REVIEW from the Short story “Scars from the Past” by Babi Lacerda

Synopsis: After the death of her grandmother, Alexandra inherited her house and started her own business, apparently leading an ordinary and quiet life, but beneath the surface there was a terrible secret that consumed her night after night. Constant insomnia brought along with it the worst possible demons, causing her to have an extreme difficulty in distinguishing which nightmares were real or not.
Alexandra was introduced to the true face of evil very early on. Violence hit her like chemical radiation and once exposed, contamination was inevitable.

Her soul, already tired and tormented by the pains of horror, claimed for peace, something that had been snatched from her years ago. In order to do so, she needed to take revenge on the one who brutally stained her past.

Rating: 5/5

Impressions: I couldn’t help but think that Babi Lacerda is the daughter Stephen King doesn't know he had, yet. She writes in much the same style and with fluidity, though she has a voice of her own, filled with darkness and a pinch of sarcasm and black humor. You know that boring week, when you get so caught up in your everyday routine and don't seem to know what to do to snap out of it? Well, this story is an invisible hand that will grab you by the throat and hurl you through the pages.

Brace yourselves! Not recommended for those with a weak stomach or a heart condition. Throughout the story I was able to feel all the agony of the main character, her pain, her mental confusion and I was perplexed and entangled in her disconnected thoughts, insomnia, and just as the character, I had doubts as to whether what was happening was a dream or not. I felt my blood run cold at various instances, and I confess that at one point a it brought me on the verge of tears. “I started to count the slowly dripping drops of the shower, the atmosphere in the room was heavy, the old fan was not efficient to cool down the hot nights, and moreover it creaked, tearing through the silence of the dawn.” I even found myself sneering as I read. Yes, it made me laugh! It is a roller coaster of emotions.

Sounds great, doesn't it? There's more. Now you might want to sit down... It's not a simple superficial story merely made to entertain the reader. The author makes a strong social criticism. She throws a necessary punch right on the stomach of a hypocritical society, where instead of embracing ourselves, we point our “crooked, wrinkled and trembling fingers” at each other. "The treetops rustled softly, for a moment it was as if she could hear me."

AVAILABLE AT AMAZON AND KINDLE UNLIMITED