Acts of Contrition

Acts of Contrition, Thomas Cobb’s collection of stories, is full of opposing forces.  It is not a playful read.  Set in the cities and deserts of the American southwest, across farmland to the lakes and towns of the northeast, fifteen stories span pre-civil war to present day.  History and memory are reassembled into moments of time out of order.  The characters too are in disorder, men and women who, in trying to regain control of their lives, manage to lose even more. 
 
In his first collection of stories, Acts of Contrition, Thomas Cobb pushes the envelope of comfort.  As its characters see their lives spinning out of order, they make last ditch attempts to regain relationships and control, but in doing so manage to create less hope than before.