DEAD BOYS, by Richard Lang

(originally posted on October 24, 2007)

It took me a while to warm to this debut short story collection - sometimes a false start happens when I'm not in the mood - but I'm glad I gave DEAD BOYS a second chance for how spare and raw the depicted realities of men facing difficult decisions and gut-wrenching choices are. There's no need to compare him to past masters: Lange already is exactly what he should be with the promise of much more to come.