What You Were Fighting For is billed as a selection of short stories by James Sallis. Often it reads more like a collection of notes he's scribbled down in a notebook as ideas for future novels. It's often surreal , nearly always surprising and while not all of the stories worked for me personally there were as many ideas amongst the very random assortment that I'd have been interested in seeing expanded into a full novel.

It's certainly interesting ,and as a fan of anything "different" I enjoyed the shocks,surprises and tangents of what often felt like sample chapters rather than anything that could honestly be called a short story. It won't be for everyone,it certainly wasn't what I was expecting,but as an insight into James Sallis's vivid imagination and writing skills it's a fascinating read............and there's a cameo appearance from one of his best known characters.