Continuum: A Short Story Collection by Chad Lester
“Tension-building excellence . . . Often ethereal and otherworldly, Continuum is a short story collection designed to challenge perceptions of life and its trajectory.”
—Midwest Book Review
Continuum is a genre-defying collection of sharp suspenseful stories that tread on the darker side of human nature.
Ambitious in scope, it vividly moves through slices of time—from ages past, the present, and into the unknowable future. The stories question our deepest subconscious passions and asks—how much control do we really have? Can good people be conditioned to commit atrocities? Is it possible for kindness and cruelty to exist within the same person? Can our species ever extricate itself from our worst tendencies? In the most interconnected age in human history—why are some of us so alone?
End of the Earth
A young woman flees her home with her infant and travels alone in an unforgiving primeval wilderness.
Beneath the Yellow Aspen Trees
A fresh faced young man is indoctrinated by blood into the legions. He’s forced to choose between his family values and the ruthless discipline the legion is imposing upon him.
The Lounge
The struggling owner of an old jazz lounge has his life interrupted by a mysterious young woman who likes Aviation cocktails and has a questionable taste in fashion.
—88th Annual Writer’s Digest Award Finalist
The Missing Window
A newlywed young couple meet a peculiar but sweet woman who gifts them her beautiful yet derelict mansion.
Cantankerous Old Man
A busy father debates what to do about his own elderly father who has a penchant for filthy jokes and antisocial behavior.
All Aboard
In her search for truth, a pregnant journalist on Mars stumbles upon a terrible secret in a technocracy run amok.
Beyond
A girl finds herself alone on a strange planet and isn’t sure how she got there.