#BookReview - Cobweb Empire

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Back in October I reviewed Vera Nazarian's Cobweb Bride, the first in a trilogy set in an imaginary pocket of Europe during the Renaissance. I absolutely loved book one, awarding it four blunt pencils, and managed to get my mitts on Cobweb Empire, its follow-up. I've had book two on my Kindle for some time, but I'll admit, the release of the final book, Cobweb Forest, gave me the kick up the bum that I needed to read it.

As with book one, Cobweb Empire tells the story of Percy Ayren, the ordinary village girl from northern Lethe, only now Percy isn't so ordinary. During book one, death stopped entirely while the Reaper searched for his Cobweb Bride, and the dead were forced to keep going in whatever state they were in at the point of 'death'. By book two, things are getting worse, and entire sections of the world are simply disappearing. After an audience with the Reaper, Percy's now been granted the ability to give the dead a final ending, reuniting their broken bodies with their souls. In a world where no one can die, such an ability is obviously highly prized, and many people see the value in having Percy in their custody. Trouble is, Percy needs to be elsewhere, still tasked with finding the Cobweb Bride, so off she goes, accompanied by handsome knight Sir Beltain Chidair, to find her.

While Percy's having adventures throughout both the Realm and the Domain, a host of other characters are also exploring the extensive world created by Nazarian, be they the terrifying Sovereign of the Domain, hell bent on conquering the Realm, or the dandyish duo, Lady Amaryllis and Lord Nathan, held captive in a northern dungeon. There is plenty going on to keep the narrative ticking along at a smart pace, and being book two, Cobweb Empire has the luxury of being able to hit the ground running. Having read the Kindle version, I think I read at least 20% of it in one go.

As ever, the characterisation is spot on (although I'm not sure that eyes need to be constantly described as being 'liquid'), and it's easy to root for Percy. Grial the witch makes more of an appearance in this book, and she's a wonderful character who reminds me a lot of Mrs Weasley from Harry Potter. I was pleased to get to know Lady Amaryllis more - she was a little stereotypical in book one but she shows real wit and ingenuity in book two, as does Nazarian herself. The world she has created is an extraordinary one, packed with inventive details. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

It won't make much sense if you haven't read book one, but I'd highly recommend that you buy both and read them back to back. It also baffles me why Hollywood keeps making remakes when it could be adapting something like this for the big screen. Hopefully HBO might take the hint!

Four blunt pencils!

You can buy Cobweb Empire from Amazon for both Kindle and paperback, or for other e-readers from Smashwords.

#BookReview - The Diviners

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The Diviners was one of those books I stumbled across by accident, recommended in a blog post I don't fully remember. I downloaded a sample to my Kindle, flew through the first couple of chapters, and couldn't stop myself from buying the full book. It was a snip at £2.99!

The Diviners is set in the roaring Twenties, and principally features aspiring flapper Evie O'Neill, sent to stay with her Uncle Will in New York after an 'incident' in her Ohio hometown. The incident involves her clairvoyant abilities to read the secrets of others in items they own. She's not alone - while in New York, she encounters others with secret powers, including a boy who can will invisibility, a healer who has lost his faith, a boy with ESP, and a girl very much connected with fire.

New York is just as exciting as Evie hopes it will be - if not too exciting. She arrives just as a serial killer is beginning a spree that will wend its way around town, with seemingly no rhyme or reason. Involved in the case through her uncle's consulting duties with the police, Evie begins to believe that her gift could be the key that unlocks the killer's identity - although this particular killer is not exactly one to whom bars and concrete will form much of a prison.

I don't normally like books that head hop but in the case of The Diviners, it's pretty essential to delivering the plot. The interwoven strands, following each of our Diviners as they struggle to either hide or reconnect with their power, work together so well that the book becomes difficult to put down. I often found myself cross that I'd have to stop reading, or miss my Metro stop on the way to work. I'd never really read anything set in the 1920s before but I found the writing authentic, and the characters intensely likeable. I don't normally like the loud, brash girl who is desperate to be centre of attention, but Evie managed to charm me all the same - she does things for herself, not to suit someone else.

The Diviners is also an example of a paranormal romance which is heavy on paranormal and light on romance - for those of us who just want to read about ghosts and supernatural powers, this is an ideal read. Sure, there's romance, but it doesn't dominate the plot to the exclusion of all else. I have to admit, as much as Sam and Jericho are proposed as potential romantic leads, I actually found Memphis the most attractive male of all, particularly through his devotion to his little brother.

While the ending wraps up incredibly neatly, there's also the suggestion that there is more to come, that the events of this book will be small potatoes compared with what will come later. I understand this is the first of a series, though, and I for one cannot wait for the next installment. Beautifully written, gripping, and full of suspense, The Diviners comes highly recommended by me.

Five blunt pencils!

#BookReview - Cobweb Bride

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I first came across Vera Nazarian's Cobweb Bride through a recommendation by Nerine Dorman, and I'm very glad I decided to follow this recommendation up. Book one in a trilogy, Cobweb Bride tells the story of an imaginary kingdom called Lethe, located somewhere in an alternate Renaissance Europe. Death appears, proclaiming he will take no more lives until his Cobweb Bride is found, and all marriageable women are sent to search for his Keep in the forests of the North.

One of these women is Percy (short for Persephone), a largely unremarkable and overlooked middle daughter, who is notable for her ability to see shadows of death. Percy starts the book as a lumpen, plodding sort of girl but really grows in confidence and wit as the book progresses. I found I really liked Percy by the end of it, and I love the fact that she's so easy to relate to - she's no Bella-esque Mary Sue character.

The book follows other characters, such as the Infanta, a sixteen year old frail princess from the imperial court, a trio of aristocratic fops (who, in my head, talk like the actors on Made in Chelsea), and a knight whose father won't die after a bloody massacre goes wrong in Death's absence from duty. It's all highly inventive, including the fact that the populace risk starving to death since anything killed or harvested after Death goes on strike returns to a state of life, making it inedible. My only criticism regarding the characters are their names - some characters are introduced, and only used once, making it difficult to keep track of a cast with long names, some of whom aren't even essential to the plot.

Other reviews have noted that it takes far too long for the action to begin, and I'd be inclined to agree. Much of the first third or so of the book could be revealed through dialogue later in the story, or cut altogether, and I really didn't need a lengthy description of the life and love of Persephone's grandmother before anything even happens. It feels in places as though Nazarian is feeling her way into the story, and with hindsight this could be condensed. However, once the action gets started, it's very difficult to put the book down, and I found myself flying through it, eager to know what happened next. Luckily there's enough potential in the first third to have kept me reading because I thoroughly enjoyed the remaining two thirds!

I'll definitely be buying book two in the trilogy...

Four blunt pencils!

You can get Cobweb Bride for Kindle from Amazon US, or Amazon UK, as well as on Smashwords. Paperbacks are also available.

#BookReview - Traitors

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I can't believe it's a year since I wrote a review of Carrie Clevenger's Crooked Fang, but here I am again with my review of the novella-length follow-up, Traitors.

Again narrated by sexy vampire bassist Xan Marcelles, Traitors picks up shortly after Crooked Fang. Xan is without a band, and bored in Pinecliffe, Colorado. The presence of Nin, a different breed of vampire, seems to give him something to muse about, but she's not especially trustworthy.

A late night phone call from his shadowy kinsman, M, brings Xan's past right into his present, and he's forced to pick up the threads of his previous work as a hitman of sorts, cleaning up the messes left by others. In essence, he's pretty much The Wolf from Pulp Fiction, just more prone to violence and happy to shoot on sight. Nin invites herself along, and the pair head off to Traitors, by turns both bar and vampire nest in Texas.

The thing I've always liked about Xan is, surprisingly, his humanity. He makes mistakes, and admits to them, and his fondness for humans makes him a likeable protagonist. He does stupid things, but when it comes down to it, he gets the job done, each time hoping that this time, he'll get left alone. Normally I don't like vampires due to their attitude problem but Xan's desire for peace and quiet makes him a lovable rogue. In Traitors, his time among humans has blunted his edge when required to fight, which makes Nin a useful addition to his life, and stops Xan from being one of those dull 'perfect' invincible heroes (*cough* Superman *cough*). He actually gets hurt, but he just keeps on swinging.

This being Xan, his soft spot for the ladies means there's obvious chemistry between Xan and Nin, and while I have to admit I found it really difficult to warm to Nin, she's not one of those princess type characters who needs to be rescued by the big strong men. Nin's more than capable of kicking butt on her own terms, and for that alone I suppose I have to salute her.

Traitors might only be a short work, but it's packed with action, and sets us up nicely for whatever the next instalment might be. Highly recommended, with five blunt pencils!

You can buy Traitors for your Kindle here or from Smashwords, here.

[Book Review] The Angel of Shadwell

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Every now and then you come across a book and it's literally the title that makes you buy it. I came across The Angel of Shadwell by Jonathan Templar on Facebook (I think) and being a sucker for all things London, I downloaded a sample for my Kindle. I didn't even read all three chapters - I bought the whole thing after just a couple of 'pages'. To own the truth, I downloaded the full version and started reading on 11 June, and finished on 12 June. It's not the longest book but it's such an engaging read, it's easy to get sucked in.

I'd describe it as a steampunk crime caper, in which Inspector Noridel and the faithful Sergeant Crayford are set on the trail of a killer who tears the hearts from his victims. When an aristocrat is slain in such a way, things escalate and Noridel is fighting to keep his job amid scrutiny from those higher up the chain of command. Witnesses describe the killer as being an angel, so what exactly is Noridel chasing? It's not a complicated plot, but it's a compelling one, and that alone keeps you reading.

Some steampunk stories can sometimes feel like the steampunk elements have simply been 'bolted on' to satisfy a list of criteria (Cogs and brass? Check. Steam? Check. Automata? Check. Airships? Check.) but in The Angel of Shadwell, the elements are so integral to the plot that the story wouldn't work without them. Beyond that, Templar uses them in a wildly inventive way, and his cast of miscreants reminded me of the more restrained outpourings of China Mieville. Noridel and Crayford are both likeable protagonists, while the uneasy truce between Clock and Flesh (i.e. automatons and people) seems rife with possibilities that I hope Templar explores in the future.

All in all, it's a quick read, and highly enjoyable. Five blunt pencils out of five!

You can buy it from Amazon US and Amazon UK.

[Book Review] Camdeboo Nights

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Anyone who reads this blog will know I'm a big fan of South African wordmistress Nerine Dorman, and it's my pleasure to review one of her most recent offerings, Camdeboo Nights. Set in her native land, Dorman tells the tale of Helen Ashfield, a young woman trying to come to terms with the fact her parents are getting divorced, and she has to start a new school in a small town. If that wasn't bad enough, it seems Helen also has somewhat awesome powers, which bring her to the attention of Trystan, a runaway vampire. Separately, they'd probably have gone under the radar of the badass vampire enforcer, Mantis, but together, Helen becomes a target, bringing Trystan out into the open.

The way I've described it might make it sound a little like another human plus vampire series that I'm sure I don't need to name, but I can't stress enough how unlike said series Camdeboo Nights actually is. For one thing, Camdeboo Nights is told from several points of view, granting us access to Trystan and Helen, as well as Helen's friends Arwen and Etienne. Plus, Helen isn't a grating Mary Sue - she has issues with school bullies, and while she's a little more passive than I'd like, she doesn't spend her whole time mooning after Trystan. Helen has real problems to deal with, on top of her magical ones, and no matter what she does, she always does what she thinks is best. It's admirable.

As always with Dorman's books, one of the joys of reading is the world created in its pages. I've never been to South Africa but I always feel like I 'know' the country a little better once I've read one of Dorman's books, and the vistas of Camdeboo Nights are so far removed from anything I've ever encountered. Beyond the physical landscape, there's a real mythology and sense of 'history' to this story - Trystan's dealings with his vampire brethren have made him an outcast, so he's hardly a shining, flawless hero, and that makes him far more interesting as a result. Then there's Arwen, descended from a family of witches and seeking to tap into power of her own. She's prickly and strong-minded, and I really liked her. Her motives are sometimes shadowy or ambiguous, but again, it makes her more interesting to read.

Camdeboo Nights is a wonderful read, and I seemed to fly through it in no time at all, meaning the only question is...when is the next one coming out?

Four and a half blunt pencils out of five!

You can buy Camdeboo Nights from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo.

[Book Review] I Know You Know

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It's a little known fact but I do actually enjoy reading thrillers. If someone manages to combine thrillers with a spot of the supernatural then all the better! I've been reading Helen Howell's blog for some time now, and she posts regular serials and flash fiction. In February, her first adult novella, I Know You Know, was published by Crooked Cat Books, and I decided to pick up a copy - a psychic who uncovers a serial killer? What could be better!

I Know You Know tells the story of Janice, a tarot card reader trying to eke out a quiet existence with the aid of her dead grandmother, who passes on her wisdom as a voice in Janice's ear. Janice encounters the rather odious Edgar Kipp, and during the reading the cards tell her that he's a serial killer. Naturally it's a bit of a curve ball for anyone to deal with, and Janice does her best to disguise what she's learned. Kipp realises she knows more than she's letting on, and so begins a cat and mouse game between them.

Told through a mixture of present tense and flashback, Helen weaves a story that genuinely had me wondering how things were going to turn out. Flashbacks help deepen an understanding of Kipp's psychology, while Janice's relationship with the voice of her grandmother helps to explain Janice's abilities. This could have descended into a police procedural but the police involvement is kept to a minimum, apart from a detective who thinks there might be some substance to Janice's story. Janice is quiet and wants to avoid trouble, but she's likeable in an unobtrusive sort of way - she's not an attention seeker at all, she just wants to get on with her life.

Novellas are always a quick read but I found I Know You Know to be a real page turner, and I really didn't anticipate the ending. The story gets going very quickly, and there could have been a danger that the segments told from Kipp's point of view might have somehow rationalised his actions, or tried to engender sympathy for him. Luckily they're handled in such a way that Kipp never becomes sympathetic - he just becomes more and more detestable.

I really enjoyed I Know You Know, and I'd recommend it if anyone's looking for a quick yet thrilling read.

Four blunt pencils out of five!

Bio: Helen is a fiction writer, who writes in several genres which include fantasy, noir, horror and humour. She has written several short stories, flash fictions and poems. Her work has appeared in both e-zines, anthologies and print publications. In July 2012 her debut novella, Jumping At Shadows, a fantasy fiction for 9 years- adults, was published as an e-book. In February 2013 her novella, I Know You Know, a psychic thriller for adults,  was published by Crooked Cat Publishing. She is a member of Friday Flash Dot Org. and is a regular participant in writing Friday Flash.

You can find I Know You Know at Amazon US, Amazon UK, Crooked Cat Books, or Smashwords.

[Book Review] Mojo Queen and Red House

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I don't normally write reviews of more than one book at once, but considering how close together I read these two, and the fact that they're the first two books of a series, then I thought I'd make an exception for the phenomenally talented Sonya Clark.

Mojo Queen and Red House are both about paranormal investigator Roxanne Mathis, who just so happens to be a practicing witch. Often aided and abetted by her ancestor, vampire Daniel, Roxie spends Mojo Queen doing battle with a demon summoned into a young woman, while in Red House, she's fighting to clear a B&B of malevolent spirits. In both books, she's both frustrated and tempted by Blake the Sexy Sorceror, a devillish young man with a penchant for chaos magic.

I don't normally read paranormal romance but these books are closer to urban fantasy, and there's enough of the cool energy-blasting and ghost busting to make me rather keen for the next instalment, Hoodoo Woman. Roxie is a strong and independent heroine, with a taste for the blues and a capable streak that made me warm to her pretty much instantaneously, and Daniel is one of the coolest vampires I've come across in a very long time (he's in the same league as my beloved Xan Marcelles). Even though Blake is by turns an arrogant so-and-so and a dangerous man, he's also Very Sexy and the type of hero someone as strong as Roxie needs. He doesn't save the day, just lends a hand when she needs it.

I think a lot of books related to witchcraft could suffer in the wake of movies like The Craft, or TV shows like Buffy, and it's nice that the female protagonist is granted power of her own, to do with as she will. Roxie chooses to use it to help people, by clearing houses of unwanted spirits, rather than using her power for personal gain. There is little in the way of religion here, as Roxie forges a strong bond with the natural world, and she's such a positive, normal character that I couldn't help but like her.

I met Sonya on Twitter, and after reading some of her Friday flashes on her blog, thought I'd give Mojo Queen a go. I read it in a matter of days and treated myself to Red House just after Christmas, a book I read in about four sittings. Sonya writes in such a way that it's nigh-on impossible to put her books down, and her world-building is incredible - it feels both painfully real, and delightfully otherworldly at the same time. Roxie has a clear, straightforward narrative voice, and she's very easy to root for. The combination of the supernatural and other cultures makes for interesting reading, and I keep wanting to look up all of these other forms of practice for extra reading.

I can't actually recommend them enough, so it's fairly obvious they get a 5 out of 5 blunt pencils!

You can buy Mojo Queen here, and Red House here.

[Book Review] Transformation

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I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting to like this eerie novella by Irish writer, Rab Swannock Fulton. Published by Dark Continents and edited by Nerine Dorman, Transformation tells the tale of a young man named Donnacha, a young dishwasher in Galway who meets an enchanting young woman named Eimir. Much of the first half of the book reads as a romance novel as their relationship deepens, and I was prepared to be put off since romance is not a preferred genre of mine. However, there's a real sense of the supernatural about the whole story, and I felt on tenterhooks throughout, which is essentially what kept me spellbound. Fulton has a beautiful, lyrical style and the haunting quality to the romance kept me wondering what would happen to break the idyll he'd created.

You can't keep the supernatural out for long, and in Donnacha's case, he becomes persecuted by a pooka, a creature from Irish folklore and Welsh mythology. The use of the pooka, as opposed to a more familiar monster or beast, gives Transformation a sharp edge, as Donnacha battles to keep his soul and defeat the evil goat once and for all. The book makes full use of its Galway setting, and the contrast of the gentle romance and horror powers the story in a very visceral way.

Donnacha makes a convincing and likeable narrator, and his motivations are believeable, if a little naive at times. The introduction of the pooka was a masterstroke, since a more conventional creature could have seen the book become a retread of familiar themes, but as it is, the book becomes an original version of a twisted fairy tale, as well as a darker version of more popular paranormal romances - and one that also made me want to conduct further research into Irish folklore. It's a very absorbing and quick read (indeed, I breezed through it in three days) and I'll be very interested to see what Fulton does next.

Four and a half blunt pencils out of five!

You can buy Transformation for the Kindle from Amazon US and Amazon UK. You can also buy it for Kobo and Nook.

[Book Review] Outlaw

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Anyone who knows me will know that I have a fondness for Westerns, and those written by Matthew Pizzolato are no exception. I welcomed him over to the Blunt Pencil back in October for an interview in which Matt discusses the challenges of marketing Westerns, so to help with that marketing, I want to put up my review for his latest novella, Outlaw.

Outlaw tells the story of the bad boy outlaw, Wesley Quaid, who rides into the sleepy town of Leeville, Kansas, in the hope that he can lie low in an effort to escape his reputation in Texas. You can't keep a good outlaw down, and soon Quaid is checking out the bank with the intention of pulling a heist. Things don't go according to plan since he gets his eye on the pretty bank clerk, Colleen, and soon he's struggling with his feelings for her, as well as becoming embroiled in a turf war with the hot-headed son of the local ranch owner. If that's not enough, he's also been made deputy marshal, he's got a thing with the hot woman who runs the saloon, and he's being tailed by a shadowy assassin named Sabrina...

I give you that much of the plot as an indication of how fast-paced this novella is. Pizzolato's writing is tight and the narrative unfurls at a swift pace, with plenty going on to make this an action-packed story. Casting an outlaw as your hero takes a lot of guts, and Quaid is more of a likeable rogue than a vicious bad guy. He'll give as good as he gets, but he doesn't pick fights with people unless he needs to. The setting feels plausible, and at no point did I feel like I'd been thrown out of the story. I would have liked to have seen more character development, as well as a little more back story for Sabrina, but hey, that's what other novellas are for, right?

Outlaw is a quick but tight read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'll be looking forward to more of Wesley Quaid's adventures.

Four blunt pencils out of five!

You can buy it for the Kindle from Amazon US or Amazon UK, and it's also available in paperback.

[Book Review] Blood Skies

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When I first saw a tweet about Blood Skies, it was something to do with vampires. Oh yay...MORE vampires. Just what the world needed, I thought. Well, I'd been talking to writer Steven Montano on Twitter and as I got on with him, I thought I'd ignore the vampire thing and read the synopsis anyway. Luckily, my attention was caught by talk of arcane storms, warlocks and a necropolis - all things that there just aren't enough of in the fiction I've read, and I can honestly say I am very glad I gave it a go!

Blood Skies tells the story of Eric Cross, a warlock seemingly out of his depth within a military squad, dedicated to protecting what is left of humanity by pursuing a traitor through a series of evil lands, each more treacherous than the last. Earth, ruined by a mysterious cataclysm known only as "The Black", comes across as a nightmarish blend of Azeroth, Middle Earth and all of those twisted places your mind goes when it's dark outside and you're all alone. The stakes are raised dramatically when Cross' younger sister, a witch named Snow, becomes involved, and the tension ratchets up to an almost unbearable level.

I'll admit, the first couple of chapters seemed a little tough going, but I liked the style of writing, so I persevered, and within a few pages I was hooked. This is a story with balls, and a story in which there is always something going on - and something to be resolved. Everything from the beginning becomes important by the end, and nothing is wasted.

What impressed me was both the vast scale of the world building on display, with lush, vivid description bringing the locations to life in all their horrific splendour, and the quality of the prose. This is a real page-turner that had me clicking like mad through the Kindle edition, genuinely worried for Cross as he stumbles further into the middle of a truly heinous plot. Montano blends his epic description with staccato action scenes that seem almost cinematic in their execution, and there's a dark poetry to the whole thing that made me deeply envious that I hadn't come up with this first.

I'd classify Blood Skies as dark fantasy, and I'll definitely be downloading the rest of the series!

You can buy Blood Skies for the Kindle, or in paperback.

Please note, I bought my copy myself, so this wasn't based on a complimentary review copy, and I'm giving him five blunt pencils out of five, not because I talk to Steven on Twitter, but because it's a damn good book.

[Book Review] Crooked Fang

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I've featured a lot of Crooked Fang on my blog over the past few months, including a guest post from the very delicious Carrie Clevenger about turning blog serials into novels. It's now my very good honour to feature a review of the book itself! Enjoy...

Oh yay, another vampire, I hear you cry. Stop right there. Forget for a moment that Twilight ever existed, and give Crooked Fang a go. Why? Because sometimes you can almost forget that CF's hero, Xan Marcelles, is even a vampire. I prefer to think of him as a grumpy, whisky-drinking, chain-smoking bassist who's going to live for a really, really long time.

Basically, Xan lives in a bar named Pale Rider in Pinecliffe, Colorado. He does odd jobs and plays bass in his band, Crooked Fang. It's pretty clear he'd be happy with his quiet existence, not bothering anyone as long as they don't bother him, except real life has a way of intruding into his private world. If he's not dealing with abusive boyfriends or singers prone to tantrums, he's being dragged back to his old stamping ground, New Mexico, to track down an errant vampire. Yes, Xan hunts other vampires, and he's very good at it. This is not just any vampire, but rather a Nesferata, and it's an inventive touch that almost raises the possibility of racism among the vampires themselves. It's not just "humans" vs "vampires" - oh no, it's every bloodsucker for him/herself.

I followed Crooked Fang back when it was a blog serial, and I was excited to finally have a paperback copy in my hands. The gorgeous presentation aside, it's just one of those novels that you can actually describe as 'gripping'. I've never been a big fan of vampires so it stands testament to Carrie Clevenger's storytelling skills that I am a HUGE fan of Xan Marcelles. He's an incredibly likeable and plausible hero, carrying with him that 'reluctant hero' air that makes the likes of Snake Plisskin so cool. Xan also has an incredibly strong voice, so the book often feels like you're sat at the back of Pale Rider, and he's telling it to you over a drink. Clevenger pulls off the difficult task of making it feel like Xan's simply dictated the story to her, and I couldn't NOT fall for him a tiny bit. The secondary characters are also incredibly strong as Clevenger creates plausible characters that you either love or loathe, and I particularly love the banter with his friend, Scott.

I actually can't recommend Crooked Fang enough and I can't wait for the sequel to drop!

Five blunt pencils out of five!

You can buy Crooked Fang for the Kindle from Amazon, or buy the paperback from Createspace.

[Book Review] Miles to Little Ridge

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Anyone familiar with my blog will know I have a fondness for Westerns - hardly surprising, given my first published book, The Guns of Retribution, falls into the bracket of pulp Westerns. I came across the two Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles collections on Amazon (reviewed here and here), and being a big fan of Edward A. Grainger, gave them top marks. However, as much as I enjoyed reading about US Marshal Cash Laramie, I always enjoyed the stories featuring his partner, Gideon Miles, so I was rather pleased to see that in Miles to Little Ridge, he gets his own story.

Told by the exceptionally talented Heath Lowrance, Miles to Little Ridge follows the Marshal as he heads to Little Ridge to pick up a man wanted for armed robbery. While in town, he runs into a pair of fairly inept outlaws - unfortunately for Miles, one of them quite literally has an axe to grind after Miles shot one of his party in a bank raid gone wrong. The story follows Miles' attempts to do his job, while hampered by a ill-thought-out plan for revenge.

I can honestly say I loved this story. Lowrance's writing is sharp and vivid, and I actually read the novella in one sitting. The action flows smoothly and 'plays out' like a mental movie, while the dialogue is very crisp and feels authentic. It's wonderful to see more of Gideon Miles, and with any luck, we'll read more stories about him in the future. It's certainly a bold movie to explore the racial tensions surrounding a black man in a position of authority, and it lends the series a slightly more serious air.

For anyone who's enjoyed the two Cash Laramie volumes, Miles to Little Ridge is the perfect accompaniment to 'flesh out' Gideon's character, but for those who want a quick pick-me-up, you would do well to try it out. Plus, at $1.18 / 77p, what do you really have to lose? Available from Amazon US and Amazon UK.

Five blunt pencils out of five!

[Book Review] Inkarna by Nerine Dorman

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Way back in February, I reviewed Blood and Fire, a collaboration between Carrie Clevenger and Nerine Dorman. The story involved Carrie's vampire, Xan Marcelles (his novel, Crooked Fang, is coming soon) and Nerine's reincarnating spirit, Ashton Kennedy. With Inkarna, Ashton gets the chance to tell his own story. And in a world where 'paranormal' books seem to be preoccupied with vampires or werewolves, Nerine Dorman gives us reincarnation, ancient Egyptian mysteries and even daimonic powers. What's not to love?

The story is told by Ashton Kennedy - or rather, by Lizzie, a woman reincarnated into the body of this fairly obnoxious young man. As one of a race of beings known as Inkarna, Lizzie belongs to House Adamastor, a group of people dedicated to knowledge and secrets. Sadly the afterlife is just as riddled with politics and intrigue as the mortal coil, and Lizzie, as Ashton, finds herself caught up in a deadly tug of war with House Montu, a warrior cult - as if it's not hard enough just to deal with the enemies Ashton made during his lifetime! This is some serious stuff, people - no twinkly vampires or cuddly werewolves here. The Inkarna have daimonic powers that put the Jedi and Sith to shame, and when it all kicks off, it REALLY kicks off.

There are many things I loved about Inkarna, and clearly its basis within ancient Egyptian mythology was one of them. Dorman knows her stuff and her passion for the subject bleeds through every word. The concept of a woman finding herself trapped inside a man's body was equally fascinating, and Lizzie's slow transition as she 'grows into' Ashton was impressive and well-handled. The setting of South Africa was also a point of interest - I've never been, but I feel like I've explored Cape Town along with Ashton and Marlise, his partner-in-crime.

There were several occasions when reading that I got so wrapped up in the book that I almost missed train stops, and I'd get "itchy fingers" until I could get back to turning the pages. For anyone who loves paranormal or mystical fiction, or for anyone who likes stories that are a bit out of the ordinary, or for anyone who just enjoys a well-written book, I'd highly recommend Inkarna.

Five blunt pencils out of five!

You can buy the paperback here, or the Kindle edition here. Nerine will be visiting my blog next Wednesday to talk about Inkarna some more!

[Book Review] The Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles Vol. II

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Way back in December I posted my review of The Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles, a collection of seven short stories set in the old West. Given how much I enjoyed the first collection, it was hardly surprising that I would also buy the second collection, entitled simply The Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles Vol. II.

Edward Grainger starts proceedings with The Origins of White Deer, the longest piece in the book, which explains the origins of our adopted Arapaho hero, Cash Laramie. Written in a somewhat different style from the other stories, it contrasts Laramie's background among the tribe wonderfully and adds a new dimension of depth to the tough lawman. It would be all-too-easy for Laramie to descend into parody, or preachiness, but this particular story gives a new backdrop to his brand of outpost law.

The other six stories in the collection are just as riveting, pitting Laramie against the harsh realities of life in nineteenth century Cheyenne. Prejudice and race relations again are rife in these adventures, particularly where Laramie's partner, Gideon Miles are concerned. Miles in particular is a favoured character of mine, and his gentle humour contrasts nicely with Laramie's flinty outlook.

There is something incredibly cinematic about these tales, and Grainger doesn't feel the need to throw page after page of lush description at his reader in order for them to see what Laramie sees, and hear the world around him. This is the old West through a wide angle lens, somehow both epic in scope, yet deeply personal at the same time. That's no mean feat to pull off, but just goes to show what a talented writer Grainger is.

Writing Westerns myself might leave me open to accusations of being biased towards Grainger's work (although you'd never level the same accusation at a horror writer reviewing a Stephen King book) but I really think that Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles are the perfect pair to bring Westerns back from the brink, and re-establish them as modern myths based on an all-too-real period of history.

Five blunt pencils out of five!

Available from Amazon US for $1.23 or Amazon UK for 77p!

[Book Review] Blood and Fire

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I've long been a fan of Carrie Clevenger's Xan Marcelles, and in this novella, the bassist vampire is marched out of Pale Rider, in Pinecliffe, Colorado, and into a hellish house of mysteries. He's not the only one - Ashton Kennedy, written by Nerine Dorman, is a being known as an Inkarna (essentially a body thief) and he's charged with the task of breaking into the same mystery house to retrieve an ancient artifact. The unlikely pair team up in order to bust some heads and get the hell out of there.

I'll be honest upfront - I loved this. I started with the intention of savouring each chapter and taking my time, but I ended up absolutely whizzing through it. Carrie's Xan chapters are written in his inimitable style, and contrast nicely with Ash's more esoteric and worldweary ways. I always enjoy reading Xan's chapters but it's been a real pleasure getting to know Nerine's Ash. The pacing is excellent, taking us from Xan's Ordinary World of Pinecliffe, and into the hidden mysteries of Luxor House. The house was so well-described I felt like I'd actually been there, and the dual observations make it really pop from the page. The action never lets up, and I would love to see a paranormal thriller from these two.

I can't actually recommend it enough, and as an extra incentive, the book will be free on February 10, 11, and 12! If you can't wait until tomorrow, you can download it from Amazon US and Amazon UK.

Five blunt pencils out of five!

[Book Review] The Little Stranger

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I picked up The Little Stranger by chance, since it was only £2 in HMV. The fact it's a ghost story naturally caught my eye, and the fact it's set in a crumbling old house in the 1940s was a bonus. Written by Sarah Waters, The Little Stranger was published in 2009, and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

The story is narrated by Dr Faraday, a Warwickshire doctor called to attend a sick maid at Hundreds Hall, the dilapidated country seat of the Ayres family. The family are almost destitute, ruined by the social changes wrought by the Second World War, and Dr Faraday soon finds himself becoming a family friend. We're given an inkling that all is not well early on, when the sick maid complains of how creepy she finds the house.

Dr Faraday reminds me a lot of Stevens, the uptight butler narrator of The Remains of the Day. He's caught in his own internal class struggle, fighting against his working class upbringing as he seeks to ingratiate himself with the failing aristocratic Ayres family. He also reveals a lot about himself through his careless asides, and most of the time it becomes blatantly obvious what is going on, without Faraday being at all aware of it. I lost count of the number of times I cringed on his behalf.

It's a strange book in that things don't really get going until page 141 or so, and it was more a vague sense of interest in the mundane activities of the family that kept me reading. By page 141, the famous pacing finally kicked in and I found it truly gripping reading. I'd speed through whole chapters at a time, squeezing in reading time wherever I found five minutes. Waters builds up the tension surrounding the haunting, all the while keeping Faraday as the voice of reason, making the reader decide for themselves whether the house is haunted or not.

I wouldn't necessarily label The Little Stranger as a ghost story per se, but I would label it as a supernatural thriller, or perhaps a psychological chiller. Waters captures 1940s speech patterns, and while some of her descriptive passages border on unnecessary, when she really hits her stride, they paint the picture of an old house caught between its glory days and decay, inhabited by shades of their former selves. Perhaps the house is haunted after all - if only by its owners.

The opening section aside, it's well-written and a truly enjoyable read.

Four blunt pencils out of five!

[Book Review] The Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles

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If you see a book on Amazon with 50 5* reviews, you're expecting a good read. Thankfully, Edward A Grainger knows how to deliver. The first volume of the Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles is described as "western noir", and features seven short stories about two deputy U.S. Marshals working in 1880s Wyoming Territory. Cash Laramie is the rebel with a cause, the marshal raised by Arapahos and eager to see justice done, while Gideon Miles is one of the first African American marshals, handy with both blades and firearms.

The stories are extremely well-written, with Melanie and The Bone Orchard Mystery as two of the stand out tales in the collection. As with Under the Sun, Grainger is unafraid to keep his marshals in the sidelines to let other characters take centre stage, and its credit to the strength of his character-building that this even works. Cash is gruff but fair, while Miles is warm and likeable. They're hardly good cop/bad cop, but rather just two partners out to make their world a better place. His world-building is also impeccable, with 1880s Cheyenne leaping from the electronic page with all its sights and sounds.

I know some people will probably pass over these stories saying "I don't like Westerns" but please, put your preconceptions about John Wayne or Clint Eastwood to one side and give them a go anyway. Think of them as short crime stories set in the Old West, or historical noir, but just give them a try before you decide against Westerns!

Five blunt pencils out of five!

You can buy The Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles Vol. 1 from Amazon US for a paltry $1.38 or from Amazon UK for 86p!

[Review] Shadow of a Dead Star

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I first encountered Michael Shean on Twitter, and after several jolly conversations, decided that I'd check out his blog. I did so, to discover he had a book for sale (this is why you should engage me in conversation - it makes me much more interested in what you're actually working on). Shadow of a Dead Star is the first book in his Wonderland cycle, in a genre I can only describe as cyberpunk sci-fi noir.

Set in Seattle in 2078, Shadow of a Dead Star follows Industrial Security Bureau agent Thomas Walken. Walken is the grizzled, cynical hero who fights to keep black-market technology from making its way into the mainstream. When he intercepts a smuggled shipment of little girls hardwired as sex toys, he finds himself tumbling down the rabbit hole into a nightmarish world of synthetic humans, hard-talking hackers and the kind of technology you thought only existed in Blade Runner.

Surrounded by conspiracies and caught on the run between three sectors of Seattle, each as brutal as the other but in completely different ways, Walken's resolve, abilities and strength are severely tested. He's not entirely on his own as his world crumbles around him - fate sends him Bobbi, a sparky young hacker with a sharp tongue and impressive tech skills. Question is, can Walken and Bobbi get to the bottom of the madness before a termination order is put on the Agent?

Science fiction is a genre I enjoy watching at the cinema but it's not usually a genre that I'd read. Luckily for me, Shadow of a Dead Star reads more like a gritty noir that just happens to feature cool technology and sci-fi ideas. It's testament to Shean's skill that everything seems completely plausible - and that I stayed up way too late to finish it, deciding I couldn't possibly put it down and pick it up the following day. It's an engaging read, full of complex characters, and bursting with invention. Whether you like sci fi, noir or cyberpunk, I'd highly recommend it.

NOTE: I've removed the Buy links since the book will be re-published later in the year by Michael's new publisher! In the meantime, Michael is also running a new serial over on Curiosity Quills. The first instalment is here!

[Review] Beginnings, Middles and Ends

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At first glance, writing a book specifically about beginnings, middles and ends might seem a bit odd. After all, a story contains all three, so surely that's just a book about, well, books? Well yes, and no. Despite the fact I was familiar with the three act structure from my academic work in film studies, I hadn't really stopped to consider beginnings, middles and ends as separate entities in fiction until I read James Scott Bell's book, Plot & Structure (highly recommended, by the way). I wrote my own series on beginnings, middles and ends over on Fuel Your Writing, so I couldn't help but be curious about how a whole book on the subject might actually work.

Nancy Kress is no stranger to creative writing books, having also written Dynamic Characters: How to Create Personalities That Keep Readers Captivated and Characters, Emotions and Viewpoint. My edition of Beginnings, Middles and Ends was published in 1999 (although a newer version is available), and in some ways, the text has dated. The book places more emphasis on writing short stories that will be "mailed" to various magazines, while novels are intended to be submitted to agents. Still, don't let that put you off - after all, there's a lot to be said for submitting shorter works to magazines or journals (although most are now online) and despite what certain people say, agents can still be very useful people in your writing career. But I digress.

While at first it seems odd to focus on the three parts of a story separately, it's actually a very logical approach. After all, most writers struggle with one of the three. They may write stellar beginnings, but run out of steam, or they may write lacklustre material that is entirely redeemed by a spectacular ending. Personally, I find the beginning and ending exciting, but I worry about how to maintain pace in the middle. Considering the majority of the book seems to be given over to beginnings, I'd wager that's the area with which Kress herself has the most problems.

It is a very interesting book, and its particular emphasis on developing a through-line for the novel/story to keep you on track and on theme is a valuable one. The book also highlights the importance of coherence, and keeping each segment of your book closely aligned with those preceding and following, in order to prevent any of those annoying "What the hell is that?" moments. Kress uses a fictional example story involving a problem family to demonstrate ways in which the plot can be developed, and ways in which it probably shouldn't, as a way of showing writers how endings should grow organically out of beginnings. Each section is broken down into chapters aimed at specific problem areas, including exactly where to begin, how to get past a block when you get stuck, and how to nail that stellar ending. In addition, Kress provides exercises at the end of each chapter, aimed at getting you to work on the specific area of your work that you've just covered in the book.

My biggest problem with the book is that it does feel slightly dated, and the information in both Plot & Structure and the recent Story Engineering by Larry Brooks seems more useful. Perhaps the book would be more useful if you're very new to writing and you'd like things to be more clearly broken down, but if you've been writing for a while and you want to better investigate story structure, then either of the titles I've just mentioned will probably be better for you. Of course, if you're solely a short story writer, then I highly recommend Beginnings, Middles and Ends as both Plot & Structure and Story Engineering are more aimed at novelists. Even then, as a novelist, you may find something useful in the book...but try to borrow it from a library instead.

Three blunt pencils out of five