I'm not sure I can say I liked these stories--they're not really about the kinds of things that can be liked. But they glisten, in a bloody, raw kind of way. They are intensely readable, and I was hooked even as my teeth ground together in disgust, even as my jaw dropped in horror. In explorations of power, gender, and control that range from fairy tale to ultra-realism, Kristen Roupenian's follow-up to "Cat Person" imbues our deepest fears with exhilarating, revolting life.