Trujillo is a collection of eleven stories by author Lucius Shepard. The topics are varied but all are written in Shepard's uniquely descriptive style. They begin with what is possibly my favourite story of the entire collection – 'Only Partly Here'. I have read a number of 9/11 related stories over the last few years. Some have been examples of subtle, skilled writing others have been predictable and rather disappointing.

'Only Partly Here', I am delighted to say, falls firmly into the first category. In this tale we meet two workmen who are working at Ground Zero. As they clear the remains of the rubble they find mementoes of some of the victims of the tragedy. The story investigates the way the two men handle the emotional difficulties of their job.

The last five stories are set in the Honduran city of Trujillo. Still trying to recover from the effects of Hurricane Mitch, the cities main industry, tourism, is still failing. Yet there is a magic running through the city that is only apparent to a specific section of the community – and it is this group that forms the cast of these stories. Trawling through the beach bars that previously would be teeming with sun-burned tourists, the characters are forced to confront their own personal demons.

Trujillo covers a wide range of subjects that definitely challenge the reader. For my personal taste some of the tales are a little verbose. I have often said that short stories are not my favourite format. Well in the case of Trujillo it would be inaccurate to call the majority of them short – seeing as, with the exception of three tales, they all stretch to over fifty pages. To me this put them in a kind of no-man's land. They are too long to be short stories, but generally too short to be considered a novella. Personally I like my short stories to be punchy and concise and novels to be descriptive and detailed.

However, despite all of this I did enjoy this collection. It was the first work by Lucius Shepard that I have ever read and I am sure that it will not be the last. I would love to see how his writing style transfers to a novel or series of novels.

It is difficult to truly describe the writing of Lucius Shepard. Some of the stories touch on the horror genre but mainly I would consider his work to be, quite simply, creative fiction. He creates a narrative that paints you a picture of the world he has created. Unlike many other writers, when you read his work you can actually see the people and the settings as vividly as if someone had taken a photograph and placed it in front of you.