Sign-In
Cart
R. L. Saunders Satire Collection 02
Paperback
ISBN13: 9781393621522
Publisher: Independent Publ Group
Published: Dec 28 2018
Pages: 116
Weight: 0.34
Height: 0.28 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
A Second Collection of the Dark Humor Satire of R. L. Saunders
Life in our dystopian near-futures has never been funnier. Sauders gets inspiration from our daily news, and these stories are therapy for us as well. Skewering what is accepted as conventional wisdom, Saunders explores concepts which are more easily delivered with entertainment than op-eds or tweet-storms.
Always taking the what if of current controversies to their slippery-slope results, Saunders reminds us constantly to not take the world around us seriously.
This anthology contains:
Smart Home Revenge by R. L. Saunders and S. H. Marpel
For the Love of 'Cagga by C. C. Brower & R. L. Saunders
Synco (TM) by J. R. Kruze & R. L. Saunders
The Lonely Witness by R. L. Saunders
Beltway Gremlin by R. L. Saunders
Excerpt from Smart Home Revenge
What do you mean we can't get back in to my own house? What about cutting the power?
I can't get the power company to send any more people here. They keep getting shocked even before they touch the disconnect.
At their own pole?!?
Yes. Their own power pole is shocking them.
What about cutting off the whole block?
Not that simple. There are a lot of lawyers who live in this neighborhood of yours and they already know about your haunted 'smart home'. They've let us know that it will be costly if we try. Besides, the next closest substation takes out dozens of blocks around here. We aren't going to turn everyone off just because you lost the password to your own smart home.
It's not the password, I tell you... The owner was fuming by now, fists clenched. Oh, just never mind. Then the smartphone was pocketed.
The windows on the house pulsed red and green. And no, they didn't leave their Christmas decorations up.
The last technician who was willing to come out and have a look at their house said that it reminded him of breathing. And after we fired him, no other company would agree to take it on - but would schedule us their next possible opening - some months from now.
The owner, his wife, and two kids were just standing on their sidewalk. With their pets on leashes. Even their cars were locked inside the garage. All they had been able to take with them were their smartphones, a game controller, and a tablet. But accessing their smart home control panel only gave them a PAC-man-era pixelated sad face.
Worse than sad - angry.
Calls to the company who made the programs and installed them went unanswered, or were refused. And after that, their phone went dead. All like some horrible prank-turned-harassment.
At last, one of the neighbor's wives came over and called a cab for the family on her own phone. The cab arrived, the family left. And the on-looking neighbors went back inside - or got in their own cars to leave and stay elsewhere until that spooky house was resolved. Or at least knew their house wasn't going to be next.
It was close to sunset now. And while all the houses had power, the streetlights on that street and the others near them failed to come on.
Police sent patrol cars to manage traffic in those streets, but wouldn't come down to that vacant house.
The one that breathed red and green - and looked far more ominous in the dark...
Scroll Up and Get Your Copy Now
Also in
Humor
I Can't Believe I Did That: The Game That Gives You Points for Sharing Awkward, Awesome, and Unforgettable Memories: Card Games
Nadelberg, David
Katcher, Neil
Other
The Science Magpie: Fascinating Facts, Stories, Poems, Diagrams and Jokes Plucked from Science
Flynn, Simon
Paperback
Fixing Flamingos: And Other Solutions to the World's Least Pressing Problems
Rea, Brian
Brown, Lucienne
Paperback
How to Be a Cat: (Cat Books for Kids, Cat Gifts for Kids, Cat Picture Book)
Swerling, Lisa
Lazar, Ralph
Hardcover
The Chapo Guide to Revolution: A Manifesto Against Logic, Facts, and Reason
Chapo Trap House
Hardcover
Peculiar Questions and Practical Answers: A Little Book of Whimsy and Wisdom from the Files of the New York Public Library
New York Public Library
Hardcover
How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay: Tips and Tricks That Kept Me Alive, Happy, and Creative in Spite of Myself
Lawson, Jenny
Hardcover
Bake It Off: An Unofficial Taylor Swift-Inspired Cookbook for Every Era, from Breakfast to Midnights
Smith, Lindsey
Hardcover
Big Fan: Two Friends, 82,490 Miles, and the Wild, Wonderful Sports We Love
Schur, Michael
Posnanski, Joe
Hardcover
Pardon My Book: Ten Years of the Best (and Worst) in Sports from Pardon My Take
Big Cat
Commenter, Pft
Hardcover
Wtf America?!: The Way Out of This Hell and Back to Democracy
Meiselas, Ben
Meiselas, Brett
Meiselas, Jordy
Hardcover
Black Out Loud: The Revolutionary History of Black Comedy from Vaudeville to '90s Sitcoms
Bennett, Geoff
Hardcover
How to Grow Up Without Becoming a Grown-Up: Big Lessons from Little Kids
Shapiro-Barnum, Julian
Hardcover
We Are the World (Cup): A Personal History of the World's Greatest Sporting Event
Bennett, Roger
Hardcover
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Five Novels in One Outrageous Volume
Adams, Douglas
Paperback
Not Today, Fascists: The Lies That Got Us Here, and the Truths That Will Reunite Us
Welch, Jennifer
Hardcover
The New Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Expert Advice for Extreme Situations
Borgenicht, David
Piven, Joshua
Hardcover
There Are Moms Way Worse Than You: Irrefutable Proof That You Are Indeed a Fantastic Parent
Boozan, Glenn
Hardcover
How to Talk to Your Cat about Gun Safety: And Abstinence, Drugs, Satanism, and Other Dangers That Threaten Their Nine Lives
Auburn, Zachary
Paperback
Nobody Wants Your Sh*t: The Art of Decluttering Before You Die (New York Times Bestseller)
Condo, Messie
Hardcover