Genre: Realism
Approximate word count: 40-45,000 words
Availability
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Author:
Mark Staniforth is a British writer and sports journalist from North Yorkshire, England. His work has been published in various literary zines and nominated for the prestigious Pushcart Prize. For more on Mr. Staniforth, see his blog.
Description:
Spanning 18 shorts set in and around a fictitious village of the same name, Fryupdale represents a mixed bag of gritty realism, social satire, and dark humor. Characters, locales, and motifs recur frequently throughout, providing a conceptual framework uniting its disparate parts.
Appraisal:
At turns both tragic and comic (though usually somewhere between), Fryupdale focuses on an insular English village and the provincial lives of its villagers. Most of their conflicts seem to derive from a desire to escape, if not to the world outside, then into those afforded through sex, alcohol, and other vices. Often are we left with the impression that the grass isn’t any greener elsewhere – figuratively as well as literally, given the pastoral setting.
Frequent allusions to real or imagined incest and bestiality probably say less about the author’s fixations than certain realities encountered wherever most folks are some degree of kin and the livestock outnumber people. That the book is subtitled “Short Stories from Beyond the Village Limits” is ironically fitting, for while virtually none of the action takes place outside of Fryupdale, much of what happens is either pushing the envelope of good taste or treading close to implausibility. What’s so remarkable about Fryupdale is that no matter how crude or far-fetched it becomes, the author is able to portray the characters and their experiences in a superbly realistic light, making even the most potentially transgressive scenes a joy to read.
Taken separately, most of the tales work quite well on their own. Staniforth is adept at both showing and telling – skills equally necessary for authors working in shorter formats, where even the slightest suggestion is just as important as that which is explicitly stated. Where Fryupdale really shines, however, is the manner in which all 18 of its pieces come together. Traditional short stories, pieces or flash, newspaper clippings, and even an Internet chat all serve to reinforce each other with the appropriate narrative and thematic context, making the book much more than merely the sum of its parts.
FYI:
Fryupdale is available for free download via Smashwords.
As Mr. Staniforth is British (and his characters are about as unadulteratedly British as they come), readers from this side of the pond may benefit from a primer on UK culture/slang. Familiarity with the BBC’s League of Gentlemen or Little Britain television series will probably suffice.
Contains language/situations that may be considered offensive to more prudish readers.
Format/Typo Issues:
A handful of minor proofing errors, though nothing particularly heinous.
Rating: **** Four stars
Genre: Non-fiction
Approximate word count: 50-55,000 words
Availability
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Author:
Oregonian William Van Winkle has over twenty years of involvement in the personal computer industry, the last fourteen as a journalist. In addition to the first volume of Architects of Tomorrow, Van Winkle has a poetry compilation, a short story, and a compilation of articles he has written on the intersection of cutting-edge technologies with people and society. For more, visit his blog.
Description:
For almost ten years, William Van Winkle has interviewed some of the most influential people in science and technology for CPU (Computer Power User) Magazine. This book is a collection of twelve of those interviews, some old and some recent. Each also has additional information that catches up on what the interviewee has done since, updates some of the things discussed, or provides predictions or further insights from the interview subject.
Appraisal:
Volume 2 continues in the same vein as the first installment of Architects of Tomorrow. The twelve interviewees run the gambit from early pioneers (Nolan Bushnell of Atari and Gordon Bell, the designer of the PDP-11, the first mini-computer) to those whose stories are still being written like Tim Westergren, the founder of music streaming service Pandora.
Just as in the first volume, I learned things about people whose stories I thought I would find very familiar. In the introduction, Van Winkle says about his interviewees:
Their works have already influenced millions of people, but perhaps in each chapter, you’ll find at least one tidbit that speaks directly to you. Maybe you’ll read a phrase, connect a couple of concepts, and in some small way their words will ignite a new idea within your mind.
When reading both volumes, I found some nostalgia (both Atari and the PDP-11 minicomputer figured prominently in my life thirty-plus years ago) and some insights or ideas that combine well with others, whether with another interview or something I’ve learned elsewhere. This volume had one answer, from Westergren, responding to a question about success stories due to Pandora that I thought was applicable in many ways to eBooks, Indie authors, and the readers who gravitate towards them.
People will say their iTunes sales spiked when their music showed up on Pandora. There’s a lot of that happening now in small ways, but it’s growing. Our goal is to build a musicians’ middle class. The music business is historically feast or famine. You either get signed to a label that will support you, and you hopefully put out a string of successful records, or you get to fight over crumbs with everybody else. For consumers, that means we get a pretty limited amount of music. Labels only have room for a small number of musicians every year. But on the Internet, there’s infinite capacity for playing a broad collection of music. So I think what music is for listeners will dramatically change. The experience will be much more personalized.
Anyone with an interest in technology, where it has been, and where it might be going, should enjoy this new volume.
Format/Typo Issues:
No significant issues
Rating: **** Four stars
By BigAl
A few weeks ago, we had a post that discussed alternatives to Amazon and Barnes & Noble for purchasing eBooks. One of the advantages some of these alternatives had was that they don’t sell eBooks with DRM (Digital Rights Management), and I promised a future post on this subject. In this post I’ll lay out the arguments for and against from the viewpoint of both the author and the reader.
What is DRM?
Digital Rights Management or DRM is a method intended to insure that consumption of digital content conforms to license terms. Also called copy protection, DRM limits the ability to make or use copied digital content including computer software and digital media such as music, video, and eBooks. In this post, we’ll be discussing DRM only as it relates to eBooks, although the experiences of other industries are pertinent to the discussion.
What You are Really Buying: The difference between paper and digital media.
I’m not a lawyer (and none of this post constitutes legal advice, although hopefully it is reasonably accurate). It is also very US-centric. Although much of it is accurate elsewhere, the laws involved can and do differ in other countries.
Many people may not realize the difference between purchasing digital and physical media and the different rights this gives them. In general, if you have something physical (a book, a computer disc containing software, a CD, or a DVD) that you’ve bought, you can lend it or resale it. Whether you can copy it and allowable uses if you do depends on the terms of the license. Allowable uses are defined by a license that comes with the product, by copyright law, or a combination of both. For our discussion, the key thing to know is that the right to copy or have copies (if any) goes with the physical product. For example, if you have MP3s on your computer or MP3 player that were ripped from a CD you purchased then you are probably not in violation of copyright law. However, if you later sell the physical CD and don’t delete the MP3s, you are in violation of the copyright.
With digital goods, the consumer doesn’t have a physical product. What they are purchasing is a license that grants specific rights to use the content in clearly defined ways. They have no right to resale, for example. Depending on the eBook and where it was purchased the license may grant limited lending rights. They might have the right to keep a copy of their purchase somewhere as a backup. They might have the right to keep a copy of the book on multiple devices or for multiple people to read it at the same time (as in different devices attached to a single Amazon account).
The Case for DRM
Creating copies of a paper book is labor intensive. Whatever method is used will be of a lower quality than the original without significant investment in time and equipment. In contrast, creating copies of a digital file is almost effortless and the copy will be the same quality as the original. Almost anyone with a computer can reproduce unlimited copies of an unprotected electronic book. Authors, publishers, and other interested parties may decide to add DRM to their books to protect their interests. The theory is that DRM will prevent piracy by making it more difficult to produce usable copies of their eBooks. Even if someone has the skills to circumvent the DRM, it will be more work for the pirate. It will also prevent what I’ll call social piracy — when people make a single copy for a friend rather than for widespread distribution.
The Case against DRM
On the surface, the case for DRM seems straightforward and reasonable. If it prevented piracy and had no effect on legitimate purchasers’ use of the product, the case for using DRM would not be an issue. However, those who argue against using DRM say the effect on pirates is insignificant and what little effect there is on social pirating isn’t worth the downside of treating all your customers like thieves. In a discussion about DRM on another blog, I theorized that there are five kinds of people to consider when an author is deciding for or against DRM:
1) Those who actively pirate books by putting them up on pirate sites. They may or may not buy a copy of the book, but have the tools to easily strip the DRM. Whether a book has DRM has little effect on them. While targeted primarily at this group, DRM has very little impact on them.
2) Those who frequent pirate sites to obtain their reading material. As far as they are concerned, your book isn’t DRMed if they find it on a pirate site. This person is also extremely unlikely to actually buy a particular book whether it is DRMed or not. While they might get a book illegally and violate the author’s copyright, this is not a lost sale.
3) Readers who are not tech savvy and are never going to try anything out of the norm. They purchase their books from Amazon (or B&N) directly from their device or the retailer’s website, let it download automatically, and never go outside of the retailer’s system. *IF* they read on multiple devices or have multiple people on the same account, these people will all stay within the retailer’s system for everything. As long as nothing comes up to cause them to go outside their norm, they don’t know if your book is DRMed and don’t care.
4) People who are tech savvy and are not in category #1 or 2. These people buy your book and may mostly be like the people in category #3. However, they have enough knowledge to work outside of the retailer’s system. They realize any hardware might fail and they may, for example, want to keep a backup of all their eBooks on their PC. That way, if their Kindle breaks down, they could easily re-load it from the backup. However, those books with DRM won’t be readable. If someone in this group decides they would like to read your book on another device, maybe their Smartphone, you force them to stay within the retailer’s system, even though they might prefer to get books to the other device some other way. If they decide to change eReader brands, they realize they will lose their investment in eBooks. Anytime someone in this group runs into a DRMed book, they are at a minimum going to get irritated at the author/publisher and might potentially decide to stay away from their books in the future. They are also prime candidates to move to group #5. Personally, I’m in this group.
5) People who would fit in #4, but are worried enough about the potential of losing their investment (without removing DRM, which in some countries is illegal) or have run into DRM roadblocks/irritants enough that they actively avoid buying DRMed books.
While a subset of people in groups 4 and 5 might sometimes illegally lend a book, it is not going to be in any kind of volume. (Those are people in #1 and 2.) While illegal, in many cases the person who “borrowed” the book wouldn’t have purchased it, which means that while still illegal, it didn’t hit the author in the pocketbook. There is also a chance that this casual lending might gain the author a new reader, and actually be a positive for their pocketbook.
You can imagine the percentage of people distributed across these groups however you want. It doesn’t matter how many fit each because the only people who care about the book being DRMed and are significantly impacted by it are those who are paying customers and are not trying to rip off the author. The goal of DRM, to prevent and decrease piracy, doesn’t work.
Although there hasn’t been a formal study that I’m aware of, some authors have done informal experiments that appear to indicate lack of DRM doesn’t hurt an author’s sales and may actually help them. The trend in other industries has been away from DRM use because they have found the DRM creates enemies while not solving the problems it was intended to address. (One example is Apple’s iTunes store, which originally used a DRM scheme for MP3 downloads which was subsequently discontinued.)
Conclusion
Each reader and author needs to come to their own conclusion based on perceived risk, convenience, and their view of the future. If Amazon or Barnes & Noble were to go out of business, this would leave Kindle or Nook readers in the lurch when their current eReader stops functioning. For readers who decide they prefer eBooks without DRM, it argues for using Smashwords or other alternatives to the major retailers; however, this is at a loss of convenience. It should be noted that although both Amazon and Barnes & Noble have DRM schemes, it is possible for a self-publishing author to opt-out of using DRM when first publishing a book on Amazon. (I’m not certain whether this is an option at Barnes & Noble.) However, there is no consistent way for a potential purchaser to determine if a book from either retailer has DRM or not prior to purchase.
Genre: Humor
Approximate word count: 75-80,000 words
Availability
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Author:
A native Californian, Jeff Lee has spent thirty years as an award winning copywriter and creative director in the advertising industry.
Description:
After twenty years of abuse from her alcoholic boyfriend, Vonda Mae Ables finally fights back and in the process crushes his skull with the football trophy he didn’t win, but does display, in his home office. Now she and her best friends are on the lam. “Imagine Thelma and Louise meets Lucy & Ethel -- It's about good friends, good wine, manslaughter and the lengths we’ll go for those we care about.”
Appraisal:
I wish the author hadn’t used the “Thelma and Louise meets Lucy & Ethel” line in his description. Then in a rare burst of creativity, I could have (at least in theory), come up with the line myself. It’s the perfect description. Participating in some female bonding while on the run (like Thelma and Louise), the group of friends who call themselves The Ladies Temperance Club keeps getting into situations that are very much Lucy and Ethel. The murder hanging over their head provides conflict and tension, but the humor in the situations the ladies get into is what sets this book apart. When it’s all over, someone may have some ‘splaining to do.
FYI:
Some adult language.
Format/Typo Issues:
There were a small number of typos and other proofing errors. The version I received for review was a Word document file, so I am unable to comment on formatting.
Rating: **** Four stars
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Approximate word count: 120-125,000 words
Availability
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Author:
This appears to be Barbara Strasburg’s first novel.
Description:
The “Five-Os” are more than a softball team. A team initially formed by former-major-league-hopeful Vic Wagner to play a once a year softball tournament in Lake Tahoe, over their nine years of existence they’ve become much more, with softball taking a backseat to their friendships and camaraderie. But in the tenth year, Vic’s actions and a subsequent tragedy tests those friendships.
Appraisal:
There was a lot to like about this story. It dealt with themes and emotions with which most of us can relate: love and loss. Friendship (not only what it means, but the responsibilities it brings). The consequences of decisions, past and present.
It was a story I enjoyed reading; however, numerous editing issues marred it. These were not only clear errors (discussed in more detail in the format/typos section), but a need for a bit more polishing of the prose and a little too much fat. With a good editor to help cut where the story drags and tighten up the prose, followed by a thorough copy edit, it would be a winner. As it stands, all but those with the most forgiving internal editors will have a hard time wading through to the end.
FYI:
Some adult language and situations.
Format/Typo Issues:
There were an extremely large number of grammar errors, typos, and other proofing miscues. A full list would be too long, but I’ll give some examples. Food is arraigned (no idea what it was arrested for), couples walk hand and hand (rather than the correct hand in hand), and the homonyms pass, past, and passed are used incorrectly a vast majority of the time. Words that should be compound words (dugout, intact, within), are broken in two. There are occasional errors in verb tense and singular/plural mistakes.
Rating: ** Two stars
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic Thriller
Approximate word count: 115-120,000 words
Availability
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Author:
Perusing Jeff Brackett’s bio in the “About the Author” page in his book and on his website, you’ll find that besides writing he has a longtime interest in the martial arts and makes knives as a hobby. (These aren’t regular knives. Some might call them works of art.) He shares both these avocations with the protagonist of his story. For more, visit Brackett’s website.
Description:
A nuclear war blasts the world back in time, with much of the technology we take for granted rendered no longer functional. Follow survivalist Leeland Dawcett and his family as they adapt to their new world.
Half Past Midnight has been designated a “Red Adept Select” book.
Appraisal:
For years, scientists have argued about the effects of a global nuclear war, the best guesses saying there would be many human survivors, but the impact on the world as we know it would be immense. Electromagnetic pulses from the bombs would render most electronic equipment useless. Fallout would have impacts on the food supply, both animals used as meat and crops.
In Half Past Midnight, author Jeff Brackett has imagined what it would be like in this post-nuclear-war world and how families like his own would survive. His protagonist, Leeland Dawcett, has thought about this eventuality and is more prepared than most, but soon finds that you can’t plan for everything. As the Dawcett family adapts to the changing world, they discover what is important and what it takes to survive.
I found Half Past Midnight entertaining, not only as a vicarious adventure, but also as a thought exercise. How would I do in this situation? (Not very well.) How prepared would I be if it did happen? (Hardly prepared at all.) Books give us a chance to imagine experiences we’d like to have and those we’d rather not. I’ll pick option B this time.
FYI:
A small amount of adult language.
Format/Typo Issues:
No significant issues.
Rating: **** Four stars
Genre: Paranormal
Approximate word count: 65-70,000 words
Availability
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Author: Michael J. Lee
Michael J. Lee is a script consultant and an entertainment blogger with a wide range of interests. See his blog for additional information.
Description:
Lee gives us a retelling of the classic novel Frankenstein with a feminine protagonist and point-of-view.
Appraisal:
Although Lee has presented this as a romantic retelling of the Frankenstein tale, I found no romance in the story. I am an experienced reader of many romance novels, encompassing historical, contemporary, and futuristic, as well as paranormal and dark romances, as well. There are indeed romantic relationships within the novel, but I would not call this novel “romantic.”
There are a few items that I found it difficult to get past to enjoy the story, and the initial assumption that I would be reading a romance was one of them. The second was that the heroine is supposed to be an avid reader, which is a nice thing in a strong heroine, but she borrows multiple volumes of scientific topics in a night, and somehow plows through them all, bringing the books back the next day, and she understands and remembers all she’s read. The third item was the romantic involvements of the heroine. She came across as flighty, fickle, and promiscuous, which seriously degraded her from heroine status to round-heeled protagonist in my appreciation.
On the last item, there are novels that I’ve read where the heroine has her eye on more than one man, and she might even dally with them all. However, there are good reasons for her attraction to each male, and the sexual content doesn’t detract from her status as heroine. For this novel, the sexual mores of the time were not properly reflected in the heroine’s behavior.
Overall, the underlying structure of the story was sound, but the heroine’s sexuality was not a good addition to it. If this story were retold without sexual content, and without being referred to as “romantic,” I would say it was an interesting reinterpretation of the Frankenstein tale, and a story worth reading. As it is, I would recommend a good proofreader and an editor take a look at it. One more draft of this novel would make for a much more powerful story.
FYI:
There are some sexual scenes with some erotic content. Scenes are of typical sexual interactions, but may nevertheless disturb some readers.
Format/Typo Issues:
There are occasional grammatical errors and a few spelling errors. They were enough to seriously disrupt my own reading experience, but for readers that are not sensitive to grammar and spelling, this may not be an issue.
Rating: *** Three Stars
Genre: Thriller
Approximate word count: 70-75,000 words
Availability
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Author:
After a long career as an award-winning photojournalist for several major UK newspapers, Ron Morgans decided it was time to chase his lifetime ambition to write thrillers. He and his wife now live in a fishing village on the Mediterranean where he writes, using his experiences in journalism as inspiration for his books. Morgans has three books available in addition to this one. For more, visit his web site.
Description:
Five deaths, each with a few similarities that don’t seem pertinent to their demise, put paparazzo Henrietta Fox and tabloid reporter Cass Farraday on the trail of a murderer. This is the first book in The Fox & Farraday Mysteries series.
Appraisal:
I’ve heard it said that thrillers, more than most genres, are “plot based.” I’ve taken that to mean that the book is built around or starts with the plot whereas in other genres the story is often built around something else. That might be the characters (imagine the characters, throw them together, and see what happens). It could even be based on an imaginary world the author creates, which I think would be the situation with much science fiction and fantasy. While I think this is true, the reality is that no matter how much the details of a thriller plot vary, they tend to run together after you’ve read enough of them. (I think my reviews of thrillers are starting to do the same thing, since I’m sure I’ve written something like this before.) What sets one thriller apart from another are the characters.
In his dual protagonists, Henrietta Fox and Cass Farraday, Ron Morgans has given us two eccentric characters who work well together. Fox is successful as a paparazzo. She’s built up contacts that are valuable for information gathering and is proud of her success, yet seems at least a touch conflicted by what she does. This makes her more than willing to take assignments that involve more than snapping pictures of ill-behaving celebrities. She is a thrill seeker who likes to be in control. Farraday is a tabloid journalist who loves the trappings of success, but, like Fox, wishes his stories were about things that truly mattered.
In the most important things, like their drive to get the story, Fox and Farraday are a perfect team. In the little things, they aren’t. These little things add some minor conflict between the two main characters, which makes for a better story. Morgans’ characters should make for some fun and entertaining reads. They did in The Deadline Murders, and I expect the same from the other books in the series.
FYI:
Uses UK slang and spelling conventions.
Format/Typo Issues:
No significant issues.
Rating: **** Four stars
Genre: Mystery/Parody
Approximate word count: 15-20,000
Availability
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Author:
If we’re to believe the “other books by” listing at the beginning of this book (we aren’t), then if I counted correctly (possibly not, since I ran out of fingers) Christopher Jones aka Woody Stewedfarts has previously written an even dozen books, with this volume making a baker’s dozen. The reality appears to be that this is his only book and that listing (which includes such titles as It Depends, My Love: U.S. Travel Guide for the Incontinent) is part of the parody.
Description:
Subtitled A Bear Stonington Mystery (The Woody Stewedfarts Books), this book parodies the Stone Barrington mystery series authored by Stuart Woods.
Appraisal:
Is it possible to have a reaction to a book that is bipolar? If so, I did to this one.
We’ll start with the beginning. We’ve all heard the old saw that you can’t judge a book by its cover. It would be more correct to say you can’t always accurately judge a book by its cover. Regardless of the claim, most readers do. Certain kinds of covers attract our attention in the bookstore. Different color schemes, fonts, and the look and feel in general provide clues as to genre and the story within. You’d think that a cover would be inconsequential in an eBook, but it turns out the opposite is true. Not only is the cover what makes a book jump out from many on a page in an internet bookstore, but the cover has to work at drawing a potential reader’s attention even when compressed to thumbnail size.
I won’t review a book based on its cover and had already made the equivalent of the buying decision before I saw this one, but seeing the generic cover created certain expectations as to what I would find. It told me the author hadn’t done his homework by finding out what it takes if you want your book to have the best chance of success. Successful Indie author Joe Konrath, who blogs on what it takes for Indie success, continually harps on the same things. He says a book must not only be well written, but also have a good product description, be priced low (relative to your legacy published competitors), and look professional (which includes the cover, formatting, and editing). I fully expected to crack the virtual cover to discover a plethora of other problems.
In this case, not meeting my expectations is a good thing. I expected to find all the typical issues indicating lack of adequate copyediting: typos, spelling errors, grammar, issues with homonyms, etc. I found none. As in zero. That almost never happens, regardless of who the author is or how their work made it to publication. That doesn’t mean I didn’t miss something, but no one is going to reject this book as being unreadable due to copyediting issues unless Jones has a big problem with something that is a blind spot for me.
This review is getting long and it is past time I actually talked about the book, where my bipolar reaction continues. It has been a few years since I last read one of Stuart Wood’s Stone Barrington books, but from what I remember (with a little help refreshing my memory by scanning book descriptions of those I have read) I think Jones’ Bear Stonington is a well formed character who parodies Woods’ character well. While there were times it felt as if the caricature was going over the top slightly, each reader’s reaction is likely to be different, and it is much better for a parody to go a little too far than not far enough.
Where I have an issue with this book is with the actual story. While we know the mystery (or at least what Bear’s mission is for this case) relatively early, it isn’t until the halfway point that Bear takes any concrete action toward accomplishing his mission. Up to that point, he is spinning his wheels while his character is getting established. Once we get to the case, there isn’t a lot of meat there (although laughs remain plentiful). What conflict the story has is not with the theoretical antagonist in the story, but with Bear’s ennui as he delays working on the case. Possibly this is parodying something I’m not getting in Wood’s books, but for me, an exercise in parody isn’t enough if the story doesn’t work too.
FYI:
Some minor adult language and situations.
Format/Typo Issues:
No significant typo or proofing issues. The formatting was okay with the exception of the font, which changed back and forth between two different looks at random intervals. It appeared to have a specific font defined rather than using the default, which is preferable in most cases (and also helps prevent this kind of issue).
Rating: *** Three stars
Genre: Chick Lit/Science Fiction
Approximate word count: 75-80,000 words
Availability
Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: NO Smashwords: NO Paper: NO
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Author:
A native of Ohio, after college Dee DeTarsio fled for warmer climes, first as a TV news producer in Tucson, Arizona. She now lives in San Diego with her husband and two children, where she has worked as a producer/writer at SeaWorld and on an NBC comedy/variety show. DeTarsio has two other novels available (The Kitchen Shrink and The Scent of Jade) <link scent of jade review> and a novella (‘Til Somebody Loves You). For more, visit her website.
Description:
When a small spacecraft crashes behind her house, the previously bored-with-life Micki Cramer finds a purpose, helping Ros, the alien who was piloting the craft, avoid authorities until Ros’ rescuer arrives. At least they hope a rescuer is on the way.
Appraisal:
Dee DeTarsio may write Chick Lit, but her books are never just that. They always include elements you’d expect in other genres and almost never see in Chick Lit, like action-adventure (which features in both of her books I’ve read ) or even a science fiction element, as in the alien this book is named after. These additions are fun and entertaining. They allow DeTarsio to take the story in directions you wouldn’t typically see in Chick Lit.
Pushing the genre boundaries is fun, but what stood out for me in this book was the sense of humor of the main character, Micki. At least in the beginning, she seems to be lacking in self-esteem and is unhappy with life. She lets people run over her which results in her ex-mother-in-law (who is in a mutual-loathing society with Micki) being dumped on her. But Micki’s inner dialogue is always funny and witty, as in this snippet involving Rhoda, her ex-mother-in-law:
“No go,” Rhoda said. “I think there was a murder in that bathroom. Something died in there. I could not use it. I would not go.” And now she’s Dr. Seuss? Could you, would you, in your pants? I wanted to scream.
I found Micki’s “voice” to be unique from that of Julie Fraser (the protagonist in The Scent of Jade, the other book of DeTarsio’s I’ve read), which is something most authors have a hard time doing this well for characters who are so different. If you’re a fan of Chick Lit and not afraid of the boundaries getting stretched a little, the story of Ros would be a perfect choice.
FYI:
A single adult word.
Format/Typo Issues:
No significant issues.
Rating: ***** Five stars
