Rigor Mortis / Jeni Decker

This is the second half of a double shot. This morning we had a much different take on the same book from Keith Nixon. I believe both reviews are correct. Feel free to discuss in the comments.

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Thriller/Crime Fiction/Detective Mystery

Approximate word count: 50-55,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: NO  Smashwords: NO  Paper: YES

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

“Jeni Decker lives on a farm in rural Michigan with a bunch of animals (human and canine), and her albino frog, Humbert Humbert.”

Decker has written multiple books, both traditionally and independently published.

For more, visit her website or blog.

Description:

“Dex Morneau is a self-described long-haired heap of sinew and gristle, with too few clients and too much drinking time on his hands. He's comfortable in his own skin, uncomfortable around anyone else's - tired, apathetic, and generally resigned to both, due to his propensity toward circumspection.

He supplements his private detective work with process serving, and is none too happy about that fact. Six months ago, Carla Danning sauntered into his life, all tits, temperament and testicular torture, and she's been an invective-spewing shackle around his tackle ever since.”

This is the first book in the Dex Morneau series. Book two is also available.

Appraisal:

Rigor Mortis is both just like other mystery novels featuring a private investigator and his trusty sidekick, and completely unlike those same books. The primary mystery is finding a missing person for a client with all the investigation and questioning of people, consideration of motives others might have to do the person harm, and blah, blah, blah. You know the formula. There are some interesting twists in that story line and it is well done, but it isn’t what sets Rigor Mortis apart from the pack.

That Dex Morneau’s “trusty sidekick” just showed up one day and convinced him to give her a job, yet remains a mystery to him and, from what he’s able to find, has no history prior to starting work, is the mystery that drew me in the most.

And then there is Decker’s writing style. In many ways it feels like a classic hard-boiled detective, if a touch more literate. But it is a unique voice. Sometimes it threw me with a word choice, as in the very first line, “The human body demurring to death is never pretty.” I had to read that again and then spend a few seconds pondering the use of demurring. A perfectly good word for what is being described, but hardly typical. Other times, these same word choices resulted in lines that left me slack jawed. One example is in Decker’s book blurb, lifted directly from Morneau’s description of Danning near the beginning, where he describes her as having, “sauntered into his life, all tits, temperament and testicular torture, and she's been an invective-spewing shackle around his tackle ever since.” I know, alliteration and rhyme are nothing new, but are seldom done that well. Another example comes later when Morneau says this about Danning:

Carla’s one of those “it’s written all over her face” kind of gals. I’m guessing she’s horrible at poker. Expressive is the word that comes to mind. She doesn’t seem to have an internal edit button. You know, that thing that keeps the average person from dropping the f-bomb at a PTA function… or the Vatican.

Rigor Mortis had me alternating between laughing, trying to fit the puzzle pieces together, and muttering to myself, “Damn, that was a great line.”

FYI:

Some adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

A small number of typos.

Rating: ***** Five stars

Rigor Mortis / Jeni Decker

This is the first half of a double shot review. For the second half of the double shot (this afternoon, US time) you'll get my (BigAl's) review of the same book. To whet your appetite I'll say that I understand and agree with Keith's take, but mine is very different. I'm anticipating some discussion. :)

Reviewed by: Keith Nixon

Genre: Thriller/ Crime Fiction/Detective Mystery

Approximate word count: 50-55,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: NO  Smashwords: NO  Paper: YES

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Jeni Decker lives on a farm in Michigan with her family. She is the author of several books. Rigor Mortis is the first about PI Dex Morneau.

You can learn more about the author here on her website or blog.

Description:

Dex Morneau, down at the heel PI, is hired to investigate the disappearance of a client’s cousin, Crystal Bell. They quickly happen across her body. As Dex and his recently acquired assistant, Carla Danning, try to find the killer they become embroiled in a plot much wider than either expected.

Appraisal:

Sometimes stories require a suspension of disbelief from the reader / watcher. In the case of Rigor Mortis there were several instances where this was needed. Unfortunately these were so large that it took the shine off the story for me. More on this shortly.

Rigor Mortis is written in the first person, observed through Dex’s eyes. He’s a man with a deep seated problem which he deals with by drinking to excess. 

Excessive excess. Over time we learn that Dex used to be a writer and gave it all up. Which brings in Carla.

Provocative (verbally and bodily) she has major problems too. These, and how she ends up with Dex, which are explained as the story unfolds.

The pair investigate the death of Crystal Bell, a cleaner and employee of a local company. The story itself was relatively well written and the pace clips along. However there were several elements that I struggled with. First is the constantly provocative nature of Carla. Rather than being sassy and driven I found her crude and slightly irritating. Then there’s Dex, he’s a bit too much of a drunk.

Then we come to the suspension of disbelief. The crux of the story is there’s been a massive oil spill. Basically it’s massive and no-one has paid it any attention. Really? A few cleaners locally to mop up tonnes of material? I don’t think so. It would be all over the news. Sorry, too much of a stretch.

And how Carla ended up with Dex? Also a stretch.

Not a bad story, but it just didn’t capture me.

FYI:

Plenty of swearing.

Format/Typo Issues:

None.

Rating:  *** Three Stars

Write Right, a guest post from Rita Plush

Let’s say your first short story was turned down ninety-three times before a journal gave it a thumbs-up. And let’s say the other stories you labored over, the ones you fine-tuned and brought back to your writers’ group ad nauseam, were shown the door as well. Any normal person would think to try another line of work. But who’s talking normal. We’re talking writer here. A nutcase who stockpiled 74XL ink jet cartridges and reams of multipurpose office paper, only to tear the flap of an envelope and find a “try us again” form letter inside. What made me want to write when no one wanted to read my writing? I’m a writer damn it! I can write!

Was I out to prove that The Little Engine That Could chugged away inside me—The Little Engine that Could Not stop writing. I write therefore I am?

Perhaps I was lonely and didn’t know it, longing for a promise of closeness with imagined readers. Was real intimacy lacking in my life? Could there have been something I couldn’t get from the people I knew in the flesh, that I had to invent them? Or did I want to create worlds with words? A wizard who could dream up characters and make things happen to them—wonderful and terrible things that only I had the power to create?

They say write what you know, and maybe that’s where I went wrong.

What did I know about a mountain woman in a far-flung cabin in the woods? The very thought of a roughhewn log gives me a full-body rash. Get me some calamine lotion!

And that date-from-hell story.  Last time I had a date I was eighteen, just me and a boy, one on one, out for a movie and something to eat, back in the day before mob-dating. What’s it called now? Oh, right, “hanging out.”

Maybe I should have been getting out more instead of backsliding decades for my stories and making up half-truths.  

Take that Brooklyn story about the mother who was a dressmaker. My mother was not a dressmaker, though I think I got the details down: the pin cushion bracelet, the mother on her knees taking up a customer’s hem. My father, in the needle trade for over sixty five years—that must be where the sewing bit came from—proud that my mother did not have to work because he was such a good provider—would be horrified, rest his soul, to learn that I’d given her a job of any kind.

And then there was the tale about the little girl whose mother died—the it-took-ninety-three-tries-before-a-journal-picked-it-up story. No wonder it took so long; my mother didn’t die when I was a little girl.  And the mother’s friend who had varicose veins?—very close veins the child called it. Cute, but it never happened. Plus it was my mother who had those swollen, bluish, purpley veins bulging out her skin that I couldn’t bear to look at, not her friend.

Now I see now where I went wrong! I was writing make-believe stories I didn’t believe in, inventing characters instead of writing what I knew!  A built-in pattern of failure, if ever there was one. But changes will be made! Attention will be paid! From now on I write only the truth.  I’ll not only name the name, I’ll throw in place and time of day.

I’ll start with that juicy bit of gossip going around my neighborhood that Selina down the block is getting it on with the UPS guy. And my sister… it’s high time Mom knew Selena spiked her Ensure and got her to sign over her house to Free a Felon dot org.  My boss at my day job? He’s selling worthless Florida swamp land to old folks in the Bronx. Where’s my whistle?

Ruin a marriage? Break a mother’s heart? Lose my job? What the hey! It’s what I know.

Update: Rita Plush is happy to announce that though she did use her imagination in writing her short stories they have been published in a collection called Alterations (Penumbra 2013).

Rita Plush’s writing practice includes fiction and non-fiction. Her short stories appeared in many literary journals including The Alaska Quarterly Review, The Iconoclast, The MacGuffin and Passager, before they were included in the collection, Alterations (Penumbra 2013). She is the author of the novel, Lily Steps Out (Penumbra 2012).  Rita, and the publication of Lily Steps Out was the feature article,“published and proud,” in Newsday’s Act II section in July, 2012, and Rita Steps Out, was featured in the Times Ledger, August, 2012. She is at work on a second novel, Feminine Products, that follows some of the characters in “Lily.”

Visit www.ritaplush.com to learn more about Rita and her upcoming venues.

And you can get your very own copy of Alterations from Amazon US (ebook or paper), Amazon UK (ebook or paper, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords.

The Shakespeare Drug / K. Scot Macdonald

Reviewed by: Pete Barber

Genre: Science Fiction

Approximate word count: 90-95,000 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 store

Author:

K. Scot Macdonald is the author of two novels, The Shakespeare Drug and In Justice Found, and a short story, In Pursuit of Perfection. He has also published articles in the Writers' Journal, two nonfiction books, and contributed to two other books.

Scot lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife, young daughter and two Scottish terriers, Argyll and Skye.

Description:

Julie Stein is a leading neurosurgeon, but her life’s desire is to write a novel. She lives with her son, Pete, a junior in high school driven by ambition to become a professional linebacker in the NFL. Neither of them is able to achieve their dreams with natural talent, so they turn to drugs. The story follows their journey and asks the question, how much would you sacrifice to achieve your dream.

Appraisal:

The premise of this story attracted me—the idea that a drug could increase creativity enough to change a below-average writer into a Booker Prize candidate. The parallel issue faced by Julie’s son, who found himself unable to compete in his senior year because the boys challenging for his linebacker position as well as the running backs he was facing had boosted their bodies with steroids, was unexpected and added an interesting twist to the story.

But the read was a mixed bag for me. I enjoyed the neurosurgical details, and the Julie Stein character was a strong woman, well rounded and interesting. The in-game description of a number of plays during Pete’s high school football games, and the insidious  manner in which he’s almost forced to take steroids to keep his place in the team were also compelling aspects. But the story was repetitive. The author restated the main themes multiple times without offering more color or depth, and I found myself skip reading on a number of occasions: Julie’s rejection letters, her inner strife, and her side effects from the drugs, were all chewed over time and again. Pete’s angst about his inability to gain enough muscle, and his aggressiveness after he started using drugs, similarly were repeating themes.

The close of the story (perhaps the last ten percent) also dragged for me. This is a potted history of the character’s last thirty years. Because it’s delivered in narrative form, I found it difficult to connect. Other than both parties being tempted to return to the drugs only to fight the urge by repeating the mantra of their agreement, I’m not sure what the purpose of the backstory was.

The author did manage a nice emotional twist at the end.

Format/Typo Issues:

Too few to mention.

Rating: *** Three stars

Lifting The Lid / Rob Johnson

Reviewed by: Keith Nixon

Genre: Crime / Humor

Approximate word count:70 -80,000 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 store

Author:

Rob Johnson worked as an administrator and publicist for touring theatre companies before turning his hand to writing plays. Then the author undertook a series of jobs. He now lives in Greece. Lifting the Lid is the author’s debut novel.

You can learn more about the author at his website.

Description:

Trevor is a dull man, the one unusual fact about him – his wife disappeared one day and never returned, presumed dead. Sandra is a PI, on a nice little earner to carry out a simple job. But a broken toilet lid throws the whole process into utter chaos. Soon Trevor and Sandra are embroiled in an escalating case of mistaken identity and farce, chased by the police, the secret service and criminals.

Appraisal:

This is a story that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s an enjoyable romp, full of largely incompetent characters who lurch from one mishap to another, that steadily improves from beginning to end.

What starts out as a simple mistake, Trevor breaking a toilet in the hotel he’s staying in, spirals out of control. He attempts to avoid paying the bill for the toilet by taking someone else’s, but discovers some hidden paperwork, and decides to follow it up. Almost immediately Trevor is in over his head.

The author quite neatly escalates the story as it proceeds, adding several layers of complexity and characters, widening the conspiracy, making the end result much more interesting than it initially seems.

The characters are well drawn. Sandra is tough and resilient, Trevor is a bit useless, but surprisingly stays the course. The various police officers and secret service agents are arrogant and incompetent, the criminals sleazy and blunt. There’s a strong sense of humour throughout.

I guess my only complaint would be regarding Trevor’s missing, presumed dead wife, Imelda. The way this is resolved at the end seemed a little… pointless. However, that’s minor and my own personal opinion. A nicely told story.

FYI:

A few swear words.

Format/Typo Issues:

None

Rating:  **** Four Stars

Crossing Downs / Andy Meinen

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Historical Fiction

Approximate word count: 100-105,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: NO  Smashwords: NO  Paper: YES

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

A graduate of Auburn University with a degree in journalism, Andy Meinen has worked as a reporter for several Florida newspapers. This is his first novel.

Description:

“In the late 1920s, a terrible accident sends Curtis Lowe – a black teenager, who works on his parent’s cotton farm – through the nightmarish world of Alabama’s convict-lease system, which takes him from a convict farm on the coastal plains inhabited by starving inmates to the massive prison mining complexes outside Birmingham; along the way he survives whippings, torturous guards, and unspeakable violations in the hopes of finding his freedom and bringing the whole system to a halt.”

Appraisal:

Crossing Downs is an example of a book that falls well short of passable due to technical deficiencies and a lack of polish, yet I learned something from it and it inspired me to dig deeper. So, in at least one regard, I think the author met his goal.

I’ll detail some examples of the problems first. To start, there were numerous things that should have been caught during proofreading and copyediting including homonym issues, missing words, typos, and grammar problems (outside of intentional bad grammar in dialogue). Next were issues with repetition which took two forms. The first is overuse of the same word in a short sequence. Among the most flagrant was this paragraph where the name of one character was overused. Pronouns can be an author’s friend:

“Pleasant.” Thoughts of the night Curtis found Pleasant beaten to a bloody mess on the cell floor came back. “Pleasant, wake your sorry butt up.” Pleasant opened his eyes and looked about. Pleasant pulled his hand away and his eyes widened. “Pleasant, it’s Curtis.” Blinks and stares from Pleasant. “Pleasant, I wondered where you went off to.”

If you read closely or over and over to try and understand the sentence, you might also wonder what Pleasant pulled his hand away from and question the meaning of the sentence about blinks and stares. I missed those on my initial reading because all that registered for me was “Pleasant, Pleasant, PLEASANT.”

The other problem with repetition was telling the reader the same thing twice. In one instance we’re told “Pleasant then managed to get Tillman into a headlock” and a few paragraphs later reminded again that, “Pleasant had Tillman in a vicious headlock.” Another time we’re told that the owner of a mine that used convict labor had “cut off communication between the prisoners and the outside world” which was a point already made several chapters before. I’m never certain when I see this happening whether the author is repeating back story in error (indicative of a failure in editing) or did it on purpose to make sure the reader knows. With few exceptions, have faith in the reader remembering what’s happened or they’ve been told previously.

Then we’ve got things like this:

He placed his forehead against the pane of glass next to the front door. His posture was that of a man who looked to be utterly defeated.

There is an author’s maxim that says, “tell, don’t show.” Telling was a problem although I’d call this example “show and tell.” The first sentence is a reasonable start in showing us the character felt defeated. The second sentence is pure tell. Maybe something like, “He slumped and sighed, leaning his forehead against the pane of glass next to the front door.” Let the reader figure out how he feels, don’t tell them.

Rather than continue in this vein, I’ll get to the positive. There’s a good story here and I learned a lot about a piece of history I wasn’t aware of before. The convict lease system was, in essence, a means in some of the former Confederate States to replace the cheap labor provided by slaves prior to the US Civil War. The Wikipedia article on the subject confirms many of the details in Crossing Downs about how this worked including timing (this book takes place in the late 1920s in Alabama, the last state to outlaw the practice in 1928) and the abuses of the system. Reading this story, despite its many technical faults, drove home those facts in a way that no Wikipedia article is capable of doing.

FYI:

Some adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

Many proofing and copyediting misses.

Rating: ** Two stars

Uprising / Imogen Rose

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: YA/Paranormal

Approximate word count: 80-85,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: YES  Smashwords: NO  Paper: YES

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Globetrotter Imogen Rose is Swedish by birth, went to college in London (where she received a PhD in immunology), and is now a Jersey girl. After her eight-year-old daughter insisted she write down her stories, Rose wrote the first of her Portal Chronicles series and decided to let it out into the world. The response was so positive that she’s continued and with the addition of this one now has nine books available, plus foreign translations of many. For more, visit Rose’s website.

Description:

“The global infrastructure that allows humans and supernaturals to coexist is under threat. A breakdown of this carefully maintained system erupts into worldwide chaos and could eventually lead to Armageddon.

Code Uprising is activated.

The power of the supernatural world shifts from the city councils to Bonfire Academy and the other elite paranormal preps. Now, the staff and students must follow the code, however deadly the ramifications, to return power to the city sovereigns in order to prevent an apocalypse.”

Appraisal:

Imogen Rose has three distinct series (The Portal Chronicles, The Bonfire Chronicles, and The Bonfire Academy, which is kind of a sub-series of The Bonfire Chronicles). While each had a distinct focus, there was always a bit of overlap in the worlds and the characters. In interviews with Rose it always sounds like the characters inhabiting her mind never stop talking and don’t follow the basic rules like only interacting with others from their series. When the Portal series came to an end I theorized, based on how it wrapped up, that the characters would continue in Rose’s other books. If Uprising is any indication, I think I’m right, as major characters and locations from the Portal Chronicle played minor, but critical roles in this story.

The Bonfire Academy series also appeared to be winding down, at least with the initial crop of characters. Uprising brings characters together from all three series and takes their common stories in directions I wouldn’t have predicted although there were hints in Rose’s last couple books.

What I liked most about Uprising (besides giving me hope that I’ll be seeing more of the characters from the Portal Chronicles) is two-fold.

First is a major expansion of Rose’s fictional world, introducing us to new locations and minor characters in those locations who could develop into significant characters in future installments. The meaning of activating Code Uprising builds on the protocol and structure of the supernatural world Rose has introduced in previous books.

The second thing I liked was the introduction of some light science fiction elements into this series (specifically some high-tech weapons and a futuristic transportation method). Thus far the series had been strictly supernatural or paranormal while the Portal Series combined these with some science fiction technology. Mixing the two is something you don’t see often and one of the unique aspects of that series, and now this one too.

As with Rose’s previous books, I’m left with enough of a hint of where the ongoing story might be headed to pique my interest, but not so much that I don’t expect to be surprised again. So I’m left, happy with this installment and eager for the next.

FYI:

A small amount of adult language.

I’d advise reading the previous books in The Bonfire Academy and The Bonfire Chronicles series prior to Uprising. There are too many characters and related back story to hope to come into this mid-series and hope to have a clue.

Format/Typo Issues:

Review is based on a beta/advanced reader copy, so I’m unable to judge the finished product in this area.

Rating: ***** Five stars

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Braineater Jones / Stephen Kozeniewski

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Genre: Noir Detective / Zombie / Horror / Fantasy

Approximate word count: 65-70,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: YES  Smashwords: NO  Paper: YES

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

“Stephen Kozeniewski lives with his wife of 9 years and cat of 22 pounds in Pennsylvania, the birthplace of the modern zombie. He was born to the soothing strains of “Boogie With Stu” even though The Who are far superior to Zep, for reasons that he doesn’t even really want to get into right now.

During his time as a Field Artillery officer, he served for three years in Oklahoma and one in Iraq, where due to what he assumes was a clerical error, he was awarded the Bronze Star. The depiction of addiction in his fiction is strongly informed by the three years he spent working at a substance abuse clinic, an experience which also ensures that he employs strict moderation when enjoying the occasional highball of Old Crow.”

Description:

“Braineater Jones wakes up face down in a swimming pool with no memory of his former life, how he died, or why he’s now a zombie. With a smart-aleck severed head as a partner, Jones descends into the undead ghetto to solve his own murder.

But Jones’s investigation is complicated by his crippling addiction to human flesh. Like all walking corpses, he discovers that only a stiff drink can soothe his cravings. Unfortunately, finding liquor during Prohibition is costly and dangerous. From his Mason jar, the cantankerous Old Man rules the only speakeasy in the city that caters to the postmortem crowd.

As the booze, blood, and clues coagulate, Jones gets closer to discovering the identity of his killer and the secrets behind the city’s stranglehold on liquid spirits. Death couldn’t stop him, but if the liquor dries up, the entire city will be plunged into an orgy of cannibalism.

Cracking this case is a tall order. Braineater Jones won’t get out alive, but if he plays his cards right, he might manage to salvage the last scraps of his humanity.”

Appraisal:

This story is narrated by Braineater Jones, we get to see his undead life through his eyes as we join him on his mission to find answers to his growing list of questions. Who is he? Who murdered him and why? Kozeniewski has invented his own brand of zombies in this story. There is no explaining who will reanimate after death and who will not. To keep their undead selves functioning and their “brain wheels” turning they must have liquor. This is a real problem during Prohibition since without alcohol they will turn into a true brain eating zombie.

Jones becomes a private eye of sorts for the undead community as he works his way through mysteries of his own undead life. I enjoyed reading the author’s noir style of storytelling. Here is a sample of Kozeniewski’s writing when a client comes through Jones’s door. 

It was a dame of course. She had legs up to her eyeballs. Literally. She was carrying a pair of legs, one over each shoulder… “Pawn shop’s downstairs. Not sure if they take drumsticks but never hurts to check.” “I’m here for you, Mr. Jones,” she said… She threw the getaway sticks down on my desk. The toes were clenching, and the feet kept arching and flattening…Her brother was still controlling his legs remotely, kicking to let her know he was still alive. Undead. Whatever. It was a signal, a distress call, an S-O-S by L-E-G.

The plot has a good pace and the storylines intertwine into a complex web of deceit, fantastical probabilities, and a touch of sci-fi. The scenes are well depicted and the characters are unique and unlike any I have met before. This was a creative story that will draw you in and keep you guessing. If you like noir detective stories you will likely enjoy this story despite the zombie theme. I found it entertaining and hope Braineater Jones can keep himself from decomposing long enough to make this a long series.   

FYI:

Stephen Kozeniewski places this warning at the beginning of his story. “This book contains the sort of racist, sexist, and bigoted characters that were commonplace to the era in which it takes place.”

It also contains other adult language that may be offensive to some.

There is a glossary at the end of the book for the slang and jargon used from the 1930s, which I appreciated because I really didn’t have a clue what ginchy meant.

Format/Typo Issues:

I found no significant errors

Rating: **** Four stars

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Reprise Review: The Obituarist / Patrick O’Duffy

Five Star Week continues with this Reprise Review.

Reviewed by: Keith Nixon

Genre: Crime / Humour

Approximate word count: 20-25,000 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 store

Author:

Patrick O’Duffy works as an editor for a major educational publishing company. When not working Patrick spends his time writing. His output includes over thirty role playing books, however more recently he has turned to short stories and e-books. The Obituarist is his most recent work. He’s also a Batman fan.

You can read more about Patrick O’Duffy on his website.

Description:

Kendall Barber is an Obituarist, a social media undertaker who cleans up the electronic trails of the deceased. Kendall’s day doesn’t start well. First he’s beaten up by a Hell’s Angel and told to stay away from Tonya Clemmens. The trouble is he’s never heard of her. Then Tonya herself arrives at his office – she wants Kendall to find her missing brother. Against his better judgement Kendall agrees and it’s then that things really start to go wrong as local maniac, D-Block and, worse, the police, all show an interest in the case as well.

Appraisal:

I really enjoyed The Obituarist. It’s clever, sharp and funny. The dialogue is great and the characters well described, from the grubby policeman, Grayson, who uses Barber to get what he wants, through to the maniac bikers, Kowalski and Ploog, who are trying to permanently silence him, they’re vivid and full of life. The location for the story, Port Virtue, is as grimy as its residents. The pace clips along with the action starting at almost the first page and doesn’t let up to the last, helped by The Obituarist being written in the first person. I really appreciated the sense of humour and the direct style in which O’Duffy tells the tale - there isn’t a wasted word, the sign of a well written novella.

However, just when I thought I had the story figured out (and so did the characters!) The Obituarist delivered a couple of wrenching twists and surprises that were very cleverly done…I’d love to say more but I don’t want to give anything away.

At just over 20,000 words it’s a quick read and could be taken in one bite (you’ll want to once you start). In fact, I did read it all over again, even though I knew what was going to happen, just to look at how everything unfolded from a different perspective.

In the near future I’ll be happily tracking down Patrick O’Duffy’s other works. If they’re as good as The Obituarist I’ll be a happy man.

FYI:

Reasonably frequent strong language.

Format/Typo Issues:

None.

Rating: ***** Five stars.

Laughs Last / Dylan Brody

Five Star Week continues.

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Humor

Approximate word count: 45-50,000 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 store

Author:

Dylan Brody is a humorist who appears regularly on radio (including XM/Sirius) and comedy clubs around the country. He has written plays, novels, and jokes for other comedians as well as being a contributor to the Huffington Post

For more, visit Brody’s website.

Description:

“Laughs Last is a rumination on family, legacy, talent, and the fluidity of time, a poignant dream of adulthood coming in fits and starts to our protagonist Damon Blazer. With a quick mind and an instinct to flee (preferably before getting punched, but not before getting in a punchline), Blazer comes from a family whose laughs never mean just one thing. He struggles to glean what lessons he can from his brutish and detached brother, his grieving but understanding mother, and his aloof but proud father, but it’s the inheritance of his grandfather’s lessons that truly form the backbone of Blazer’s biography.”

Appraisal:

Damon, you have to decide, every time, whether you’re willing to face the consequences when you tell a joke. Every time. A good joke, any good joke, it tells the truth. They’re very powerful and they can hurt people and they can change the world.

I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that this quote encapsulates one of the themes that runs throughout Laughs Last. This was one of the lessons the protagonist, Damon Blazer, learned from his grandfather, who was a comedian, too. His grandfather was also Damon’s mentor and often the only member of his family who understood him.

The story jumps back and forth in time, which has the potential of being confusing, but isn’t. The logic in this convoluted timeline is explained by the narrator as a lesson Damon’s father had tried to teach him finally sinking in, that “it is only possible to know the meaning of events after some time has passed, when they can be looked back on in context.” The disjointed time line arranges events in a way that helps them make sense.

As advertised, Laughs Last is humorous. However, there is much more to the story than that, with plenty of food for thought about family and taking the unconventional path in life. A great read. If this story is any indication, that cliché about there being a thin line between comedy and tragedy is right on the money.

FYI:

Some adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: ***** Five stars