Reflections in a Hubcap
Master story teller Steve Atkinson showcases 23 of his best stories in this clever anthology. Some of these tales are whimsically autobiographical, while others visit the dark and murky places of the human mind. All are beautifully crafted and leave the reader with a thirst for more.
​
Image on cover: Steve at five years old with his mother and father in the early fifties. They are the subject characters in the prizewinning title story in this collection.
Review
"I'll lay my cards on the table, Steve Atkinson is a personal friend of long-standing so, of course, I loved reading his second anthology of short stories, Reflections in a Hubcap.
Steve and I were tabloid hacks together at the end of the heyday of British journalism in the 1980s, since when our careers diverged He took to writing 'proper' stories only a few years ago, several years after being forced into retirement through redundancy.
Steve is a natural story-teller who loves deep conversations, and reading some of the 23 stories in Reflections in a Hubcap I picture myself lounging with him, drink in hand, having the conversation. I can hear his voice in my head as I read, drawn in by his crafted prose.
Most readers, however, will get to know Steve only as they read his work and for them, every story will be a journey to a strange place. And as they get to know Steve better, they can envy me those long conversations, drink in hand..." Andrew Hibberd​
​
Stringybark Publishing 162 Pages
Review
"In this collection, Steve Atkinson proves himself to be a complete master of the short story, not only through his accomplished writing style but also in his choice of themes and subjects.
The immediacy and completeness of characters is something that a writer of short stories must achieve if a reader’s interest is to be caught, held, and the story remembered; and character definition in Atkinson’s stories is remarkably deep and rounded.
These are people who easily could be found among the living, but Atkinson takes the points of essential reference and description to render his players equally alive on the written page.
Even the most minor of accompanying characters is vivid and strong, and faultlessly takes their small part in framing and interpreting the many storylines which Atkinson follows, ranging through the full gamut of human experience, from the darkness of the tormented soul to a child’s brilliant happiness.

The narratives unfold at a carefully studied pace. Nothing is hurried nor pushed along too quickly. The author controls the reader’s desire to know where the action is leading through the precise handling and fascination of the immediate moment. Atkinson’s tales are not objects for skim reading.

Each of the stories in this collection ends with that moment of dénouement or revelation when final understanding is achieved. This is the technique which sets the fully skilled short story writer apart from aspirants in the genre, and it identifies this book as one for very serious consideration by any reader looking for a good story, excellently told." Author, Judith Rook
​
​
​