This week on the blog
McCall & Company: Workman’s Complication (#1) by Rich Leder
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – 5 Stars
The Conviction: Enacting Vigilante Justice by John Mathews
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars
More for the Heart (#2) by Ekta R. Garg
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars
Weekly Wrap Up
10 May 2015 Leave a comment
in Weekly Wrap Up Tags: weekly wrap up
11th May: Sabriel Day
08 May 2015 Leave a comment
in General Tags: garth nix, old kingdom, sabriel day
Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom series is a brilliant series that consists of Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorson, and now the prequel Clariel. The 11th of May marks the 20th anniversary of Sabriel being published in Australia and for the past month on Twitter (and in part on Facebook) Nix has been discussing how to celebrate.
From deciding Sabriel Day should be on 11 May he has also been going through his storage and numerous boxes uncovering amazing things about the beginnings of Sabriel and the final print. Below are some of the great discoveries Nix has made such as the original handwritten five book manuscript!
There are more amazing things being uncovered from storage including the original printed manuscript
A gorgeous ARC print
And Nix has even tried to get a Google Doodle organised.
As part of this newly founded Sabriel Day and in celebration for the 20th anniversary, Garth is giving people a chance to win a range of amazing things. From bell charms to signed copies, even a signed photocopy of the original manuscript! To take part in this amazing celebration there are a range of things you can do.
“To be in it, you just need to post something to do with SABRIEL *on May 11th* in your timezone. It could be a review, some memories of reading the book, cosplay pics, your artwork inspired by the book, how you met someone reading it, any thoughts, observations, memories, creations. Post it anywhere you like: Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, your blog, a review on Amazon or an indie bookshop site, whatever you like. Include the hashtag #SabrielDay
Then make sure you comment on *this* original post with a link to whatever you posted. If you aren’t on Facebook, get someone else to do it for you. On May 12th I’ll use my old D&D dice to randomly pick some recipients.”
The full details and instructions are here.
If you want to learn more about Garth Nix, you can check out his details in the bits and pieces below, or Epic Reads has a great video you can watch so you can get to know the amazing author that is Garth Nix. In the meantime, I am off to start thinking of something I can post on Sabriel Day!
All Your Garth Nix Bits and Pieces Needs
Series
Old Kingdom | Keys to the Kingdom
Trouble Twisters UK | Trouble Twisters AU
More for the Heart (#2) by Ekta R. Garg
06 May 2015 Leave a comment
in 4 Stars, Romance, Short Stories, Stories in Pairs Tags: ebook, ekta r garg, four stars, love, romance, short story, Stories in Pairs
Published: 7th April 2015
Publisher: Prairie Sky Publishing
Pages: 65
Format: ebook
Genre: Short stories/Romance
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars
Two more stories about the power of love. Two more stories about the characters you remember. Two more stories for the heart.
“Making The Proposal”: Readers learned in Two for the Heart about the end of Pooja and Akshay’s unique arrangement—get married and then prepare their divorce papers—but did you wonder how it began? Just how did Pooja and Akshay make this crazy deal in the first place? Find out in this first story in More for the Heart.
“Reminiscence”: In Two for the Heart, sisters Rose and Helen reconnect with great reluctance after an 11-year estrangement. These two women have spent more than a decade apart. What convinces Rose to stay this time around? Sit at the table with Rose and watch her internal transformation in the second story in More for the Heart.
Note: I was provided with a copy of this book from the author for review.
This second installment in Garg’s Stories in Pairs continues the stories from the first set but with a slightly different angle. In ‘Making the Proposal’ Garg rewinds the clock and offers a prequel of sorts to Pooja and Akshay’s story with additional information than what was provided originally. Once again getting involved in both these characters lives was wonderful and gaining more insight into their relationship and being given new information about their arranged courtship provides another level and depth to the story we already know. Pooja and Akshay are character you can’t help but love, they are great together and Garg demonstrates their new relationship and developing friendship naturally with banter, humour, and understandable uncertainty.
The second story, ‘Reminiscence’, does not continue the story on so much as offer an alternate perspective. With Helen’s sister Rose the new point of view it enables an insight into her character and through Rose’s reflections and self-evaluation a better understanding of her relationship with Helen is generated. While this does little to progress the story it does add to character development and builds on the sisters’ relationship with one another and highlights the hostility between them.
Garg is extremely clever in her construction of these stories, especially in these second installments that follow the first. The retelling of sorts with Pooja and Akshay, and the new perspective with Rose and Helen change how these stories are viewed but it also maintains the narrative and the feeling that has already been established. Once again I enjoyed Pooja and Akshay’s story a bit more than ‘Reminiscence’, though I couldn’t really tell you why. Both stories are clever and very skilfully told, but Pooja and Akshay have a relationship that you can’t help but fall in love with.
In terms of construction, Garg uses her words carefully and doesn’t waste them putting in things unnecessarily. Character opinions and intentions are made clear without needing long explanations and with such few pages to work with Garg manages to tell complete stories creatively and with style.
I would still love to see this collection as a novel, even with the alternating stories and character points of view, mainly because Garg’s stories are so sweet and despite the length of the stories they capture your attention and are quite interesting. Having said that I also love how Garg has approached telling these stories, I think it is clever and creative and I look forward to the next set of stories and seeing where Garg takes the series.
You can purchase More for the Heart via the following
The Conviction: Enacting Vigilante Justice by John Mathews
05 May 2015 Leave a comment
in 3 Stars, Mystery, Short Stories, Thriller Tags: ebook, john mathews, mystery, short story, three stars, thriller
Published: 25th January 2015
Publisher: Self Published
Pages: 72
Format: Ebook
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars
Two criminals are responsible for an innocent man getting sentenced to life for murder. An inept defense attorney and a crooked prosecutor are the other players in this case of egregious American corruption.
The four of them have been lured into a trap in an abandoned warehouse. Someone wants vengeance. This is a story of vigilante justice for the wrongfully convicted. Marked doors lead to four locked rooms, one where each of them will have to pay a price for what they have done. What will they be required to do in order to survive?
This riveting crime thriller puts the American justice system in public view and will keep you guessing until the very last scene. A dark masked figure watches…waits…and wants revenge.
Note: I was provided with a copy of this book from the author for review.
This short story is an interesting take on the idea of vigilante justice with entrapment, mind games, and threats all playing a part. There is drama and suspense and a multitude of questions about who is behind the elaborate set up. There is mystery and unanswered questions that are hidden from the reader as well as the characters, but small clues and snippets of information make an already mysterious situation complex and even more curious.
Narrative wise the story flowed quite well and Matthews tells the story with care, keeping it interesting and engaging, while also holding back when needed. The dialogue didn’t have much life, and the conversation between character seemed stiff, not really connecting with one another, and yet at times Matthews captures the panic and desperation they feel quite well as their situation looks dire and the begin to turn on one another.
The characters themselves are terrible people in all honesty, but that is why they have found themselves in their current predicament. I didn’t really engage with who they were aside from casting casual judgements on them based on what they did, but not caring about them didn’t really bother me as I was more focused on the developing mystery and game play element than realising how one dimensional they were.
Away from the characters, and to Matthews’ credit, the story itself was clever and it never goes where you expect. From early on it intrigued me and this was maintained as the story progressed with a lot packed into such a short story. There are surprises and revelations that change what you though would happen and what you thought had happened.
I liked the idea of the vigilante justice and the mystery figure orchestrating the entire thing was great and led to all manner of creative theories on who he possibly was. When the man behind the curtain is finally revealed it was certainly unexpected and I can imagine it would split readers to either liking it or disliking it. Personally I wasn’t a fan of how Matthews chose to end it, one because I thought it was going in a totally different direction, and two it immediately seemed unbelievable which flattened the anticipation that had been building from the start. Having said that it was different, and creative in its own way, and it was completely unexpected.
You can purchase The Conviction via the following
McCall & Company: Workman’s Complication (#1) by Rich Leder
04 May 2015 2 Comments
in 5 Stars, Humour, Mystery Tags: ebook, five stars, humour, McCall & Company, mystery, rich leder
Published: 7th September 2014
Publisher: Laugh Riot Press
Pages: 394
Format: Ebook
Genre: Mystery/Humour
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – 5 Stars
Off-off-off-off Broadway actress Kate McCall inherits her father’s New York private investigations business after he’s a whole lot of murdered in a life insurance company elevator.
A concrete-carrying, ballroom-dancing construction mule says he fell off the scaffolding, can never work—or dance—again, and sues the contractor for a whole lot of money.
Kate assembles the eccentric tenants of her brownstone and her histrionic acting troupe to help her crack the cases, and they stir up a whole lot of trouble.
But not as much as Kate, who sticks her nose in the middle of the multi-million-dollar life-insurance scam her father was investigating and gets a whole lot of arrested for murdering a medical examiner.
Will Kate bust the insurance scam, prove who really killed the examiner—and her father—and get out of jail in time to pull off the ballroom sting of the decade? She might, but it’s going to be a whole lot of hilarious.
Note: I was provided with a copy of this book from the publisher for review.
Leder toes the line between absurd and realistic with this novel with wonderful balance, displaying the right set of circumstances and components that pull off the strange events in this story and make it work smoothly and effectively. The narrative is easy to read and the story is engaging and captivating, making it compelling to read and very hard to put down.
From early on the humour is evident but it never stands out awkwardly, nor does Leder try too hard. The combination of unique and eccentric characters and an intriguing storyline makes the story light while not taking away the serious elements of the story and it gives it a feeling of genuineness. Leder is skilled at saying a lot without saying much and he uses the narrative and dialogue remarkably well to provide information without breaking the flow of the story. The dialogue and character interactions are also excellent and they demonstrate character personalities and show relationships nicely.
Kate is a likeable narrator, she is witty and quick, but she is real and honest with herself which is admirable. Being a PI means Kate is a good surmise of people, she isn’t too judgemental, she is just very observant. I liked that Kate was older; it changes the feel of the story and allows for a different type of story with different people and different interactions.
What I also liked about Kate was that she is proud of herself, but this didn’t make her arrogant; she knows what she is capable of and when to ask for help, and isn’t afraid to push the boundaries. There is no doubt she is clever, resourceful, and brave, but she is also passionate and she knows what she wants from her life which may make her idealistic to some, but it makes her happy.
The residents at the Brownstone are a quirky and peculiar bunch that is worthy of Hey Arnold and their uniqueness and interactions with one another make you smile and provide immense joy as you read. Even in their limited roles Leder brings the characters to life offering up their whole personality and life on the page, aided by Kate’s explanations but also by their interactions with one another. Other characters are developed and enjoyable and through Kate’s assessments and Leder’s minimal expression, getting a sense of who each character is is easy.
There are a few crazy and adventurous moments that can seem a tad outlandish but these moments are not without consequence and Kate’s knowledge as a PI and skills as an actress come in handy though not always with favourable results. I loved that everything was not perfect and there are real mistakes and consequences, it allowed the story to have surprises, danger, and excitement all the while maintaining a realistic feel to the story.
There are multiple points of interest to retain your attention and with surprises big and small Leder keeps it fun while being mysterious and filling you with anticipation. The humour makes you smile while the mystery pulls you in and the realness keeps you reading to the last page. It is a wonderful and surprising read.
You can purchase Workman’s Complication via the following
