Short story review: The Effect-Displacement Assassin, by Danielle Ste-Just

An excellent piece of writing, startlingly original and well done - but I did find the ending a little weak. In my opinion, the place to have ended the story would have been on the presentation of the award - the terrible moment of the scientist realising she had spoiled her own lifetime triumph would have been the most climactic ending, and running on after it, I felt, robbed the story of much of its impact.

The Effect-Displacement Assassin is available from AMAZON. While you're there, you can preorder my romance/crime novella, Operation Tomcat, which will release on 11 December.

Book review: UnEnchanted, by Chanda Hahn

I'm a big fan of fairytale retellings, and UnEnchanted didn't disappoint, although I found the concept slightly derivative. As a fairytale retelling it was competent, as a high-school story it was competent, and all round the book was a pleasant way to idle away a couple of hours. But somehow it never realised its early promise; it was not so much that there was anything missing - klutzy, lovable heroine, check - loyal sidekick, check - ancient evil, check - just that there was nothing special to make this book rise above the great mass of similar books out there.

UnEnchanted is available from AMAZON and SMASHWORDS.

Book review: Hostile Witness, by Rebecca Forster

 

Hostile Witness is billed as a legal thriller, and I don't know that I really agree with that classification; although it's true that the whole thing is about a murder trial, nothing in the plot hinges on a matter of law; it is all about matters of fact. To me, it seemed more appropriately designated a psychological thriller.

This, though, is just by the way - this quibble certainly didn't affect my enjoyment of a complex and brilliantly excecuted thriller. It was exciting, believable and scary as hell. The courtroom scenes were beautifully done, and if Ms Forster is not in the law herself I am sure she has at least logged many courtroom hours in the pursuit of verisimilitude. The characters were engaging and realistic, in the psychological sense. An excellent beginning caught the reader from the first page, and the book didn't let go. I'd certainly like to read more from this author.

I was slightly irritated at the apparent carelessness of the proofreading of this fine book. Frequent homophone errors (not that frequent, but I did notice at least four or five, and that is four or five too many for a published work) were a nagging irritant.

Hostile Witness is available on AMAZON in ebook, paperback and audible editions, and also on  SMASHWORDS.

Book review - Children of Ur, by Scott Rhine

Set in the Ryoku universe, Children of Ur did not engage me as much as the other two Ryoku books. I believe the reason for this was that unlike the wonderful Aaron Walker, I found the protagonist, Redwing, rather two-dimensional and consequently, to me, much less interesting.

The other criticism I have of the book is that there was far too much backstory being dumped through the opening chapters; it was still trickling in at 24% and with this much explanation of background required, I felt it would have been better done in a prologue. One cannot rely on the reader having read earlier books in the series, and while this book technically stands alone, Redwing was a creature of the previous book and did not fully come alive in this one.

It was an entertaining read, despite this, and the ending is lovely - a triumph of wit and cunning.

Children of Ur is available from AMAZON.

Short story review - Bean Mother - A Story of Lost Magic, by Danielle Ste Just

This eerily strange interpretation of the traditional Jack and the Beanstalk tale will make a dedicated Ste Just fan out of every reader. I almost held my breath as I read it. I hesitate to say much, lest I take away from a reader's discovery of this remarkable story, but I will say that if you haven't read it, you have a great, great pleasure in store.

Bean Mother - A Story of Lost Magic is available from AMAZON. While you're there, you can preorder my own new romantic comedy, Operation Tomcat.

Book review: George Milne, Cat Detective, by Roddy Murray

From time to time I take a punt on an author who is completely unknown to me, and what a delightful surprise this one was.

George Milne is the most humdrum individual alive. Completely lacking anything approaching initiative, he drifts through life like water, trickling down the path of least resistance, until a hilariously improbably sequence of events supervenes, forcing George farther and farther away from his comfort zone.

Reminiscent of Tom Sharpe at his best, this book was one of the most sheerly entertaining I have read this year. The writing is not particularly polished but is solidly competent, and the extraordinary cast of characters are all beautifully drawn. I laughed out loud many, many times while reading it.

George Milne, Cat Detective is available from Amazon in both Kindle and paperback editions.

If you enjoy a good laugh, check out my new romantic comedy novella, which will release on 11 December. You can preorder it  HERE.

Book review: Ridiculously Simple Self-Publishing: E-Book Formatting 101, by Terri Main

Like all of the Ridiculously Simple series, this book lays out essential information in a well-planned, easy-to-follow lesson. Main is a professional educator and it can well be seen from her work that she is no stranger to the lesson plan. The material is well organised and comprehensive, and is delivered in a straightforward manner without any waffle or boasting, which on its own makes it stand out above the general run of non-fiction ebooks of this type.

I found the level at which the material was aimed just right - there is on the one hand a presumption that the reader has a basic familiarity with MS Word (which one would ordinarily assume to be the case with any writer with a completed manuscript), and on the other hand the book stops short of going into the realms where only nerds may tread. The book is well conceived and well executed, and is a wonderful resource for the first-time self-publisher.

Ridiculously Simple Self-Publishing: E-Book Formatting 101 is available from AMAZON.