Review: All The Things She Says by Peter J. Stavros

 Genre: Short Story Collection

Description:

“Sadie says we have to leave …

With those few urgent words, the journey begins for this couple—from their chance encounter freshman year awaiting their college dorm assignments, through all of the roadblocks and detours and dead ends, until some thirty years later when they finally understand where they are meant to be. All The Things She Says is a chronicle, recounted in vignettes and episodes, of the course these two take in their relationship, told from the point of view of Sadie’s spouse, who witnesses firsthand, and often helplessly, the struggles and travails Sadie endures in trying to find herself with the constant fear that time is slipping away. Yet in the end, they arrive at a plan—the plan Sadie first had in that freshman dorm room.

Initially published nonsequentially in literary journals and magazines over a span of more than seven years, these sixteen short stories are now assembled into one complete collection. All The Things She Says is a discourse on life and love and commitment, and shows that while the path may be difficult to follow, the destination is nonetheless worthwhile.”

Author:

“Peter J. Stavros is a writer and playwright in Louisville, Kentucky, and the author of Three in the Morning and You Don’t Smoke Anymore, winner of the Etchings Press 2020 Book Prize for a Chapbook of Prose. Other works by him include the short story collection, (Mostly) True Tales From Birchmont Village.

A former reporter for the Associated Press, Peter has published his writing in literary journals, magazines, newspapers and anthologies …”

Appraisal:

As the description explains, this short story collection tells the story of a narrator’s relationship with Sadie, his friend when they first meet, later becoming a girlfriend and eventually his spouse. While each story stands on its own, since all sixteen stories in the collection were published elsewhere over several years before being gathered together in the collection, the progression of the stories also tells the realistic tale of a relationship and how it can evolve through the years, changing and hopefully getting stronger over time.

Another thing I noticed was that as Sadie and the narrator’s relationship evolved, they were also dealing with the positives and negatives of aging. One line that especially hit home for me said “Sadie’s been in a funk, feeling gravity’s pull, and it doesn’t help that her rock’n’roll heroes keep dying.” I knew where Sadie was coming from on that one. A quick, yet thought provoking read.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Some adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 20-25,000 words

Review: Horse to Water by Peter Bailey

 Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Description:

“A man who can’t forget, a cop who thinks corners are there to be cut and a bomb.

The smart money thinks the bomb was revenge for a bungled police operation and gives DCI Taplin the last job he ever wanted, finding out who tried to blow up the cop who stabbed him in the back. What he wanted was a nice simple case so he could forget the past, what he got was a nightmare that will drive him to the edge of sanity.

As more bombs explode across London, Taplin must fight a harrowing battle against disappointed and furious colleagues to reveal the devious plans of a brilliant but dangerous mind.”

Author:

The author of multiple books, Peter Bailey lives in England.

Appraisal:

Although this book has a police detective, DCI David Taplin, as the main character and a story that is ultimately a detective mystery with Taplin looking for the person who committed a series of crimes, it isn’t what I’d call a typical detective mystery.

The typical core story is there, but with lots of atypical parts to it. A couple of those qualities are the initial victim is a policeman who has an interesting history with DCI Taplin and based on who that victim is, a lot of people assume they know the motive for the crime.

Then there is Taplin himself, who we find out is a person who is not quite the person he presents to the world with some unusual qualities that sometimes helps him as a detective, and sometimes hinders his ability to do his job. As he chases after the culprit and he along with the reader think they know where things are headed, the story keeps taking unexpected turns, right to the end where Taplin gets one final surprise.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Some adult language. Since the author lives in England spelling and word usage use UK conventions.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 75-80,000 words

Review: Snail’s Pace by Susan McDonough-Wachtman

 Genre: Science Fiction

Description:

A young woman living off her wits in Victorian Hong Kong is offered a position as tutor to a teenage giant space snail, and takes it. That’s the premise. Yup: it intrigued me too.

Author:

“Well written,” “quirky sense of humor,” and “doesn’t fit the genre” are the comments McDonough-Wachtman hears most about her books and stories. She worked as a burger-flipper, a journalist, and has spent the last fifteen years teaching high school. Read more about her and her books on her blog.

Appraisal:

I picked this book for review as it had resonances with one I reviewed a while ago (Doctor Alien) and I wanted to see how they compared. Readers of my Doctor Alien review may recall that its pedigree was hard SF out of Analog magazine. This is a much softer read than Doctor Alien, although both investigate how an alien consciousness might relate to a human being. And of course, inter alia, investigates how human beings work.

This is a real mash-up of space opera, humour and occasional slapstick, and psychology. At one point I wondered if it was intended for the YA market: but as our nicely brought up Victorian heroine has a bit of a potty mouth, maybe not.

There is jeopardy, caused by inter-galactic cultural misunderstandings. There is a well-communicated sense of being very far from home. The heroine, Susannah Maureen Chambers McKay (mouthful much?) is a feisty young woman whose eyes light up when the word ‘adventure’ is uttered and who has always been told by her mother that she has an ‘unfortunate’ sense of humour. As she has recently lost her father, is penniless, and nobody will employ her to do anything respectable, she is delighted to be offered work tutoring Intlack-Eldest. Being in the Orient, and not fluent in Chinese, she finds nothing odd about her pupil’s name. And she misunderstands what sort of ‘ship’ she will be travelling on until it’s too late to do anything sensible.

The spaceship and way of life of the intelligent snails is interestingly realised, as is the suggestion that many species live beyond the ken of humans, that Earth is frequently visited, and is looked down on as being pretty backward.

The unique selling point, however, is that the snails communicate entirely telepathically. Humans, of course, do not. The guarding and sharing of thoughts is of paramount importance; dialogue is … different. The exploration of how this different form of communication might work provides the tensions in this most entertaining book. In places it is laugh-out-loud funny, in others it made me stop and think. Hard SF it ain’t, but it is fun.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

I was working from an ARC so cannot comment on anything connected with editing. There are a few, surprisingly strong, swear words (for a young Victorian woman).

Format/Typo Issues:

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: Judi Moore

Approximate word count: 30-35,000 words

Reprise Review: Never Go Alone by Denison Hatch

 Genre: Thriller

Description:

“A rash of elaborate cat burglaries of luxury buildings in Manhattan has the city panicked.

When a group of social media obsessed millennials--a loosely organized crew that call themselves ‘urban explorers’--are suspected in the heists, undercover NYPD detective Jake Rivett is assigned the case.

Rivett dives deep into the urban exploration scene in pursuit of the truth. But what, and who, he finds--deep in the sewers, up in the cranes above under-construction skyscrapers, and everywhere else in New York--will change not only Jake, but the city itself.”

Author:

Denison is a writer in Los Angeles. His original screenplay, Vanish Man, is set up at Lionsgate. A graduate of Cornell University, he lives with his wife and a big dog in a little house in Hollywood. He is presently working on the third Jake Rivett thriller.

For more, visit Hatch's website, Facebook page, or follow him on Twitter.

Appraisal:

What a terrific story! I loved the fast pace and slick writing, but mostly I loved Jake Rivett, a truly unique character who had me at “Hello.” The novel’s overall premise--corrupt government official colludes with heartless real estate developer-- was valid, although far from unique, but the way Mr. Hatch wove in the concept of urban exploring kept me up past my bedtime, turning pages.

This is the second in a planned series of books featuring the main character, and Jake Rivett can easily handle a long series. If I didn’t have such a long TBR list, I’d certainly read the first in the series (Flash Crash).

If you enjoy high-octane thrillers filled with action and populated by quirky, unique characters, I highly recommend you give the Jake Rivett series a try.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Original review published March 31^st, 2017

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: Pete Barber

Approximate word count: 75-80,000 words

Review: Reinventing Rita by Nancy Christie

 Genre: Women’s Fiction

Description:

“Rita Reynolds is an empty nester with a second shot at life. Her college-age son is spending the summer with his new girlfriend instead of at home with Rita as she had hoped. Her part-time job might be ending, which will toss her back into the job market. Underscoring it all is the realization that since her divorce, she's been coasting on the highway of life. Now, the bumps in the road are too big to ignore.

A chance to teach a six-week baking class brings Rita's almost-forgotten dream of becoming a professional baker back to the surface. Can she overcome her fear that it might be too late for a fresh start? With the help of two friends—Donna, her employer, and Karen, her ex-husband's second wife—she's about to find out.”

Author:

“Nancy Christie has been making up stories since she learned how to write, and she plans to continue as long as her fingers can work the keyboard. She can often be found walking the streets of her neighborhood, reciting lines of dialogue or recording plot ideas on her cell phone before they escape her mind. Reinventing Rita is Nancy's sixth book and first novel, and she is deeply grateful to all who have read, commented, and reviewed her work. Nancy is the host of the Living the Writing Life podcast and founder of the annual ‘Celebrate Short Fiction’ Day. She's a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, Women's Fiction Writers Association, and the Florida Writers Association. For more about Nancy and links to her social media profiles, visit her website.”

Appraisal:

Yeah, yeah. I know. This book is “women’s fiction” and I don’t quite fit the target audience. But something in the description appealed to me. Anyone who has made a big change in their life or career with all the concerns and second guessing that can sometimes be involved will understand where the character of Rita is coming from, regardless of gender. If you’ve experienced the shakeup in your life that happens when a now “adult” child leaves home for college or whatever, you’ll understand the stress Rita feels. Basically, this is a story that a lot of older and middle age folks, regardless of gender, are going to relate to in some fashion and be pulling for Rita to figure things out as you sympathize with her situation. (You younger kids might want to read it to see what’s coming someday.)

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 80-85,000 words

Review: Five Fortunes by Barbara Venkataraman

Genre: YA

Description:

“When five fourteen-year-old girls get their fortunes from an arcade machine just for kicks, it turns their world upside-down and their close-knit group of friends starts to fall apart.

Misunderstandings abound as allegiances shift and outsiders start to come between them. The fortunes seem to be self-fulfilling prophecies - whether the girls believe in them or not.

Do our beliefs color our perception of the world? Do we ever see ourselves the way others see us, and why is change so hard?

Budding romance, angry bees, teenage fashion influencers, and parents who just don't get it make Barbara Venkataraman's Five Fortunes a fun story you won't soon forget.”

Author:

An attorney and mediator specializing in family law, Barbara Venkataraman is also an author with a variety of different books. She’s written a series of mysteries, a few collections of short stories. She’s written non-fiction as well, with a fun book about grammar and even co-wrote a memoir with her son about his experience as a activist who helped exonerate four men falsely accused of rape in Florida in the 1940s.

For more, check out Ms Venkataraman’s blog.

Appraisal:

The description for this book tells the story well. My extremely abbreviated version, “five friends each get fortunes from an arcade machine and it shakes up their friendships and their lives” tells you the setup. The repercussions of this and how each of the five works through it is a fun, entertaining, and thought-provoking tale. While aimed at young adults and in my estimation the ideal reader would probably be a high school female, I can see this being enjoyed by readers of any age or gender. I enjoyed it and I’m an elderly adult (well, at least far from young).

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 15-20,000 words

Review: The Love That Binds Us by Phoenix Blackwood

Genre: YA/LGBTQ

Description:

“From the outside, Alex has a perfect life. She has a partner who loves her, gets good grades in school, excels at most sports, and has a big heart. From the inside, Alex’s life is anything but perfect. She hasn’t spoken to her father in years. She’s hiding the fact that her once-best-friend now-romantic-partner Theo is trans and nonbinary from her homophobic mother. Bullies are harassing her and Theo at school, taunting and shoving. It’s all becoming too much for Alex to bear.

Things take a surprising turn when Alex’s mother discovers her relationship with Theo. After Alex is thrown out of her house and taken in by Theo’s foster family, Alex can live honestly. For a while, things start to feel manageable. Alex finds a new group of friends. She navigates what “family” means beyond her mother and sister. She even considers forgiving her mother’s past mistakes. But forgiveness requires honesty. Secrets Alex’s mother has been keeping are surfacing, trying to bind Alex to misery. As Alex learns the full truth of her mother’s past mistakes, she will need the love of her chosen family and friends to gently bind her life into a shape that keeps her whole.”

Author:

“Phoenix Blackwood is an intersex nonbinary author and has published short stories and the novel The Secrets That Kill Us. Through their writing, Phoenix shines a light on the issues LGBTQIA+ youth face at home and in school. Phoenix is a passionate advocate and wants all youth to feel as if they have a place in the world.”

Appraisal:

I’ve felt for a long time that books with stories that allow readers to put themselves in the position of someone not like them is one of the best ways to help develop empathy and understanding for the struggles of others. In the process the reader becomes a better, more well-rounded person and the world benefits. The main characters in this story are in their late teens. Readers in the same age range, especially those who are part of the LGBT community, should find this tale appealing, but I think those this age range and up, regardless of anything else, would benefit from reading the story.

The book’s description gives a pretty good idea of the overall story. The characters are well drawn, the situations they find themselves in are realistic, and the story feels like it could easily be true, even though it isn’t. All of this pulled me in to the story as I wondered whether everything was going to work out for Alex.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

The book contains the following note. Consider yourself warned:

“The Love that Binds Us deals with many difficult topics that may be triggering for some readers. Drug use (explicit) Explicit language Child abuse (non-sexual, explicit).”

Format/Typo Issues:

Review is based on an ARC (advance reader copy), so I can’t gauge the final product in this area.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 60-65,000 words