A Model Railway Man by Alain Gomez

As addictions go, John Wilson was lost. No he was not into drugs and alcohol such as would be expected; he was addicted to model trains. There was a peace, an excitement as he worked in his basement, hard to give up. In dysfunctional families like John's, his wife was the one who suffered, night after night, sleeping alone with only herself for company. Even with company including Linda’s parents, he struggled to pull himself away a be part of the family.

When Linda finally resorted pushing him in the right direction, he agreed to counseling. Life got better for a time, even during counseling though John would drift to his sets, visualizing what needed to be done. As long as he was doing what Linda wanted, their life was better. When John got sick, it was finally time for him, his decision would be to put up his set and get more involved in his marriage. Being in the hospital scared him, and made him really look at his life.

Was it too late? Could Linda really believe him this time?

Alain Gomez has put together another creepy story and set it with people that you can relate to. John is a nice man but he is caught up in his addiction, something he cannot seem to control. But Linda while initially the sane one in the marriage, begins to ravel as well you have to admire her, and yet I found her actions just a bit bizarre. This short story gives me the feel of Hitchcock, the stories I watched when I was young that gave me nightmares.

While definitely written with an eye to horror, there was not a good understanding of how things came together as they did. I enjoyed the story but would like to see it tied together better at the end.

Rating 3/5

This book was received as a free download from the author. All opinions are my own based of my reading and understanding of the information.