Written by Joanne Ryan

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Published by	Tamarillas Press 16 Mar. 2025
Genre	Short Story
Pages	59
ASIN	B0F1N8MLHP

I saw an ad on Facebook for this free short story. Joanne Ryan is a pseudonym for Marina Johnson, whose A Confusion of Murders and Fat Girl Slim books I have previously enjoyed - and having a quick peek at my TBR pile I see have 2 more of her titles languishing there...

I shall begin by thanking Joanne Ryan for a free copy of her short story and offer my review below.

Book cover for the novel One Click Away by Joanne Ryan

The blurb:

One Click Away

Some things are best left alone….

When Charlie gets a text inviting her to play a game, her first instinct is to delete it. It’s obviously a scam because nothing in life comes for free. But her world is painfully dull, her future uninspiring.

Surely, just looking can’t hurt… right?

The rational side of her warns against it. Don’t fall for it. No one hands out opportunities like this.

And yet, she goes ahead and clicks ‘yes’ and in that instant, her life veers off course in ways she never could have imagined.

And once she’s in, there’s no way out...

Short Stories fiction

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this short story which I read in one sitting. With each decision Charlie made, I could feel the suspense building and wondered if she had been at all wise to join the game.

The tasks she is asked to perform are a little odd and the reward for completing them seems completely of proportion. I wondered what benefit the individual(s) behind the text messages might gain, and decided it was all too sinister. My alarm bells were ringing, but Charlie overrides any concerns and carries on.

I thought that perhaps her co-worker, Alan, was more than a little involved in the game, and if that was the case, then things appear to be working out nicely for him. Otherwise, Charlie will live the rest of her days looking over her shoulder, hiding from something or someone unidentified in this story.

I will definitely be reading more of Joanne Ryan's stories and highly recommend One Click Away as an introduction to her writing.