All The Lights That Have Shone / Paul McCormack

Reviewed by: Keith Nixon

Genre: Mystery/Short Story Collection

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:

Paul McCormack doesn’t like the idea of bios, so has not shared any information about himself on the web. However, for more information on the author’s work visit his website.

Description:

All The Lights… is a collection of short stories.

Appraisal:

This is an interesting body of work, well written and at times intriguing. The author opens All The Lights… with a fairly heartfelt introduction about himself and the stories.

The first story is Iodine, which takes a little time to get to the nub of the tale which is the main character, Grant, hasn’t been himself since his adopted sister Laura disappeared. It covers their growing up to her apparent demise and the impact on the relationship with his partner. However, once developed, it ended rather abruptly and I didn’t feel it had been wrapped up.

The Best of Right Now is a story of cynical media manipulation. Jorge accidently saved a child’s life when she fell out of a window and he becomes a media celebrity.

The End That Suits You Best is an excellent short. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was my favourite. For an unexplained reason the world is about to come to an end. Able runs a diner and he prepares for the end by doing what he enjoys most, serving customers. There’s no explanation as to why the world is ending or how, which creates a great atmosphere and mystery.

A Dog Named Supper passed me by. Nicely written but a quiet story.

The Icicle Tree is a story of infidelity and loss from the viewpoints of each of the people involved. Again, well written and interesting. The multiple perspectives really helped. A very good story.

9^th and Park is a quirky and fun mystery, couples are reputed to fall in love as the 3 o’clock bus appears, but sometimes one of them boards, never to be seen again. The one that remains cannot remember anything that’s happened.

Of the remaining three stories Always Get The Check was the stand out.

Overall I enjoyed the majority of the stories. The characters were good to excellent, the dialogue interesting.

FYI:

Some adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

None.

Rating: **** Four Stars

That Bear Ate My Pants / Tony James Slater

Reviewed by: Fredlet

Genre: Non-fiction/Travel Narrative/Humor

Approximate word count: 105-110,000 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:

Tony James Slater describes himself as an “author, adventurer, and jolly nice chap”. He trained as an actor before discovering he wasn’t very good at it. After trying out several meaningless jobs, he travelled to South America, and returned to tell about his experiences in That Bear Ate My Pants. He has also written Don’t Need the Whole Dog and is working on his next book currently called The Kangaroo Suicides. He describes his genre as crazy travel comedy.

You can find out more about him on Twitter and Facebook.  He also blogs about his adventures. 

Description:

After being disappointed in his life choices, the author headed to Ecuador for 3 months to work as a volunteer at the Santa Martha Centre for Animal Rescue. That Bear Ate My Pants is the memoir of the author’s adventures (and misadventures) during that time.

Appraisal:

I bumped into this book while searching for bear links to tease a Canadian facebook friend about her lack of bear sightings. What a great title to use! I read the author’s book blurb, then his biography, and I just had to buy it. I fell in love with his humor and wit. When I decided to begin reviewing for Books & Pals, BigAl remembered my link and that the book was on his list to be reviewed.

While crazy travel comedy is not my go to genre, Mr. Slater’s vivid descriptions of the Ecuadorian mountain scenery and refuge’s daily life routines made me feel like I was standing right next to him. His handling of cultural differences, miscommunications that can occur, and his adventures with the local wildlife while volunteering at the refuge, were realistic and at times moving. It was like reading a Bill Bryson memoir with moments from Monty Python skits included. This book was laugh out loud funny! Along with his wicked humor and raw delivery style, he reminds you about the seriousness of the problems caused from illegal animal possession and abuse, and the hard, sometimes painful work that volunteers contribute to resolving that problem in Ecuador. As the book came to its end, I felt the same bittersweet emotions that Mr. Slater and the other Santa Martha volunteers had at the end of their stay.

Frequently, I read books aloud to my husband while he is preparing our evening meal. It is difficult to find books that would appeal to both of us and can be enjoyably read in small doses. I am pleased to find I can put Mr. Slater’s work in our read aloud queue.

FYI:

This book uses UK spelling conventions and a lot of slang. If you are offended by raw or strong language, this book may not be a good fit for you. I found it entertaining and delightful!

Format/Typo Issues:

I found a small number of proofing errors which did not interfere with my reading enjoyment.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Awesome Bad Guys in Books - A guest post from S.W. Vaughn

I don’t know about you, but I love a good literary villain. Give me a bad guy who makes me want to root for them—even though I know he (or she) is not only going to lose, but deserves to lose—and I’m in the story all the way.

Here’s a short list of some great literary baddies. If you haven’t heard of them, I’d definitely recommend checking them out.

Hannibal Lecter

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris

Just about everyone’s familiar with this suave, fiercely intelligent psychologist-slash-cannibal. The unofficial hero of Thomas Harris’ series, Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter is at once a gentleman and a psycho.

His traumatic childhood is explored in Hannibal Rising—but I mentioned Red Dragon because it’s the first appearance of Lecter, and the book also contains two awesome villains for the price of one. Francis Dolarhyde, the serial killer that Lecter “helps” former FBI agent Will Graham hunt down, is so sympathetic and well-realized that you might want to cry at his unavoidable defeat.

Gretchen Lowell

Heartsick by Chelsea Cain

This female serial killer is one screwed-up woman. Gretchen Lowell tortured countless victims to death, before one of them got away—or maybe she let him go. The escapee, Archie Sheridan, is a cop, and the novel opens with Gretchen behind bars and Archie forced to ask her for help with a serial killer who’s murdering teenage girls. Gretchen is shades of Hannibal Lecter turned femme fatale, and Heartsick makes for fantastic reading.

Raistlin Majere

Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

What isn’t awesome about Raistlin? He’s a magic user with a tragic backstory and a disgustingly good-guy brother to balance him out—and he’s unapologetically evil. I like that in a villain. Plus, he gets to win at least once.

Annie Wilkes

Misery by Stephen King

Annie is a portrait of a fan gone horribly wrong. A former nurse and current psycho, she’s the luckiest woman in the world when her favorite author, Paul Sheldon, just happens to wreck his car near her house that’s out in the middle of nowhere and isolated by miles from the nearest neighbor. What a happy coincidence!

But when she gets a copy of Paul’s brand-new book, and learns that he’s killed everyone’s favorite heroine, Misery Chastain, it’ll cost Paul an arm and a leg—or a thumb and a foot—to stay alive long enough to make Annie happy by performing a miracle: resurrecting the dead. Good thing Misery only existed on paper…or is it? As in most cases, the book is so much better than the movie (and the movie is great!).

Captain James Hook

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

The original gentleman pirate, Captain Hook is a highly sympathetic villain in all of his incarnations, from the original text of Peter Pan to the Broadway shows and various movie versions of this beloved children’s classic. Think about it…the kid cut off his hand, and forced him into an eternal cat-and-mouse game with a giant alligator.

If you’ve never read the original Peter Pan, it’s definitely worth your time—especially any scene with the charmingly wicked Hook, who is in Barrie’s words, “never more sinister than when he was most polite.”

Of course, I happen to think that my villains are pretty cool too, though I might have a slight bias. But I’m thrilled to have heard from quite a few readers who think that Jenner, my recurring bad guy in the House Phoenix series, is terrifying.

The first book in the series, Broken Angel, is about Gabriel Morgan, a young man who’s held prisoner by a secret society of underground fighters and forced to fight in a ring with no rules to save his sister’s life. Here’s his first encounter with Jenner, who serves as an enforcer for the man who’s holding Gabriel:

-------------

“Don’t touch me.” The demand emerged a moan. Gabriel backed away and searched the room in desperation, seeking escape.

“Do not flatter yourself, boy,” Jenner said in a brittle tone capable of crushing diamonds. “I have no such intentions.”

“What are you going to do to me?”

“I have not yet decided.”

Jenner moved into the light, and what had seemed like a dress in shadow proved to be an Asian costume—Chinese or Japanese, he wasn’t sure which. Simple clasps held together a long jacket of pale gray silk. Black piping trimmed the sleeves, the straight collar, and the edges of the garment. Flowing pants matched the jacket. Yet Jenner’s aquiline nose and swarthy complexion marked him as East Indian, not Asian.

His hair was gray, the color of brushed steel—an old man, but the hair was the only indication of age. He was sinewy rather than gaunt. Not wizened or wrinkled, but grizzled and hard. And his eyes were pale circles of smoked glass. Glittering gray, like the rest of him. How could an Indian have gray eyes?

The cold glint in those eyes bound Gabriel more effectively than any rope. He couldn’t move.

“Your determination is admirable,” Jenner said. “Few would expend such effort to locate a mere sibling. Do you truly love your sister that much?”

“None of your business.” Anger broke the spell of Jenner’s gaze. In this snake’s mouth, a reference to Lillith sounded blasphemous.

“A shame.” Jenner placed the object he held on the floor. It was a black satchel, a doctor’s bag. “What did you intend to do when you found her, little guardian angel? Help her find a job, perhaps an apartment? It is far too late for that.”

“I...she needs me.”

“Did you ever consider that she might not want your help?”

Disgust twisted his stomach. “Lillith isn’t like you people. She wouldn’t have become a...prostitute on her own. She has a good heart.”

Jenner sneered. “While your sister’s clients do appreciate her many attributes, I am not certain her heart is high on their lists.”

“Fuck you!”

“I thought you were not interested in such activities, angel. You requested not to be touched.” Jenner’s hand slid inside his robe and reappeared gripping what looked like a collapsible radio antenna. He extended it with a flick of his wrist, and waved it at him in an almost dismissive gesture.

Pain flared across Gabriel’s face. He flinched back with a strangled oath.

“Your language is appalling.” Jenner collapsed the antenna. “Apologize.”

“Go to hell.”

Jenner arched an eyebrow and leveled an unwavering look at him. He bent and reached for his bag.

Gabriel flew at him.

---------

If you’d like to read more about Jenner, you can get Broken Angel free for your Kindle now through Saturday, March 9, on Amazon:

Broken Angel(Amazon US)

BrokenAngel (Amazon UK)

Don’t forget to leave a comment and let me know about your favorite literary villain!

Vicious: A Novel of Suspense / Bryan W. Alaspa

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Suspense/Horror

Approximate word count: 65-70,000 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:

“Multi-talented author, Bryan Alaspa, is a Chicago native who has dreamed of being an author since third grade when he first sat down at his mother’s typewriter and pounded out his first short story. It wasn’t very good, but it did give him the habit for writing that he has not been able to shake since.

He is the author of several works, both fiction and non-fiction. His non-fiction works include the history and true crime genres, whilst his fiction is available in the horror, suspense, thriller, and mystery categories.”

For more, visit Alaspa’s website.

Description:

“When successful author, Jeremy Liden, takes his friends up to his vacation cabin in the wilds of Wisconsin he was hoping for a relaxing weekend. What he gets instead is a never-ending ordeal of snarling terror as he and his guests become trapped inside by an unrelenting menace that does not understand mercy.

By the time the night is through, not everyone is going to make it home in one piece.”

Appraisal:

Vicious combines the on-the-edge-of-your-chair, what’s-going-to-happen-next intensity of a suspense novel with some horrifying events that would have obvious appeal to fans of the horror genre. There are also lessons to be learned, some intentional, others not. Intended is how early environment affects later behavior, in this instance animals, but you might extrapolate it to humans as well.

The unintentional lesson is that, just as you can’t judge a book by its cover, you also can’t judge a book by its provenance. Although I only review indie books, my definition of indie is broad, including both self-published books and those put out by small “indie” publishers. There is an assumption some readers have that self-published books are shoddily edited at best and much of the time any editing is done by the author. While undeniably true of some, many self-published authors put their books through a quality control process that may well be more extensive than one of the Big 6 publishers would. I know at least one author whose books run a gauntlet of three edits (at different places in the process), four rounds of proofreading, and a team of beta readers, before release.

The flip side is that just because a book has a publisher, doesn’t mean it was adequately edited and proofread. The assumption is that the publisher will provide the quality control and any polishing needed. In the case of Vicious, they didn’t. Although the proofreading didn’t exceed my threshold for these kind of errors, it was close, with several wrong, missing, and misspelled words, plus instances of multiple periods (full stops, if you prefer) at the end of a sentence and words with no spaces between them.

The bigger issues were some plot holes or inconsistencies, plus an annoying tendency to repeat the same words close together, both of which I’d have expected an editor to either fix or kick back to the author for rework

An example of an inconsistency is in one scene where a policeman sees a puddle of something that “was liquid and the smell told him it was blood.” Then within a few paragraphs we have this:

He could smell something in the air, but his brain was not, at first, able to process it. It was a sickly sweet smell that he knew was, at once, familiar, and entirely alien.

Of course this turns out to be blood. But we (and he) already knew that.

Repetition of words or entire phrases can sometimes be a good thing, giving the words a rhythm or emphasis that drives home an important point. Johnny Cochran’s repetition of the phrase, “if it doesn’t fit, you must acquit,” during his closing arguments in the O.J. Simpson trial, is one example. Repeating a word can sometimes act as glue, tying two thoughts near each other together (as when I say a word again in the next sentence).

However, more often repetition is, depending on the situation, either jarring or boring in the same way as a monotone speaking voice. In those instances, using another word (like using “say a word again” instead of “repeat” a couple sentences ago) or rewording, can fix the issue. A case in point is this sentence: “Jeremy Liden awoke to a bright, sunshine-filled morning and blinked his eyes as the rays pierced his eyes.” Doesn’t the double use of the word ‘eyes’ jar? Here, a simple rewording, by dropping ‘his eyes’ (what else is he going to be blinking?) fixes the problem. Another example is these three sentences in a row starting with “he” and some verb. “He stepped onto the stairs. He descended slowly, always prepared at any moment, to run back up. He saw nothing and heard nothing.” Changing the middle sentence to “Descending slowly, he was always prepared …” is one way this snippet might have been made a bit less monotone.

On the positive side, we all learn from lessons, even if they’re unintentional.

FYI:

Some adult language. Graphic violence that may not be suitable for some ages.

Format/Typo Issues:

A small number of typos and other proofing errors.

Rating: ** Two stars

In the Market for Murder / D.M. Fichera

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Mystery/Woman Sleuth

Approximate word count: 80-85,000 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:

D.M. Fichera previously worked in marketing and public relations before becoming a freelance writer. She lives near Philadelphia.

Description:

“Bad things do come in threes, even for an attractive ad agency executive living in the most desirable neighborhood in Philadelphia. Just ask Dylan Scarborough: first her father died; then her fiancé died; then her ex-boss died. Only the last one became an issue because the police don’t consider murder a natural cause.

After being implicated by a close friend, Dylan is set up by a career-hungry police chief for a crime she didn’t commit. Running out of people to trust, she turns to her nineteen-year-old intern and an investigative reporter friend to help clear her name.”

Appraisal:

A review in four words: Good story. Awful copyediting.

I loved the main character, Dylan, which is good since this book appears to be the first in a series featuring her. The secondary characters were also fun, with their own quirks and unique personalities. Dylan’s best friend Jack and intern assistant Lily, along with her busybody Mother, all added a lot to the story and I’m guessing will make appearances in subsequent books. The plot was a good one and kept me guessing along with Dylan as to who the guilty party was. I was surprised when I found out, but felt like there were enough clues that, in retrospect, it made perfect sense.

The only thing missing was adequate copyediting and proofing, with many problems in this area.

FYI:

Some adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

A large number of typos and other copyediting issues. Often these were typos with a letter missing from the word, usually the first or last. Also homophone errors (to/too, course/coarse, your/you’re are a few examples) along with various other problems.

Rating: *** Three stars

A Different Kind of Forever / Dee Ernst

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Genre: Romance

Approximate word count: 70-75,000 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:

Dee Ernst started writing stories on a battered Royal typewriter when she was about ten or twelve years old. Ms. Ernst announced on her web site that the film and TV rights to her novel Better Off Without Him have recently been optioned to Robert Shaye and Michael Lynn’s production company, Unique Features. She says “right now, today, anything is possible.” She is now waiting patiently for fame and fortune somewhere in New Jersey. 

For more, visit the author’s website.

Description:

“A Different Kind of Forever is the story about two complicated people finding – and trying to hold on – to love.”

Diane Matthews, a divorced mother of three, is a smart, successful, and independent woman who likes the direction her life is headed. Everything she has ever wanted is finally falling into place; until a chance meeting with Michael Carlucci, a hot young musical genius behind a successful rock band. Neither can deny the growing attraction between them, but is it enough with all the demands on both of their lives to survive the test of time?

Appraisal:

Michael stole my heart right away. His introspection certainly gave his character a lot of charm. I loved his whole family and how they related. I can’t say the same thing about Diane’s character. For a woman as successful as she was in all other areas of her life, she showed too much ambivalence where Michael was concerned to be believable. It made her character weak in my eyes and she obviously wasn’t. I especially liked the way she handled her teenaged daughters when it came to her dating life.

The premise of the story was interesting; with the female being the older in this May/ December romance and the conflicts and complications were realistic. I felt like too much of the story centered on the mundane in Diane’s life that could have been glossed over and still keep the integrity of the story intact. As a result, the story lagged. Adding Quinn, a man Diane thought she once loved, into the mix was a nice twist, which gave us some insight into another aspect of her dilemma. There were several peripheral characters because of the professions these two main characters were in. At times, it got difficult to keep track of them all and the frequent change of prospective confused me at times. However, I did enjoy this story.

FYI:

This book contains adult language and situations that may be offensive to some.

Format/Typo Issues:

There are a small number of proofing issues and at least one copy editing error that I found in this book.

Rating: *** Three stars

Schrodinger’s Telephone / Marion Stein

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Speculative Fiction

Approximate word count: 25-30,000 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:

A native New Yorker, Marion Stein has two Masters Degrees, one in creative writing and the other in social work. She moved around the US and Mexico before returning to New York in September 2001. In addition to this novella, she has a novel, Loisaida, and another novella, The Death Trip, available.

For more, visit Stein’s blog.

Description:

“Lizzie Greene seems to have it all -- a great husband, a job she loves, a baby on the way, even a rent-stabilized two bedroom apartment on New York's Upper West Side. Then a random decision leads to a senseless act of violence, and it all disappears.

But what if things had been different? What if things are different? Could someone be both dead and not dead at the same time? Is it insanity to believe in mysteries that go beyond human understanding, in the evidence of things not seen?

Lizzie's sister, her best friend, and many others think she's lost her senses, but maybe she's gotten a glimpse of something most of us never get to see.

Schrodinger's Telephone is more for fans of The Twilight Zone than of Twilight.”

Appraisal:

Speculative fiction is an umbrella that encompasses many subgenres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, dystopian, Horror, and Supernatural Fiction are just some. However, some speculative fiction doesn’t neatly fit into any of the subgenres, and Schrodinger’s Telephone is one of those. A case could be made that it is Supernatural Fiction, but that presupposes one specific interpretation of what happens to the protagonist, Lizzie, when there is at least one other possibility, that Lizzie is insane.

Regardless of what we call it or how we categorize it, Schrodinger’s Telephone is a quick and engrossing read that will exercise your mind. How would you react if someone you knew insisted that something impossible had happened? 

What if that someone was you?

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues

Rating: ***** Five stars

Jezebel’s Wish / A.J. Nuest

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Genre: Romance

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:

AJ Nuest resides in Northwest Indiana with her husband, two children, and several pets. To learn more visit her blog.

Description:

Tormented by guilt, Jezebel came to Redemption Ranch to escape the past. When her mother pushes her into riding lessons with local veterinarian Matthias Saunders, Jezebel balks. Sure, the doctor is gorgeous, but he's completely obnoxious and knows how to push every one of her buttons. Her deep connection with The Reverend, a gentle stallion who guards her darkest secrets, has her agreeing to spend time with Dr. Saunders. Surely, a city girl can handle one country vet, even one with disturbingly blue eyes.

Appraisal:

To start, I loved the cover of this book. The Reverend is truly the heart of this story. The way this stallion accepts Jezzy, as broken and unlikeable as she is, makes this a good read. I never connected to Jezebel; I understood she was emotionally abused in her relationship with Jeffery early on in the story, but it seemed to take forever to get to the true heart of the matter. I never understood her thought process, so not ‘getting’ or ‘liking’ this book is probably my own failing. I really liked Jezzy’s mother Bernice, she was so patient with her daughter (I am not sure I could have been). I also liked how she pushed Jezzy into riding lessons with Matthias. He was a wonderful character that had no idea what he was getting himself into with Jezzy, but he knew how to handle her cantankerous attitude. So if you like romances with a beast for a heroine and a swoon worthy hero this story may be for you, plus you get a wonderful story about a horse.   

FYI:

This book contains adult language and situations that may be offensive to some.

Format/Typo Issues:

I found no significant proofing issues.

Rating: *** Three stars

Gerard Brennan / Wee Rockets

Reviewed by: Keith Nixon

Genre: Thriller

Approximate word count: 80-85,000 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:

Gerard Brennan lives in Northern Ireland with his family and is currently studying for an MA in creative writing at Belfast University. Gerard has previously published several other works including a novella, The Point and contributed to a number of anthologies.

You can learn more about Gerard on his website.

Description:

Wee Rockets follows a gang of teenagers as they rampage through Belfast, Northern Ireland. The gang is led by Joe and his sidekick Danny as they undertake ‘petty’ crime. But Joe decides to step aside and Liam takes his place. However, Liam isn’t interested in small time crime that only generates beer money, his is a plan with much higher stakes.

Appraisal:

This is a cleverly plotted story with many subtle and not-so-subtle aspects. First Wee Rockets is set just after The Troubles that so wracked the country. It is a strong, but not distracting backdrop. Almost everyone has problems as a result, be it bad relationships, unemployment or just plain boredom. In fact, pretty much every character in Wee Rockets is dislikable and flawed. The gang themselves have virtually no prospects in life, however they do not fight for them either – they take from others weaker than themselves, including their own gang members. Thinking about it this could be the case in any underclass society in a deprived area, not just Belfast.

There’s another element about the characters in that even the ‘good’ guys, those not in the gang, aren’t exactly whiter than white. One, Stephen, is so keen to rid the estate of the problem that he starts a relationship with one of the kid’s mothers.

As Wee Rockets progresses the behaviours worsen, from petty violence to assault and battery and to attempted murder. It’s not pretty, but it remains believable. That’s what gives this book real depth and interest. The dialogue is excellent, riddled with interesting, local dialect. The sense of place is equally powerful.

Here’s an example of the no-holds-barred narrative at the beginning of the story:

They spilled out of the alley and surrounded the blue-rinse bitch like a cursing tornado. She screamed, but they moved too fast for the curtain-twitchers to react. Broken nose bleeding, she dropped her handbag and tried to fend off the kicks and punches.

This is another piece of first-rate work from Gerard Brennan.

FYI:

Adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

None.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Black Hat / Kayla Al-Shamma-Jones

Reviewed by: Keith Nixon

Genre: Horror

Approximate word count: 25-30,000 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:

The author states that she was a pretty weird kid which is why she turned to writing. She studied at the University of California and now lives in LA. Black Hat is the prologue to the Raven Children series.

You can learn more about the author and her books at her website.

Description:

Maeve Schraeder is a top student, but she’s been struggling to make her grades recently. Her roommate offers her a study pill and it’s then she starts seeing a tall, bowler hat wearing man out of the corner of her eye. When she goes to sleep the Black Hat Man describes the unpleasant things he’s going to do to her.

Appraisal:

This initially seemed to be a dark story of the perils of drugs and the mental anguish this can cause on yourself and others – demonstrated in the form of the Black Hat Man. Black Hat is listed in the horror genre. I didn’t find much, if anything, that could be described as more than mild until the final scenes. It’s comparatively tame throughout.

The writing is reasonable and there’s a decent internal / external interplay between Maeve and her subconscious. The characters also are reasonable, although I didn’t feel terribly engaged by any, as is the dialogue. On occasion, there were repeated words and some further editing would have been of benefit. For example when Maeve first encounters the Black Hat Man:

Maeve didn’t see his breath like she could see her breath in the cold morning air, and Maeve was pretty sure he wasn’t even breathing.

I struggled to stay engaged in Black Hat. In addition, I found the writing style sometimes dragged. Despite the relatively short length of the book scene descriptions were drawnout. This wasn’t helped by paragraphs that stretched over pages or sentences that ran and ran. Finally, at the conclusion Black Hat left a number of story lines hanging. This is a personal preference, I expect leaving some readers wanting more, others a little frustrated. I was in the latter camp.

FYI:

Some adult language and occasional graphic horror descriptions.

Format/Typo Issues:

None.

Rating: *** Three Stars