A family take weekend trips to other worlds through a magic portal. Dan Larsen, recently drowned, is brought back to life and makes trouble for the group of friends who'd prefer he hadn't. Ellen invites friends, and her ex-husband, to a memorial party for Bounder, a family pet who hasn't died. Written with Lennon's characteristic deadpan humour these stories catch you off guard and leave you wondering just how much peculiarity the world is capable of absorbing.