OTHER MINDS

Sims’ collection balances high-concept fiction with visceral thrills.

There are few writers who would think to blend a zombie narrative with ruminations on the epistemological implications of the undead, as Sims did in the novel A Questionable Shape (2013). The stories in this collection tap into a similar vein of both uncanny menace and philosophical speculation, but Sims demonstrates a wider range of styles and tones, ranging from the academic satire of “Introduction to the Reading of Hegel” to the grotesque violence of “Pecking Order.” The best of these stories allow Sims to pull off unlikely juxtapositions, such as “The New Violence,” in which a writer’s thoughts on Italian giallo films and the details of an ancient Etruscan jug begin to converge in unsettling ways. Another highlight is “The Postcard,” which begins with the detective narrator meeting with a new client, an aging lawyer whose late wife had dementia. As the detective investigates the origins of a mysterious postcard his client received, the story slowly becomes a surreal meditation on memory and loss as it proceeds toward a haunting denouement. Cyclical structures are on display in several stories, including the aptly titled “Unknown,” which begins with a man letting a woman use his phone at a mall, only to become fixated on her conversation and its ramifications: “She was whispering angrily. You’ll never find me, he thought he heard her say. Never.” Sims writes obsession well, evoking the ways in which a seemingly quotidian encounter can transform into something bizarre or alienating when seen from the right angle. Readers who enjoy their fiction heady will find a lot to enjoy here.

This ambitious collection finds the right balance of familiar and experimental.