Reviewed by: SpinsBySpin
Genre: Mystery
Approximate word count: 65-70,000 words
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Author:
David H Fears refers to himself as "a westerner who has lived in various parts of the country", and is a self-confessed admirer of Raymond Chandler and Mickey Spillane. He is currently working on an annotated chronology of the life of Mark Twain. He has published all his "hardboiled private eye detective novels" as ebooks. There are currently four Mike Angel books available, as well as eight other fiction offerings.
Description:
Meet Mike Angel, unwillingly AKA as Mike D'Angelo, hard-boiled tough guy working as a Private Investigator in the early 1960's. Six years as a PI found him frustrated, bored with chasing insurance cheats and looking for thrills. Enter Kimbra, beautiful and a victim of abuse. Exit her husband, by way of a single gunshot from a .22. Mike now finds himself on the wrong side of the law as he covers up the shooting. Travel with Mike from New Jersey to New York to Chicago as he looks for elusive connections to the long-defunct Purple Gang, loses Kimbra, almost loses himself, and finds her again as he searches for those responsible for his father's murder.
Appraisal:
If you are going to write hard boiled crime fiction, you need the formula, which Dark Quarry delivers in spades: beautiful, sexy women, really nasty bad guys and lots of action. However, Dark Quarry reads as though it is one short story after another, with the only apparent connection between them the protagonist, Mike Angel, mentions of Kimbra, and a series of beautiful, desperate, and devious women. More than once while reading this book, I found myself wondering what connection there was in the action from one situation to another.
In Act One, we meet Kimbra, "a flashy babe with innocent lips masking lust and danger." This is the tried and true smoking gun - Mike walks in just as Kimbra shot her husband Joe Ambler. Impulsively, Mike takes over and whisks Kimbra, corpse and gun out, thus stepping over the legal line, putting his PI license on the line for this temptress. Once the body has been disposed of, however, Mike forced her to divulge connections between the now deceased Joe and ancient members of the Purple Gang. Kimbra plays Mike for a sucker and runs off with his client and good friend, Ed Bergman.
Act Two
Enter Haley, married and on the make - for Mike. And married to Bergman. It is here that the dialogue and tone starts to feel a little forced, like Mike has to continually prove that he is the ultimate tough guy, and there is no heart of gold anywhere in the picture. Kimbra shows up, threatens Mike, and he tells her with "gravel in my voice. 'You didn't really think I'd be that stupid . . You're pretty smooth--and you almost fooled me with that act in the car about Joe forcing you to do bad things, Now I figure it was you forcing him. You're the kind of dame who thrives on doing bad things, then blaming others. I bet you've had plenty of rehearsals doing bad things. Bergman for one--what are your bad plans for him?"
Act Three
Exit Kimbra. Exit Ed Bergman. Enter Haley, Ed's wife and the next in a long line of sexy, hot women. Only, now Haley has the hots for Mike, and Mike turns her down cold. I'm not sure if Lt. Rick Anthony, friend, detective and wordsmith, is introduced as comic relief from Mike's at times heavy handed "tough guy" persona. By contrast, he comes across as - well, see for yourself. Mike calls Rick for a "small" favor; Rick responds with "They're always infinitesmal [sic] to you, Bud, but I shall endeavor to retain my high position in your esteem". Now I worked with cops for about 9 years, and even those with higher degrees didn't talk this way, not even as a joke. Rick just doesn't "click", but does provide a contrast to Mike's persona.
Even the mobsters in the book come across as overdone. Dialog like "We know youse been tailin' him. . . "We's people youse don't wish to cross D'Angelo . . . " I kind of doubt that someone who uses "youse" and "we's" would include "wish" in the same sentence. But then again, he might, if that person was trying to show how "erudite" he is!
Mike's motivations appear to focus on Kimbra and a murder cover-up. However I kept looking for connections between the seemingly unrelated events: the mystery of Kimbra, the involvement of The Purple Gang and Mike's murdered father. With no clear driving force behind Mike's actions, I found it difficult to see the thread tying all the events together. Mike's murdered father, an important focus in the book, does not appear until two-thirds of the book is read. This made for a weak connection to something that could have strongly tied all the events that occur together, making for a tighter story.
With all that said, the book is an enjoyable read. If you like hard boiled private eyes who find themselves caught up in sticky situations involving beautiful but untrustworthy women, show human failings, and in Mike's own words, don't "rate a nice girl [and] wouldn't know what to do with one, except maybe drag her down". I look forward to reading other offerings in this series, admittedly to see how Mike Angel, Private Eye, develops.
Format/Typo Issues:
No significant issues.
Rating: *** Three Stars
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Genre: Short Story / Literary Fiction
Approximate word count: 10-15,000 words
Availability
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Author:
Randy Kadish’ writing has appeared in flyfishing journals and magazines. His stories often combine his love of fishing with people struggling to do good while fighting their demons. He has a novel and an additional short story available for your Kindle. Kadish’s fishing tips and more information about his book and stories can be found on his website.
Description:
Abandoned by her mother, Amanda is raised by her father and grandmother. When her grandmother is diagnosed with cancer, Amanda experiences a crisis. Angry at the world, an unexpected lesson teaches how to forgive.
Appraisal:
As a character study of Amanda, the narrator of the story, and her grandmother, The Bad, The Good, and Two Fly Fishing Women is a pleasant enough read. The story captures the special relationship a grandparent and grandchild often have. But this isn’t enough to carry a story.
The apparent goal is for Amanda to reach some kind of closure, understanding or at least forgiving her mother after she leaves her and her father for another man. The description says Amanda’s experiences teach her to forgive her mother, and the story ends with her doing that. However, I’m still not certain how Amanda went from point A to point B. Whether I’m too dense to put the pieces together or the points are too subtle, I’m not sure.
Format/Typo Issues:
No significant issues.
Rating: *** Three stars
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Genre: Mystery/Drama
Approximate word count: 40-45,000 words
Availability
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Author:
During the day Dee Dawning works his day job, designing and building homes. Then he comes home to his wife of twenty-eight years, heads for bed early, and wakes up in the wee hours of the morning to write. Dawning’s many novels and shorter works span many genres; the only sure thing is that the action will take place in contemporary times and have a possibility of really happening. You won’t find any vampires or werewolves, although you’ll definitely find sex, and lots of it – erotica is Dawning’s most frequent genre choice. For more, visit the author’s website.
Description:
This is part one of the two part Televangelist series. Part two, The Ruthless Preacher, is expected to be released in July, 2011.
After meeting Missy Riverton, smooth talking sociopath Jamie Lee Vincent attends a revival put on by her televangelist father, Reverend Sonny Riverton. Observing the money the Riverton’s rake in at the revival, Jamie Lee believes he’s found his calling, and joins the Riverton ministry.
Appraisal:
My thoughts on The Bastard Preacher are contradictory and all over the place. One part of me looks at the book as fluff for the brain. It’s an easy read – short, not too many characters, a plot that is relatively simple and easy to follow, plus plenty of sex. The equivalent of the movie you rent for the sex scenes that have enough plot so that you can pretend otherwise.
Each chapter starts with a quote from a real world televangelist. I questioned the validity of the quotes after a while, believing a true “man of God” would not really say things like this (from Reverend Pat Robertson):
Feminism encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.
A quick internet search verified this quote and a sample of the others. Apparently televangelists say the darndest things.
My contradicting thought is that the book is taking aim at televangelists almost like a fictional exposé. Sonny Riverton and Jamie Lee Vincent aren’t real, yet aren’t that much different from their real life counterparts. I doubt The Bastard Preacher will appeal to people who are believers in any of the not-yet-discredited televangelists, so Dawning might be preaching to the choir, but he’ll reinforce the thinking of non-believers. Or you can just read it for the sex scenes like I did.
FYI:
The ending of this book is a cliffhanger. If that is a potential problem, wait for the second volume of the two volume series, due in July.
Although I’m sure the sex in The Bastard Preacher doesn’t approach the frequency or intensity of Dawning’s erotica, it is still frequent and hot enough that anyone who finds sex in fiction objectionable should consider this a warning.
Format/Typo Issues:
No significant issues
Rating: **** Four stars
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Genre: Thriller/Mystery/Paranormal
Approximate word count: 50-55,000 words
Availability
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Author:
Bruce Sarte grew up on the Jersey Shore where Sands of Time takes place, but now lives outside of Philadelphia. When not busy with his four kids, he enjoys baseball and playing guitar. Sarte has another novel, Towering Pines Volume One: Room 509, available in all formats, plus at least one more novel and some short stories available for your favorite ereader. For more information, visit his website.
Description:
They were there one moment and gone the next. Sam Shepard’s family died in a car accident shortly after Sam and his wife had a bitter argument. Crawling into a bottle to forget, he begins having dreams that they are still alive.
Appraisal:
Three acts are typical of a play, and many novels can be broken down into a three act structure. Evaluated this way, Sands of Time is three acts, each a different genre.
The first act, which sets up the remainder, is contemporary fiction. While there are hints of several directions in which the story could go, this first part is mostly getting to know Sam Shepard. We learn Shepard is a successful business owner haunted by the death of his wife and children, struggling with alcohol and faith; not just religious, but also faith in himself.
Act two reads like a mystery with a hint of romance as Shepard finds clues indicating not all is as it seemed. Act three introduces a mostly unexpected paranormal element and could be classified as a paranormal thriller.
I’ve read books like this before and they’ll often feel like they take a change of direction that makes no sense. As a reader, I’ll feel like the author is cheating by setting up expectations in my mind and then not meeting them. (Read our review of Jimmy Stone’s Ghost Town for an example.) I didn’t feel this way with Sands of Time. In principle, I like the idea of genre mixing, but it can be hard to pull off. Sarte manages this feat by giving hints in prior sections of what is coming. He also smoothly segues from one section to the other. Both of these make what could have seemed like sudden changes feel like a logical story flow. Last, Sarte pulls the threads together from all three parts, accomplishing a surprise ending that is satisfying in all respects.
Format/Typo Issues:
No significant issues
Rating: **** Four stars
Reviewed by: BigAl
Genre: Short Stories/Women’s Lit/Chick Lit
Approximate word count: 60-65,000 words
Availability
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Author:
At different times a writer, editor, and teaching artist, native New Yorker Deborah Batterman has had her stories featured in many anthologies and journals, both in print and cyberspace. Batterman is also a featured writer at Smartly New York. For more, visit her website.
Description:
A collection of eleven short stories set in a variety of places and times with female protagonists of all kinds.
Appraisal:
Lately I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the different reasons people read. I suspect someday all my thoughts will end up as a blog post. I’ve concluded that, though there is a wide range of general reasons, a specific reader will often have different motivations depending on the type of book. When I read women’s lit or chick lit (whatever your definition of these may be) I’m sure what I as a male am looking is different than what the primary target demographic of these genres hopes to find. Most of the time I think we’re happy with the same books, but for different reasons.
Books can give you a chance to vicariously experience things you couldn’t otherwise, help you see situations from a different viewpoint, and possibly come to understand a group of people better. This is what I hope to gain from women’s lit.
In contrast, a book can help you understand that your experiences aren’t unique. It can demonstrate that others have the same hopes, fears, and difficulties. This is one potential benefit of reading women’s lit for a woman that doesn’t apply in the same way for a man.
The title of the collection references the titles of three of the eleven stories. These superficial sounding titles make sense, but camouflage stories with much more depth than implied by the names. Many stories felt as if there were multiple layers; different messages a reader might receive or more than one lesson to learn, depending on your own perspective.
For example, Shoes has a lesson about judging by surface appearances, but also illustrates that no matter how well you think you know someone, there are always things you don’t know or understand about them. Nails is about friendships and relationships. My personal favorite was Hair, which had lessons about parenting, responsibility, and possibly consequences.
Neither of the benefits discussed above will come to fruition if the characters don’t ring true. The variety of characters populating each story in SHOES HAIR NAILS seemed real, even those much different from anyone I know. Whatever your reason for reading woman’s lit; SHOES HAIR NAILS is an excellent choice.
Format/Typo Issues:
No significant issues
Rating: **** Four stars
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Genre: Noir
Approximate word count: 15-20,000 words
Availability
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Author:
Former professional musician and poker player, Mike Dennis now makes his home in Key West, Florida. He has two novels, The Take and Setup on Front Street, with a third, The Ghosts of Havana, in the works.
Description:
A collection of three short stories, all in the noir style Dennis specializes in.
Fully Loaded: Used car saleswoman Sherry Lamar is feeling the economic crunch of the mid-80s and bored with life. A stranger changes that.
The Devil Drives A Big Mercedes: A minor childhood drama leads a seven-year-old boy towards a life of depravity.
Block: Curing writers block takes a bizarre turn for a famous crime fiction novelist.
Appraisal:
When it comes to noir, I like Mike Dennis’ style. His novel The Take was my first exposure to his work. This short collection is the reprise. The Take had a storyline that fit what I think most people would expect from noir. The first of the three stories in this book, Fully Loaded, is also a typical noir story, although it kept me guessing where it was going and is an excellent example of the genre.
I want to say Dennis stretches the genre in the other two stories, but that isn’t really true. The Devil Drives A Big Mercedes has the characteristics associated with the genre, yet the plot still seemed unique or somehow fresh to me. Maybe that is a factor of what I have or haven’t read in the past.
Block also fits the definitions I’ve seen of noir, although it uses a twist or two and a touch of genre mixing to get there. I’ve found that my reaction is either hot or cold to music and books that are self-referential. If they have a theme on the joys or trials of being a musician or a writer, I’ll either hate it, feeling it is too pretentious or has nothing I can relate to, or love it, often because it is a subject the creator understood well. Block falls solidly in the loved it category, as does the full collection.
FYI:
This genre is rarely suited for those not old enough to deal with adult themes. This general caution applies to this specific book, as well.
Format/Typo Issues:
No significant issues
Rating: **** Four stars
Reviewed by: BigAl
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Approximate word count: 70-75,000 words
Availability
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Author:
An award winning magazine writer and editor, A Whisper to a Scream is Karen Wojcik Berner’s first novel. This is the initial book of a planned series, with each focusing on one or two members of the book club formed in this book. Berner also has a blog called Bibliophilic Blather, which features flash fiction (either her own or a guest’s) each Friday. Another frequent feature is Editing for Grammarphobes, short grammar, language, and editing tips that are beneficial for everyone, whether they think they are a writer or not. For more, visit the author’s website.
Description:
Annie Jacobs has looked forward to motherhood since cuddling her Baby Tenderlove as a five year old. Now a successful thirty-seven year-old PR executive, her life is one of tests and scheduled attempts at making a baby while her rapidly ticking biological clock winds down.
Across town is Sarah Anderson, a mother of two. Her days consist of cleaning the house, cooking, and child-rearing duties while her husband works late. Can’t she ever get any time for herself?
Appraisal:
For some reason my brain wants to start this review with a cliché. Maybe something about greener grass, walking in shoes that aren’t yours, or even proper caution when making wishes. All might apply to the two protagonists in A Whisper to a Scream. Each wishes for a life more like what the other has.
Despite their differences, Annie and Sarah were both characters I liked, which I think is important in a story like this. I wanted both to find a way to get their wish. I think that’s normal, to hope a friend, even a fictional friend, will realize a dream or meet a goal. One of the best ways to illustrate something is to use contrast or comparison – that opinion accounts for my tendency to overuse such words as but, however, and yet. As the story switches between the two characters, Berner shows us the contrast between Annie’s life and Sarah’s. Both are busy, yet fulfilling, although in different ways. Each wants something closer to what the other has, but has obstacles that are not entirely within their ability to overcome. Will they get what they want? I’m not telling.
After finishing A Whisper to a Scream, different readers will probably come away with different messages. It might be one of appreciating the positives of your personal situation. It could be one of balance in life. Or you may come up with something on your own. Whatever your takeaway, I think you’ll find immersing yourself in the lives of Annie and Sarah is an experience worth having.
Format/Typo Issues:
No significant issues.
Rating: ***** Five stars
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Genre: Suspense/Thriller
Approximate word count: 50-55,000 words
Availability
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Author:
Suzanne Leavitt is a journalist and freelance writer. Since writing Troubled, she has written two other novels, a collection of short humorous stories, a book on preventative medicine, and a series of children’s books. She is the mother of four and the grandmother of five. For more, visit her blog.
Description:
A single father who works for the state Department of Human Services becomes concerned about the family situation of his son’s school friend and investigates. What he finds isn’t what he expected. As the two families become more involved, life becomes more complicated.
Appraisal:
There’s a cliché about teachers I’ve often used, but with my own twist, “those who can, do, those who can’t, critique.” I don’t write fiction and have serious doubts whether I could with even a modicum of competency. No matter what my Mother might claim, I’m not much of a storyteller. That can make for a strange feeling when I talk at a very detailed level about why someone else’s writing doesn’t work. Fortunately, I have much more confidence in my ability as a reader.
At a high level, the story in Troubled has a lot of potential although not without some issues. Generally, the character development is good and fits the story. The two ten year-old boys, Joe and James are the characters that work best. Michelle, who is Joe’s mother, and Jack, the protagonist and James’ father, stretch credibility at times. The biggest issue I had with a character was Jack’s apparent issue with women. Jack would describe virtually every woman from his past with a list of their faults making it overly clear that he felt women couldn’t be trusted, yet he quickly overcame this with Michelle, too quick for the amount of buildup about that personality trait.
The main conflict in the story was fear of Joe’s father, a man with a history of crime and violence. Michelle felt she and Joe were in danger if he found them. For all the tension built up through the novel, when Joe’s father finally made an appearance the conflict resolved too quickly and easily.
Despite some concerns from a bird’s eye view, my major issuess with Troubled were in the devilish details. The dialog is clunky because it uses too many tags to identify the speaker and too often tries to tell the reader additional things they should be able to figure out in other ways. For example:
"Yeah, how could you forget a face like that?" says Jack jokingly. Mr. McGuire laughs and then …
I thought it was obvious who was talking and that he was jesting. In case of doubt, Mr. McGuire laughing makes it clear. Here is another example of the same kind of problem.
"I just have a lot of things to get done on Sunday…you know, for the coming week," was her answer and it appears that she is avoiding the question.
This kind of thing was pervasive. These aren’t examples of show, don’t tell (although there is plenty of that too). They are examples of showing and telling. The way she responded is enough to tell she is avoiding the question. Redundancy is good in some places. A novel isn’t one of them. Speaking of which, what about phrases like, “three days pass and the weekend finally comes” or “on the drive home across town”? Aren’t these telling us the same thing twice?
While Troubled is a story with potential, it fell short in the execution.
Format/Typo Issues:
A small number of typos and wrong word usage (they’re, their, there for example). Although there are not many places with italics, most of those places are either italicized for no good reason or incorrectly. For example, the title of the video game Need for Speed has italics for only part of the name.
Rating: ** Two stars
Genre: Thriller
Approximate word count: 90-95,000 words
Availability
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Author:
Piano player, gardener, chemical engineer, and engineering physicist are just a few of the descriptions for Mary Anna Evans. The author of the award winning and traditionally published Faye Longchamp archeological mystery series, Evans also has several self-published books for the eReader of your choice. For more, visit Evan’s website.
Description:
Larabeth McLeod has it all. Beauty, money, smarts. As the CEO of a company specializing in environmental cleanup, you’d expect she should have good karma too. When an unknown man, who calls himself Babykiller, begins stalking Larabeth, she turns to ex-boyfriend and private detective J.D. Hatten for help.
Appraisal:
The common wisdom about thrillers is they are plot driven. To me, this implies that the characters don’t require as much development as other genres, so long as the plot is intense. Wounded Earth delivers on plot. Its nail-biting intensity will keep you up late in your eagerness to find out how it ends.
However, when evaluating what I liked most about Wounded Earth, it wasn’t the plot that came to mind. Historically, thrillers and suspense are my favorite genres; I’ve read hundreds, if not thousands. As long as they are executed competently, which this was, it is other things I notice.
For Wounded Earth, what stood out is the development of the main characters, especially the protagonist Larabeth. I’ve found I especially enjoy books with a strong female character. Larabeth is driven, not just towards success, but also to do good and what is right. It would be easy for a character like this who “has it all” to seem unreal. It is her difficult history, both with ex-boyfriend J.D. and skeletons in her closet, that makes Larabeth human and intriguing. It is also why, as a reader, I was pulling for her that much more.
Format/Typo Issues:
No significant issues.
Rating: **** Four stars
Genre: Mystery/Humor/Thriller
Approximate word count: 70-75,000 words
Availability
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Author:
Portland, Oregon resident Steve Anderson has worked in a variety of areas, and most have involved working with words (marketing, advertising, journalism, and language instruction among others). Initially Anderson’s plans were to be a history professor. Working toward that goal, he spent time in Germany as a Fulbright Fellow. Both Germany and history figure into this book. Anderson has two other novels available for your favorite eReader, The Losing Role and False Refuge. For more, visit Anderson’s website.
Description:
The Berlin Wall has fallen and Gordy Ford, an American slacker, visits Germany with plans to write a book. Claiming to be a Fulbright Scholar researching Hitler to impress a girl, Gordy’s lie takes on a life of its own when he stumbles onto a shocking historical discovery.
Appraisal:
Will I sound like your grandpa if I say, “I can’t believe it’s been over twenty years since the fall of the Berlin Wall?” I was afraid of that. Besserwisser takes place in 1990, at a time of political upheaval in Germany. Split into two countries, East Germany and West Germany, since World War II, this story takes place shortly after the dismantling of the Berlin Wall and immediately prior to the reunification of the two countries.
Gordy Ford is a slacker from America, temporarily living in Germany, ostensibly to write a book. What starts out as a lie to impress a girl turns into reality as Gordy claims he’s researching a revelation about Hitler that will be a bombshell. This attracts attention from several groups with their own agendas. A visiting friend, convinced that Gordy has stumbled onto something, convinces him to search for what some people apparently want left unrevealed. What makes this story unique is how Anderson integrated glimpses of the German culture and politics from this critical period along with American pop culture references into the story.
Format/Typo Issues:
No significant issues
Rating: **** Four stars
Reviewed by: BigAl
Genre: Comic Crime/Satire/Parody
Approximate word count: 60-65,000 words
Availability
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Author:
Alexander O’Hara is the pen name of Irish journalist, author, and playwright Darragh McManus. He has two other novels available – GAA Confidential, as Darragh McManus, and Terminating Hollywood using his O’Hara pen name.
Description:
Kicked off the Dice City Police Force for being too violent, Christian Beretta teams up with his old partner to keep the evil Irish Mayor from taking over the city’s illegal drug trade.
Appraisal:
When I think of comic crime novels, I immediately think of Donald Westlake’s Dortmunder series, which have entertained me for years. If you’re the same, don’t expect Cold! Steel! Justice! to meet that expectation. O’Hara describes it on Amazon this way:
Like all the great straight-to-video cop movies you remember from the 1980s, it's packed with suspense, violence, incident, smart quips, daring deeds, racial stereotypes, gratuitous nudity, men wearing bandanas in flagrant contravention of all rules of taste, and at least one scene where a Mexican druglord is incinerated in his own car. As convention dictates.
Great literature it isn’t, any more than the movies it parodies are examples of great filmmaking. But it is great at what O’Hara intended it to be. I laughed and shook my head at Christian Beretta’s antics, just like with those 1980s cop movies. O’Hara’s twisted descriptions were spot-on, and laugh inducing as well, such as when he described someone as, “feeling as low as a dachshund spelunker suffering from depression” or “feeling like the biggest jerk this side of Lindsay Lohan’s dad.” If you’re in the mood for a read that is neither politically correct nor serious, and feel the need to cut loose with a few guffaws, Cold! Steel! Justice! is the book you’re looking for.
FYI:
This book contains language and sexual situations that might not be considered appropriate for younger readers. The book uses some UK spelling and slang.
Format/Typo Issues:
No significant issues.
Rating: ***** Five stars
Genre: Thriller/Historical/Supernatural
Approximate word count: 70-75,000
Availability
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Author:
John Hamilton is a jack-of-all-trades. His biography calls him a graphic designer, journalist, filmmaker, photographer, and novelist. His award-winning photography has appeared in dozens of magazines and books. He has written well over one hundred children’s books, twice winning the Golden Duck Award (for excellence in children’s science fiction). Hamilton’s history book, Lewis & Clark: Adventures West, was a finalist in the 17th annual Minnesota Book Awards. A resident of the Minneapolis metro, Hamilton enjoys hiking and martial arts in his spare time. For more, visit his website.
Description:
Ian MacDougal lives part of the year on Isle Royale, a remote island in Lake Superior, with his father Clarence, the lighthouse keeper, and mother Collene. Set in the 1920s during the prohibition era in the United States, the MacDougal’s simple life grows complicated with the appearance of a group of bootleggers, led by Collene’s former lover Sean LeBeck.
Appraisal:
Although Isle Royale is a historical thriller, it could also be considered action/adventure and would be an appropriate book for teens as well as adults. Ian, the protagonist, is a teenage boy, stuck on Isle Royale with no one his own age except Sally, the daughter of the assistant lighthouse keeper. Between school work and helping his dad, Ian is bored. He doesn’t relate well to his father who seems too serious. Ian will sometimes sneak away for fun and exploration, both alone and with Sally, but not nearly as often as he’d like.
A conflict with someone from his parent’s past forces Ian to mature quickly. Before the story reaches its resolution, Ian understands his father’s motivations and receives a lesson in responsibility. He also experiences the adventure of a lifetime. Isle Royale was a fun read with an unexpected supernatural twist.
Format/Typo Issues:
No significant issues.
Rating: **** Four stars
Addition of Amazon UK and Smashwords Links
Many have already noticed one minor change we recently made in response to reader requests. This is the addition of two additional book links on each review. We are now providing a link on all reviews to the book listing on Amazon UK for our many readers in the United Kingdom. We're also providing a link to Smashwords on reviews where the book is available from them. For those who aren't familiar with Smashwords, they offer DRM-free eBook files in a wide variety of formats. These include Kindle and Nook compatible formats as well as several others.
Change to Comment Form
Some users, including BigAl, have had problems posting comments for the last several weeks. After some investigation, we found this is a problem many blogger and blogspot blogs have been experiencing. It appears this effects only some users, depending on the security settings on the machine being used, and possibly only those blogs that use certain functionality. It also is only a problem for blogs setup to have the comment form embedded in the post. We've changed our settings to have comment entry done using a popup form and this appears to have fixed the problem. Anyone who has been frustrated by their inability to leave a comment should now be able to do so again.
Genre: Noir/Thriller/Parody
Approximate word count: 35-40,000 words
Availability
Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: NO Smashwords: NO Paper: NO
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store
Author:
Simon Dunn is a UK scriptwriter and stand-up comedian. This is his first book. For more, visit his website.
Description:
Seven interwoven stories, which parody the noir genre.
Appraisal:
Humor is a strange beast. Whatever the form or the word used to describe it – comedy, parody, satire – individual reactions vary widely. It is safe to say that Simon Dunn knows how to be funny. That others continue hiring him as a sitcom scriptwriter and booking his stand-up act should be evidence of that. Rotten Apple has some laughs. Almost immediately, we find a laugh in the first story when Vic Malone (a “hard boiled” detective typical of the noir genre) and his boss Harry have an argument over the “vic,” with confusion between the slang for victim and Malone’s first name providing the comedic device.
Parody mocks or does a send-up of, in this case, a literary style or genre. Rotten Apple mocks genre conventions by taking them further, a little over-the-top. Sometimes, it seemed to me, too far. One example is referring to “Her Majesty’s NYPD Police” with its headquarters on “Sunset Boulevard.” The stories all take place in New York City, The Rotten Apple. The “Her Majesty’s” part and setting the headquarters in what many readers would assume is Los Angeles, seemed pointless rather than funny.
Other geographical faux pas were of the same type (traveling south from Philadelphia to New Hampshire and then north into New York State in one instance). Had this been a character traveling the wrong direction and not getting there, it would have been funny. Had it been a character confused about what direction they traveled, it might have been funny. But the narrator telling the story wrong just seemed stupid. Possibly this is a send up of some noir genre convention that I’m just not getting.
In the end, I was left wondering. Were the parts I found funny enough to counteract those that fell flat? Is a parody of the noir genre, which is a bit over-the-top to begin with, a flawed concept? Do my sense of humor and Dunn’s differ? Most important, which sense of humor is closest to yours? My suspicion is that some people would like Rotten Apple much more than I did.
FYI:
The author is British and uses some UK spelling and slang.
Format/Typo Issues:
No significant issues.
Rating: *** Three stars
Reviewed by: BigAl
Genre: Thriller
Approximate word count: 95-100,000 words
Availability
Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: YES Smashwords: YES Paper: YES
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords stores
Author:
Edward G. Talbot is the pen name used for the collaboration of two authors, Ed Parrot and Jason Derrig.
Parrot is an avid runner, cyclist, and race-walker who competed with the United States team in the 50km event at the 2005 Pan-American Race Walking Cup. He lives with his wife and daughter in Florida where he works as a computer programmer and web developer.
Derrig lives in Maine with his wife and two daughters. He is an active cyclist and skier and works for a national restaurant chain.
The Talbot collaboration has written another novel, Alive from New York, a terrorism thriller and two short story sets (three stories each) – A Funny Pair of Shorts which is humorous and A Horrifying Pair of Shorts which is horror, obviously. For more information, visit their website.
Description:
In the 1960s a group of the world’s most powerful and wealthy men study the evidence and come to a conclusion. Global warming has advanced too far to reverse. Their solution: cover-ups and a plan to save the chosen few.
Appraisal:
When I was young, one of my Uncles was heavily involved in an extreme rightwing organization. Even at a tender age, I thought their conspiracy theories were farfetched. Among other things, they thought a cabal of rich and powerful with ulterior motives controlled the United States government. But what if this was true? New World Orders explores this possibility. Maybe we should have been wearing tinfoil hats after all.
New World Orders follows Jack Crowley, an editor for a National Enquirer like tabloid, and Jim Patterson, a Washington, DC police detective, who together first uncover the conspiracy in the 1980s. The authors do well weaving actual world events within their story. In the book, these events happen for different reasons than the media reported and are often faked. Some are events conspiracy theorists would have us believe weren’t what they seemed. This makes the story more believable since the events are real. The main characters are the kind of people a reader will naturally be pulling for, even Jack Crowley, the tabloid reporter.
I also found myself laughing as the authors spice up the story with real people we might not expect. Among others, Elvis has a cameo and, for those quick enough to spot it, there is a brief appearance by a Mayor-to-be of Las Vegas. Thriller fans should find New World Orders a great escape.
Format/Typo Issues:
No significant issues.
Rating: **** Four stars
The five winners of an ebook copy of William L.K.'s "Eye of the Storm" are:
Paul Callaghan
Darlene Underdahl
Symese123
Chris (posted 6/6 on the review of "Eye of the Storm"
Paul Ellis
To claim your prize email me at BooksAndPals (at) Yahoo (dot) com. Be sure to specify your preference of format (Kindle or ePub suitable for Nook and many other eReaders).
Thanks to William L.K. and his publisher, sci-fi-cafe.com, for sponsoring this giveaway.
Genre: Paranormal
Approximate word count: 115-120,000 words
Availability
Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: YES Smashwords: YES Paper: NO
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords stores
Author:
Glen Bullion currently resides in Maryland, where he devotes his time to reading, writing, gaming, three cats, and a wife, though not necessarily in that order. His first novel, Demonspawn, was released in 2010, and his second, Dead Living, has recently been made available and is busily tallying positive reviews over at Amazon.com. For more information, visit his website.
Description:
Alex Teague is a cheerfully unremarkable young man with a pleasant but unremarkable life: a loving family, an average job, and a circle of close friends that includes the stunning but seemingly unattainable Cindy, his confidante since childhood. All is perfectly, predictably normal… until an unexpected exorcism leads to the startling revelation that he is, in fact, half demon. Will Alex be able to adjust to the host of supernatural powers that such a pedigree entails in time to avert an impending catastrophe, or will his battle with this new identity cost him his old life?
Appraisal:
Author Greg Bullion paints a convincing portrait of the paranormal Everyman; Alex is basically Peter Parker, if Uncle Ben had instead remarked that with great power comes people trying to kill you. The characters are drawn with obvious affection, and their overwhelming likability kept me reading through segments that I would otherwise have found tedious – Alex is, after all, still raw and inexperienced, and has a young man’s tendency to pine and dwell and overlook the obvious. The earlier events are fraught and tense, and there is a nice focus on mood and setting, before the novel takes off for its amped up second act, and a lot of the ambience is set aside in favor of action. While both halves are well done, I was left with the distinct impression that I was reading two separate novels, held together with tenuous strands of ghostly glue. There are more than enough good ideas in here to warrant a sequel, so I question the need to have them all in one book.
FYI:
While there is fairly extensive use of profanity and frequent mild sexuality, it never feels crass or vulgar, and adds a touch of authenticity to the protagonist’s mental monologues. The characters are in their early twenties, and they speak and act accordingly. For this reason, combined with some brief but graphic demonic encounters, I would caution parents against purchasing this book for those on the younger end of the Young Adult spectrum.
Format/Typo Issues:
A few simple typos are sprinkled throughout, but the author’s website informs me that he’s in the midst of a secondary edit that should eliminate the bulk of these.
Rating: **** Four stars
Reviewed by: BigAl
Genre: Gothic Romantic Comedy
Approximate word count: 50-55,000 words
Availability
Kindle: US YES UK: YES Nook: NO Smashwords: YES Paper: NO
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords stores
Author:
An aspiring writer from an early age, Kate Hamilton grew up in London. After living around the world, she has now settled in Scotland. This is her only book currently available for your Kindle. For more, visit her website.
Description:
A gothic romance set in modern times. Without her knowledge or consent, Lauren MacBreach’s parents arrange her marriage to a Scottish Laird. Although a little on the old side, he’s rich, lives in a castle, and isn’t that bad looking. If only someone wasn’t trying to kill her.
Appraisal:
Trying to formulate my thoughts on this book has been difficult. If you aren’t familiar with the definition of a gothic romance, I found the explanation on this website helpful. Blood Line combines many of the typical elements of a gothic romance with some of the elements of a romantic comedy. It still has castles, but it is set in modern times. For another twist the protagonist Lauren’s guardian angel, a novice at the job, keeps popping in to help.
While a strange combination of gothic, romantic-comedy, and whatever genre a guardian angel fits, maybe supernatural, the story is fun, different, and creative. The setting for most of the book, a Scottish castle, is foreign to the American born Lauren and gives plenty of comedic opportunities as she deals with differences in culture and custom. After a warning from her guardian angel, Lauren is constantly trying to decipher potential hidden agendas, decide who is friend or foe, and working to figure out how to escape her strange situation.
I expect many readers who find what I’ve described appealing would be happy reading Blood Line. I wasn’t for two reasons, both items that bothered me early on that I was never able to get past.
The first is a matter of language. If you’ve been following my reviews, you’ll know I believe if you’re English speaking you should be able to adapt to variations in spelling and word usage. I believe an Aussie author writing about characters and events in Australia using the spelling conventions and local slang of their home country adds to the reading experience. The same rule goes for someone who is British, Canadian, or any other country. If the usage fits the character and locale, I’m happy.
Since most of the events in Blood Line take place in Scotland and most of the characters are from there I shouldn’t have any issues with spelling and language consistent with Scotland. I don’t with the exception of Lauren. Knowing she was an American I found myself questioning dialog that didn’t ring true. Sometimes it was the syntax, correct, but not how a character with Lauren’s background would speak. Other times it was the use of a specific word. One example is Lauren referring to the restroom as “the loo” multiple times before she’d even set foot in Scotland. Virtually no eighteen-year-old American girl is going to use that word habitually.
The other thing I had a hard time with was the idea that a mother and father would arrange a marriage without their daughter’s knowledge or consent and essentially arrange for her kidnapping to carry out that arrangement. In another time, place, or maybe just a set of parents with a different situation than Lauren’s I might have been able to suspend my disbelief. In this instance, I wasn’t able. An arranged marriage, while not completely unheard of, is very rare in modern America. If you have a hard time understanding how I can believe the guardian angel and not this part, I’m aware of the inconsistency.
FYI:
The author uses British spelling conventions and turns of phrase.
Format/Typo Issues:
A moderate number of typos, word usage, and formatting issues.
Rating: *** Three stars
Reviewed by: BigAl
Genre: Thriller
Approximate word count: 100-105,000 words
Availability
Kindle: US: YES UK: YES Nook: YES Smashwords: YES Paper: YES
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords stores
Author:
A life-long Red Sox fan, newspaper sportswriter Sean Sweeney lives in North Central Massachusetts. When not covering Fitchburg High School sports or writing his latest novel, this prolific author can be found trying to pass himself off as a Brit in the Kindle forum on Amazon UK, obsessively tweeting, and playing with Carmel the Wonder Cat. His favorite hobby is napping.
Description:
With heightened security, the 2012 London Olympics were going to be the safest ever. When terrorists bomb Wembley Stadium during the Olympic soccer tournament and an al-Qaeda agent claims responsibility, the President of the United States volunteers ace CIA operative Jaclyn Johnson to help MI5 root out the terrorists and save the games.
Appraisal:
We first met Johnson, a female James Bond, in Model Agent. As with Bond, Johnson has a technologically advanced bag of tricks and seems ready for anything. Bond’s villains are often over-the-top, almost enough to consider satire; such was the case with the villain in Model Agent. In Rogue Agent the villains are all too possible. Although bin Laden is dead, the organization he headed continues. The plot the terrorists have in this story, while ambitious, is far from unimaginable.
In this second book of the Jaclyn Johnson, code name Snapshot series, Sweeney takes us on a fast paced thrill ride as Jaclyn tries to stop additional terrorist attacks and bring those responsible to justice. I found Rogue Agent an even better read than Model Agent. Jaclyn is more emotionally involved in this case because her parents had died in the al-Qaeda attacks on 9/11. Her reactions to the events in Rogue Agent made me feel as if I was getting to know the character better. The political ramifications of a US agent operating on foreign soil assisting the British intelligence service made for a complex, yet more realistic plot. For several hours of action packed escapism, it doesn’t get much better than Rogue Agent.
Format/Typo Issues:
As a beta reader I evaluated based on a pre-publication version and can’t evaluate the final version in this area.
Rating: ***** Five stars
Reviewed by: Em
Genre: Speculative Fiction/Humor
Approximate word count: 25-30,000
Availability
Kindle: YES UK: YES Nook: YES Smashwords: NO Paper: NO
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords stores
Author:
Tim W. Burke is a highly secretive author with negligible biographical information online. For publication and appearance information, see author’s blog.
Description:
This is a collection of previously published short stories based on humorous takes on tropes from various sub-genres of speculative fiction.
Appraisal:
I’ve always been a fan of unusual interpretations of common themes. This collection includes some entertaining, satirical takes on speculative fiction/horror, including vampires/blood sucking fiends, immortality, zombies, ghosts, and the philosopher’s stone.
A short story is the distillation of an idea to its purest form, often with little regard to plot or characterization. While these stories do emphasize the unique ideas they’re exploring, the characters are engaging and the concepts are often suitable for extension in subsequent stories rather than being closed off.
Overall I found this collection to be highly enjoyable, though purists may not appreciate some of Burke’s takes on the tropes.
Format/Typo Issues:
No significant issues
Rating: **** Four Stars
Reviewed by: BigAl
Genre: Romance
Approximate word count: 50-55,000 words
Availability
Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: YES Smashwords: YES Paper: NO
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords stores
Author:
Under her own name and the pen name Donna Clayton, Donna Fasano has written over thirty published novels with sales in excess of 3.5 million copies. Many of these novels have gone out of print with the rights reverting to Fasano. She is giving them a facelift and republishing them for your favorite eReader. Return of the Runaway Bride was originally published in 1994.
Fasano has two grown sons and lives with her husband on the eastern seaboard of the United States. For more, visit her website.
Description:
Before Julia Roberts starred as Maggie Carpenter in the movie Runaway Bride there was Savanna Langford. Already in her wedding dress, Savanna tells her Mother, “I can’t do this.” She flees the wedding and Fulton, her small hometown. Six years later and now a successful businesswoman, Savanna buys her parents house after they retire to warmer climes. She returns, claiming she is there to fix up her new investment as a rental property and hopefully make peace with those she abandoned when she left.
Appraisal:
In the author’s note, Fasano says this book was inspired by an elevator ride she shared with a bride-to-be and her mother who had just picked up a bridal gown. The daughter told her mother, “I just don’t think I can go through with this” and Fasano took it from there. With the pressure of wedding preparations, the commitments implied, and what they might be giving up, getting cold feet on the cusp of the wedding is common.
Although acting on those concerns is rare, Savanna’s reasons made sense. She felt going from her parent’s care straight to marriage, especially to someone like her fiancé Danny who is on the verge of joining his father’s law practice, would preclude her from ever becoming independent. If only she’d thought of this sooner. Of course, had she done that, we wouldn’t have much of a story.
What I enjoyed about Return of the Runaway Bride was the premise, since it is something many have considered, and an exploration of the potential repercussions. Although it does have the required happily-ever-after ending, getting there is far from easy. It also depicts the advantages of small town life, with their extensive informal support systems, and the disadvantages due to gossip and everyone knowing your business.
FYI:
Although implied rather than explicit, Return of the Runaway Bride has some sexual content. It is most suitable for ages 17 and up.
Format/Typo Issues:
No significant issues.
Rating: ***** Five stars
We have five copies of Eye of the Storm, the first book of the Stritonly Chronicles by William L.K., to giveaway, compliments of the author and his publisher, sci-fi-cafe.com. Winner will be able to chose between MOBI format (for Kindle and apps) or ePub (suitable for Nook and many other readers).
The rules to enter are simple.
One entry per person.
Enter by leaving a non-anonymous comment on this post or on our review of the book between 10 AM Eastern on June 4, 2011 and 11:59 PM Eastern June 11, 2011. Because Blogger currently has a bug which is preventing some users from leaving comments an alternative entry method is to send an email with the subject "Eye of the Storm Giveaway Entry" to BooksAndPals (at) Yahoo (dot) Com during the same period.
Winners will be notified by a post on June 12, 2011 and will have until Midnight, June 18, 2011 to claim their prize by sending an email to BooksAndPals (at) Yahoo (dot) Com identifying yourself as the winner and indicating your format preference (MOBI or ePub). If you don't currently follow BooksAndPals via the methods available we advise you begin doing so by selecting one or more of the available methods on the right side of this page (twitter, Facebook, Google Friend Connect, RSS feed, or email) so you'll be sure not to miss out.
The fine print
Winners will be selected randomly.
Odds of winning will depend on the number of entries.
Failure to claim the prize by the stated deadline will forfeit the prize.
Reviewers for BigAl's Books and Pals, the author, or employees of the publisher and their immediate families are not eligible.
Genre: Non-fiction/Biography
Approximate word count: 60-65,000 Words
Availability Kindle: YES Nook: NO Paper: NO
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon or B&N store
Author:
Michael Harris was a public relations executive at the CBS Television network for many years, eleven of these assigned to The Ed Sullivan Show. He was the first person to greet the Beatles on their first visit to the United States. Michael is married to novelist Ruth Harris and has one other book available for your Kindle, The Atomic Times: My H-Bomb Year at the Pacific Proving Ground, a memoir of his military service.
Description:
Originally published in hardcover and paperback in 1969 as Always on Sunday, Ed Sullivan An Inside View, this re-released Kindle version has some additional material added. The new subtitle, An Inside View of Ed Sullivan, the Beatles, Elvis, Sinatra & Ed’s Other Guests, is also a more complete explanation of the content.
Appraisal:
Ed Sullivan’s variety show was an American institution, running Sunday nights for twenty-three years, from the dawn of television in 1948 until 1971. Even relatively young readers have probably seen clips of Sullivan introducing Elvis Presley, the Beatles, or saying, “We’ve got a really big shew.” Always on Sunday gives us a broad view of Sullivan, who turns out much more complex than I would have guessed. Some stories you might have heard for years are debunked - not all of Elvis’ appearance were from the waist up for example. Although the book focuses on the period from the debut of The Toast of the Town (the original name of the show) until the late-60s, when the book was originally published, it gives a decent overview of his life prior to the show and insight into what made Sullivan tick. For example, he was an early supporter of equal rights and booked appearances by stars regardless of race when that was uncommon.
One part of the book I found interesting was Sullivan’s reaction to television critics. Many of his reviews were negative and he was prone to react with a scathing letter in response. Many of these were long while others were succinct. One rather pointed response to syndicated columnist Harriet Van Horne read only: “Dear Miss Van Horne, You bitch. Sincerely, Ed Sullivan.”
I did wonder how many people would actually be interested in learning more about Sullivan. I’m no spring chicken and was a month shy of becoming a teen when the show went off the air. Although I didn’t watch The Ed Sullivan Show as a kid (blame it on overly religious parents who banned Sunday television watching) I was still well aware of Sullivan and his place in pop culture. When I asked my twenty-something daughter if she knew who Sullivan was she said: “Yes I do. He had a variety type show with musical guests, some of which included Elvis, the Beatles, and the Doors.” She’d be disappointed; the book doesn’t mention the appearance by The Doors (this would have happened after the original publication of the book) but it seems Sullivan’s legacy is still known among younger generations. Anyone interested in pop culture history or the early days of television should find Always on Sunday an enlightening and entertaining read.
Format/Typo Issues:
No significant issues.
Rating: **** Four stars
The June issue of Words With Jam magazine is now available with an option to download for free.
This issue has an interview with J.K. Rowling and (our reason for pointing it out) an article by BigAl.
