Book review - Real Santa, by William Hazelgrove

This book is really something special. I was expecting a schmaltzy little Christmas story, and it just blew my socks off.

It's about parenting, it's about love, it's about not fitting in. It's about truth and lies and the lies that express a deeper truth. All served up with the sharp observation of a real writer's writer. Hilariously funny, and yet at times so moving.

It's not my habit to give out spoilers in a review, so I shan't say much about the story, other than that whatever you were expecting, this book is almost certain to surprise and delight you.

I'll be looking out eagerly for future offerings by this brilliant writer.

Real Santa is available from AMAZON.

Book Review - Discovering the Teachings of Christ, by Terri Main

The contents of this wonderful book are treasure. Main presents and explains the main teachings of Christ with wit and scholarship. Each section has a group discussion guide, making the book a great resource for Christian study groups.

There's no arcane theology or subtle twists of logic to confound a young reader here. A particular gift of Main's is the ability to express quite complex thoughts in a way that's simple and easy to follow. The book is a fantastic resource for any Christian, whether new or established.

Where the book fell down, sadly, was in the formatting and presentation. I was horrified to realise that the section on the Beatitudes had been edited using Track Changes, and the changes had not been accepted before the book was uploaded for publication. This section is therefore very, very hard to read, and had a faint flavour of the multiple-choice 'letter home' that Geoffrey Williams made so famous - rather unfortunate, considering the subject matter.

Discovering the Teachings of Christ is available from AMAZON. 

Book review - Dogs In Space, by Susan Day

I don't get many children's books to review, so Dogs In Space was rather a treat. It's silly in the way that books for small children are, but it is the magnificent silliness that one finds in the best children's books.

The earnest, bumbling dogs are very dog-like, and the wonderful arch-villain, Speed Bump Charlie, is beautifully wicked. Such a very catlike cat. This faithfulness to the animals' essential natures gives the book a level of realism that I found pleasing, despite the traditional elements of children's book that have paws functioning as hands, things being removed from pockets, and so on.

The book is well paced and the action is kept up and does not flag at all; there's an evenness to it that is very pleasing. It would work well if read to a child in a number of sessions.

I note with approbation that Dogs In Space is the latest volume in a fairly extensive series, and feel sure that future generations of adults will look fondly back on the Astro's Adventures books as a childhood classic.

Dogs In Space is available from both AMAZON and SMASHWORDS.

Short Story Review - A Werecat's Journal, by Roy Booth and Brian Woods

I was a little disappointed with this book, because I thought I was buying a novel and it was only a short story, but it was entertaining enough.

I did think it could have done with editing, for the grammar was a little rough, and there were several spelling mistakes of the kind that can't be picked up by spellcheck. In particular, the abrupt tense switch at the beginning was rather offputting.

But the main criticism I had of this story was that for a werecat, the protagonist just did not have the personality of a cat. There was nothing catlike about him; in fact he was more like a dog, with his friendliness, his trusting nature and his loyalty.

Book review: Forecast: Murder, by Terri Main

Like its predecessor, Dark Side of the Moon, this is an entertaining and well-constructed detective mystery. I could not fault the construction of the plot and it was an intriguing and satisfying read from that point of view. If Main has a weakness it is dialogue - I thought the dialogue often stilted and unnatural, and despite the very different backgrounds of the two main characters it was often difficult to know who was speaking.

Where the book falls down, though, is in the quality control area. There is much poor grammar, including the appallingly cringe-making intransitive 'lay', and even spelling errors. I found this particularly irritating in the mouth of a character who often remarks about her own perfect grammar.

Main has a real talent, and I thought it a great pity this book did not receive the care and attention that it deserved.

Forecast: Murder is available from AMAZON.

Book review: Murder is a Family Affair, by Terri Main

Even the blurb for this book has the horrible 'lay' used intransitively. This appears to be Main's calling card, as I have seen it in almost everything of hers that I have read. This makes me cringe so badly that I find myself reviewing her more harshly because of it, and it's a shame, because these Dark Side of the Moon mysteries, of which the instant work is the third, are really very good.

As well as misused apostrophes, 'loan' used as a verb, inappropriate punctuation and utterly ridiculous mistakes of word choice ("in his morning coat and wainscot"), not to mention the writer's apparent failure to grasp the use of tense at all, there is also factual sloppiness in this book. Of particular note is the frequent reference to Bram Stoker's character Van Helsing, who is misspelt throughout as 'Van Helsig'.

This book is in a much worse state in this respect than the first two of this series. It seems as though it may have been rushed into publication in a great hurry. I find this extremely disappointing, especially coming from an author of Christian devotional literature; it seemed to me that to do one's work as well as possible, when it is being done for money, is a necessary aspect of 'Thou Shalt Not Steal'.

Book review - Dark Side of the Moon, by Terri Main

This is an entertaining read, a blend of SF with a murder mystery. But unfortunately marred by several glaring flaws.

The dialogue is often stilted and unnatural, with characters making long speeches in situations where this simply doesn't happen, such as introductions. The affectation of the protagonist's speech, devoid of the standard contractions of everyday casual language, set my teeth on edge.

This, however, was as nothing beside Main's evident failure to understand the operation of tense, and her intransitive use of 'lay'. It is a great pity the book did not pass through the hands of a competent editor.

Dark Side of the Moon is available from AMAZON.