Scouting for the Reaper (2014) is the first collection of short stories by American author Jacob M.

[1][2] It won the Hudson Prize in 2012 and was published by Black Lawrence Press.

[3] Among the stories in the collection, "Rods and Cones", which had previously appeared in The Southwest Review, was listed "Notable Nonrequired Reading of 2007" in The Best American Nonrequired Reading, and "Creve Coeur", which previously won The Missouri Review's Editors Prize, was named as one of the "100 Other Distinguished Stories of 2007" by The Best American Short Stories.

[5] Critic John Domini in The Brooklyn Rail noted of Appel's stories that "the rambunctious serendipity recalls T. C. Boyle, as does the ability to turn on a dime, now cutthroat, now huggable.

"[6] Sue Ellis in Prick of the Spindle wrote of the collection that "every story is filled with all the pathos, humor, and intimacy readers will come to expect from this author".