Fiction Books

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Yvonne — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 05:37:58 +0000

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‘Wondrous Words Wednesday’ is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we have encountered in our reading.

It is hosted by Kathy, over at BermudaOnion’s Weblog. You can either stop by and leave a link to your own ‘mystery’ words of the week, or just browse the eclectic mix of words that others have discovered, there is always a great selection.

Don’t forget that Kathy and the rest of us, all love to read your comments as well!!

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My words this week, are all taken from ‘The Baggage Handler’ by Colin Browne

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NB … A couple of these words have several meanings, some of which are either a little on the gruesome side, or even in one case, not suitable to be put to print in this environment.

I have therefore only highlighted the meaning as used in context with the extract taken from the book.

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1. QUAFFED

“He let her talk while he quaffed Bollanger, amusing himself greatly at the thought of the word quaff“

1. To drink (a beverage) heartily: quaffed the ale with gusto.

2. To drink a liquid heartily: quaffed from the spring.

3. A hearty draft of liquid.

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2. CABOOSE

…and finally at Rich who had forced him onto a runaway train and uncoupled the caboose …

1. a ship’s galley

2. a freight-train car attached usually to the rear mainly for the use of the train crew

3. one that follows or brings up the rear

4. buttocks

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3. EVISCERATED

… mentally kicked himself, screamed at himself, tarred and feathered and eviscerated himself to rid himself of the indecisiveness …

1. to remove the internal organs of; disembowel

2. to deprive of meaning or significance

3. To take away a vital or essential part of

4. To remove the contents of (an organ).

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4. CHUGGING

He took a swig of his beer and she took a sip of her wine. He contemplated taking a chug …. Perhaps if he just kept chugging, she’d have to restart or stand there in silence….

1. Consume (a drink) in large gulps without pausing.

2. Loading up on alcoholic substance, power drinking.

There are some pretty awful videos of people ‘chugging’ on ‘YouTube’, if you are still curious. Just Google ‘How To Chug A Beer’

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A Must For All You Avid Romance Readers Out There …

Yvonne — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 22:16:25 +0000

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This post is for the attention of all readers of romantic fiction out there, who would like the opportunity to read and review some great books for free!

The offer is a voucher code, entitling you to a free of charge, different titled, romance book, each day for the entire month of February.

Or at least it would have been if I had noticed the reminders earlier on in the month, as the codes are only valid for the day on which they are printed.

Nonetheless, thanks to it being a ‘leap year’ in 2012, there are still 10 more days worth of vouchers and books to collect and download, in a way to suit everyone.

The offer is courtesy of Stephanie Taylor and all the other lovely ladies at Astraea Press, as part of their first birthday celebrations.

The offer is in conjunction with Mark Coker and his team at Smashwords e-publishers, where you can also leave a review of each book as you finish it.

A couple of the books in this great offer, which have already passed me by, I have previously read and reviewed by direct arrangement with the authors:

‘Double Crossing’ by Meg Mimms

‘The Perfect Rose’ by Felicia Rogers

Both are available from smashwords, relatively inexpensively and are well worth the $3 each.

This is a great opportunity to get to know a couple of new up-and-coming businesses and a whole host of both well established and fledgling authors.

So hurry up and visit the Astraea Press blog, for today’s promotion code and get reading!

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My Thoughts About … ‘The Baggage Handler’ by Colin Browne

Yvonne — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 22:25:27 +0000

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SYNOPSIS

Available From Amazon

Martin White, editor of The Shallow Review of Books, likes his life as he likes his work: shallow. Living in purposeful near-isolation in the middle of a crowded city, he keeps his relationships superficial and his life uncomplicated. His deliberate avoidance of social potholes prompts his colleagues to turn to him for assistance handling their own life and relationship baggage, which only strengthens his resolve never to allow any of it into his life. He’s pretty happy, albeit hollow and empty.

But then Kasia turns up. Young, Polish, focused on minding her own business, she neither invites, nor encourages Martin’s flailing attempts at romance, but he can’t help himself. For reasons that defy logic for an isolationist such as he, he falls for her, hard. Years of handling baggage have done nothing to equip him to handle his own however as he realizes with excruciating displays of ineptitude, again and again. He’s way out of his depth …

Faced with a challenge by Rich, his more socially adept colleague, to ask Kasia out within a week or Rich will, Martin has no option but to open the doors to all the complexity of modern life and relationships as he re-emerges from the shadows.

A twisted romantic comedy, written from the male perspective, The Baggage Handler is an acknowledgement that if you’re going to be serious about it, this love stuff is hard

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A LITTLE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Colin Browne, has lived and worked in several countries, including Belgium, Dubai and South Africa, however he has returned to his birthplace of England, where these days, he calls London his home.

Colin’s early career was in business-to-business magazines, writing articles which took him on his worldwide travels.

Latterly, he has become involved in the conception and and start-up of a successful sales resource company, ‘SALESGURU’, in South Africa, which he has now left in the safe hands of his two partners and which continues to flourish and develop.

Today, Colin is still very much in the thrall of corporate culture and it is this energy which drives him to speak on the subject at almost every given opportunity, where he enjoys sharing the hard fought lessons he has learned over the years, with his audience.

He is now making time to indulge in his love of writing, which has been a big part of his life for many years, although this has only recently brought him recognition, with the publication of this, his debut novel ‘The Baggage Handler’

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WORDS FROM THE BOOK WHICH I THOUGHT WERE SIGNIFICANT

‘But he still struggled to lose the mindset he had when he founded it as an ironic blog and twitter feed. It was supposed to be a statement against shallowness; a veiled lashing out at the people who believe that superficiality and substance are the same things. He guessed those people didn’t care about reading good books anything like as much as they did about being seen reading the hottest book of the moment.’

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“So I met this writer and I thought she was great and since I never meet the writers, I thought I’d also read her book. Well, sort of read it anyway. She told me what it was about and I flipped through it. So I wrote the review on that.”

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Are these words spoken by Martin the character, or through him a cynical message from the author ?

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MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THE BOOK

After those two passages from the book, I am almost scared to write down my thoughts about ‘The Baggage Handler’, for fear of being thought too shallow, or worse still, not even reading the book !

So, I had better begin by stating that I read every single word, on every single page, of every book I write about.

It didn’t take long to recognise that to read this book I would have to be quite broad-minded, as being written by a man, conversing predominantly with other men, it was suitably replete with what I would describe as mens ‘locker-room’ humour, innuendo and language. In the overall context of the story though, I didn’t find this overtly offensive or overused.

This was certainly a character based novel rather than plot based, as the story itself was an easy uncomplicated one, which left Colin with plenty of scope to enhance the content with some excellent characterisations which grew in depth during the course of the book, with even the background characters taking on some important and relevant roles of their own.

This, coupled with some excellent dialogue, (much of it making me cringe with embarassment at its ineptitude on Martin’s part), together with some tastefully executed humorous exchanges, particularly between Martin and Kasia, made ‘The Baggage Handler’ fun to read. I found myself alternating between frustration and sorrow at the depths of Martin’s inability to communicate other than on a totally superficial level, with wanting to shout and lash out at him for his utterly wimpish and at times downright callous behaviour.

First of all I had to get used to the idea that there was a complete role reversal in this story, which meant that Martin’s reactions came across as almost feminine and submissive, whereas Kasia was definitely in charge of the situation throughout, until she decided that enough was enough and Martin needed to step up to the mark if he was in any way serious about a relationship with her.

In Martin we superficially see a shallow, lonely and excessively defensive character, who is only best able to communicate with those outside contacts over whom he feels he is able to exert some modicum of control. Surprisingly this ‘shallowness’ has brought him some success in his career, albeit a career which many would find quiet distasteful. This success has also had some quite surprising side effects, as he is now treated as an inhouse ‘agony aunt’ by his colleagues, although whether they are laughing with him or at him, is a debatable point. I got the impression that whilst Martin is outwardly laughing with people, inwardly he is crying out for help and becoming increasingly isolationist and withdrawn.

As the story progresses it is easy to see why Martin may be quite as bad as he is at communicating. Whilst he comes from a family with an excellent career pedigree, communication skills as a family unit are almost non-existent. It would seem that he has never had a true father/son relationship with his father, to whom winning is the ‘be all and end all’ of everything, whilst he has a love/hate relationship with his overbearing, overpowering and domineering mother. Basically, Martin has never been able to meet, yet alone exceed, their expectations of him, leaving him underconfident and acting like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

He is unable to cope with rejection and after having been unceremoniously ‘dumped’ by his one true love, has decided that the only way not to get hurt again, is not to get close enough to anyone to allow that situation to arise. This strategy only serves to make him appear a cold and distant character who seems to have no feelings, therefore leaving him even more open to being hurt, however unintentionally, by friends and colleagues who do not understand this strange behaviour.

To a perplexed Kasia, it appears that Martin is completely uninterested and unconcerned that she may have problems of her own and despite her giving him all the chances in the world to be completely open and honest with each other, she decides that she is not going to be able to make the breakthrough necessary, to move the relationship off of first base.

Several people try to offer Martin advice on how to turn things around with Kasia, although it is eventually the combined efforts of three relative strangers, unknown to each other, who bring him to his senses, helped in an odd way by his mostly absent mother, who does actually seem genuine in her concern for her son’s happiness, yet unable to articulate it to him.

Martin learns some invaluable lessons from his mentors; you can separate your work from your personal life; this whole concept of love and ‘happy ever after’ is a two way street; and that he just needs to ‘grow a pair’ and accept that if things don’t always go according to plan, then you have to take it on the chin and stop keep blaming the world and everyone else in it, for your woes …. and the outcome? …. well you’ll just need to read the book and find out for yourself!

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The characters have been well developed through various defined stages and I could see them transitioning from chapter to chapter.

The plot, although simple and basic, is well developed and runs its full course, with a distinct beginning, middle and end, leaving no loose ends or hurried conclusions.

There was just the right amount of humour injected, so that situations remained controlled and focused, yet still left me smiling as I read.

I do not rate books on my own blog, however, as the review is to be posted on various sites which do require a star rating system, I will be awarding ‘The Baggage Handler’ 4 stars.

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As this was an author invitation to read and review, a copy of The Baggage Handler was sent to me free of charge, by its author, Colin Browne.

This will in no way influence any comments I may express about the book, in any blog article I may post. Any thoughts or comments are my own personal opinion and I am in no way being monetarily compensated for this, or any other article.

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First Lines …. ‘A Dead Red Heart’ by R.P. Dahlke

Yvonne — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:21:42 +0000

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“Billy Wayne? Wake up! Come on now,” I said in disgust. “This is getting out of hand. You’ve got to stop this nonsense.” I like having a man at my feet. Tough guys who grovel are my favorite, though I’m not averse to a little toe kissing when appropriate. I leave the toe kissing for those uneven date nights when my sweetie, Sheriff Caleb Stone, is not on duty and I’m not neck deep in summertime work as a crop duster. None of which had anything to do with the man presently draped across my feet. Dead drunk, I figured, looking down at the patriotic red, white and blue ribbons binding his ponytail. I was too late for that heart-to-heart I’d come for; he was already out cold.

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If our character is a crop duster in the summer, I wonder what their winter job is?

Is the fact that our character wants a heart-to-heart chat, the reason why Billy Wayne is dead drunk?

Do the patriotic coloured pony tail ribbbons have any significance?

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They say that the first lines of a story, are always the most difficult to set down on paper. It seems to me, that they may also be the most definitive, as I find they often set the scene in my mind, even before I have turned the first page and I am already sensing that there is going to be some humour in this story, just from the tone of those opening lines.

As usual, so as to avoid too many unwanted spoilers, I have not included a full synopsis of the book in this post. However to find out a little more about the story before deciding whether it is your ‘cup of tea’ or not, you can either click on the book title A DEAD RED HEART (The Lalla Bains Series), or click here to enter the author’s website, where there is some great extra background material.

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What is ‘Book Beginnings’ and how can you join in the fun?

Would the first few lines of your book make you want to read on?

If so, would you like to share them with us, (without revealing too many spoilers of course) ?

Click on the link and visit Katy, at ‘A Few More Pages’

You can then leave a link to your own book beginnings post, or just browse for some great reads, there are always plenty of new authors and titles to be discovered.

Don’t forget that Katy and all the other contributors to this meme love to hear from you, so why not leave a comment or two at the same time.

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This mystery romance novel was gifted by its author, R.P. Dahlke, as a request for me to read and publish my comments about and as such was free of charge.

This will in no way influence any comments I may express about the book, in this, or any future blog article I may post. Any thoughts or comments will be my own personal opinion and I am in no way being monetarily compensated for this, or any other article.

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A Happy Coincidence … And A Great New Mystery Novel From Ann Cleeves

Yvonne — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:07:30 +0000

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I happened to be in our home gym on Sunday afternoon (not a very frequent occurrence I can assure you), with the television on. The programme which had already started minutes before, titled ‘Vera’, was not one which I had ever come across before, so I decided to keep watching for a while to see what it was about.

It transpired that Vera, was in fact DI Vera Stanhope of the Northumberland police and unconventional doesn’t come near to describing both her appearance and her style of investigating a crime. The character of Vera was played by the multi-talented, British actress Brenda Blethyn, with her very able (not to say ‘dishy’) and seemingly long-suffering Sergeant Joe Ashworth, played by David Leon. I became so engrossed in the programme that my exercise programme lasted for a full 90 minutes, needless to say, by Monday morning I am now hardly able to move!

I came across this great interview with the two stars of the show and it was only then that I discovered that the series had first aired to television in the Summer of 2011 and was based on a series of books by one of the undisputed Queen’s of the mystery genre, Ann Cleeves.

I haven’t read anything by Anne Cleeves for several years and best associate her with books featuring her earlier created characters of George Palmer-Jones and Inspector Ramsay.

I shall definitely be ordering the four, already established stories featuring DI Vera Stanhope, together with a fifth newly published mystery for her to solve in The Glass Room (Vera Stanhope 5), especially as this case involves a group of aspiring authors, attending a workshop at a country retreat!

I also love the cover of this book, great perspective and light intensity

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‘THE GLASS ROOM’ by ANN CLEEVES

DI Vera Stanhope is not one to make friends easily, but her hippy neighbours keep her well-supplied in homebrew and conversation so she has more tolerance for them than most.

When one of them goes missing she feels duty-bound to find out what happened. But her path leads her to more than a missing friend . . . It’s an easy job to track the young woman down to the Writer’s House, a country retreat where aspiring authors gather to workshop and work through their novels. It gets complicated when a body is discovered and Vera’s neighbour is found with a knife in her hand.

Calling in the team, Vera knows that she should hand the case over to someone else. She’s too close to the main suspect. But the investigation is too tempting and she’s never been one to follow the rules. There seems to be no motive. No meaning to the crime. Then another body is found, and Vera suspects that someone is playing games with her. Somewhere there is a killer who has taken murder off the page and is making it real . . .

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First Lines … ‘The Baggage Handler’ by Colin Browne

Yvonne — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:34:37 +0000

Available From Amazon

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‘Martin White looked at his watch. All around the floor of the open-plan office, people gathered in groups, then split into others, mingling through the murmer of after-work plans that had thankfully long since stopped involving him.

It was after five which meant that he would have the place almost to himself and get the best of his work done. In the longest part of a London summer when daylight beats the night by two-to-one, Martin thought of the extra hours of sunlight like plundered loot from a captured galleon.”

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I wonder why Martin only gets his best work done when everyone else has gone home for the day?

Why doesn’t Martin want to be included in the after-work plans … is he not very popular?

What is the ‘baggage’ that Martin seems to be encumbered with, is that vivid cover art a clue?

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As usual, so as to avoid too many unwanted spoilers, I have not included a full synopsis of the book in this post. However to find out a little more about the story before deciding whether it is your ‘cup of tea’ or not, you can either click on the book image, or click here to enter the author’s website, where there is some great extra background material.

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They say that the first lines of a story, are always the most difficult to set down on paper. It seems to me, that they may also be the most definitive, as I find they often set the scene in my mind, even before I have turned the first page, although this book is definitely going to be an unknown quantity because of its unusual genre and its male perspective in the narrative.

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What is ‘Book Beginnings’ and how can you join in the fun?

Would the first few lines of your book make you want to read on?

If so, would you like to share them with us, (without revealing too many spoilers of course) ?

Click on the link and visit Katy, at ‘A Few More Pages’

You can then leave a link to your own book beginnings post, or just browse for some great reads, there are always plenty of new authors and titles to be discovered.

Don’t forget that Katy and all the other contributors to this meme love to hear from you, so why not leave a comment or two at the same time.

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This romantic/comedy was gifted by Colin Browne, as an author request for me to read and leave my comments about and as such was free of charge.

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Update 13/02/2012 – Great character driven story, well defined and executed plot, just the right amount of humour – a very entertaining first novel.

My thoughts about this book can be found by clicking here.

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Mailbox Monday 30/01/2012

Yvonne — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:52:51 +0000

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Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house during the last week.

Be warned that Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

Mailbox Monday, is currently ‘on tour’ and being hosted by a different blogger each month.

Your host for the month of January is Alyce@athomewithbooks.net

So why not stop by, leave a link to your own Mailbox Monday post, oh! and don’t forget to leave a comment for Alyce, after all, we all like to receive them!

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This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!

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Although I have only received a single new book again this week, I am delighted to say that it is another author request, so that more than makes up for the lack in quantity.

It also means that so far this year, I have been able to keep on top of my aim, not to add any more books to my TBR pile, as all of the review requests to date have been delivered electronically. The bad news is that I have such a steady stream of author requests coming in, that my TBR pile just isn’t getting looked at, or reduced in any way! … C’est La Vie!

After my recent review of ‘A Dangerous Harbor’, I have once again been fortunate enough to have received a second gift book, by its author Rebecca (AKA R.P.) Dahlke.

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‘A DEAD RED HEART’ by R.P. DAHLKE

Available From Amazon

Lalla Bains, ex-model and Ag pilot has plenty to keep her busy during another long hot summer in the San Joaquin Valley of California. But when a homeless Gulf War veteran litters her vintage red caddy with paper snowflakes Lalla figures it’s time for a showdown. Unfortunately, someone else has the same idea leaving Lalla with a dying man at her feet and only his strange last words, “The more there is, the less you see,” as the only clue to his killer.

No one wants her involved in the investigation; certainly not the creepy detective who slithers across her path every chance he gets, and not the local newspaper reporter whose annoying high-jinks cause her to want to set fire to the last three hairs on his head, nor Lalla’s love interest, Sheriff Caleb Stone, who can only wish he could reign in Lalla’s enthusiasm for sleuthing where she’s not welcome.

Ultimately, the question, What would you do if the love of your life lost their chance at a heart transplant to a convicted felon? brings Lalla to the answer of the killer as well as the dubious responsibility of proving it before the killer strikes again.

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This romantic/mystery/humour book, was gifted as a request for me to read and leave my comments about, by it’s author R.P. Dahlke and as such was free of charge.

This will in no way influence any comments I may express about the book, in any blog article I may post. Any thoughts or comments will be my own personal opinion and I am in no way being monetarily compensated for this, or any other article.

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My Thoughts About … ‘Hoodie’ by Brendon Lancaster

Yvonne — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:21:05 +0000

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SYNOPSIS

Available From Amazon

From the moment Ben Chapman ( ‘Hoodie’ to the other Shady Boys) crashes out of school, determined never to return and, incidentally, seeking his revenge on the school’s drug dealer by stealing and concealing his stash in his trousers on the way out, you know that this is a boy to whom caution and reticence are alien concepts. Outwardly, he maintains that all he wants is a job, his own money and to follow his heart towards the girl of his dreams, Isabelle. But, underneath that concealing hoodie, Ben has a rich inner life, fed by dope, wine and the belief that he is someone special. During his ‘summer of love’, we follow his attempts to engage with the real world with frustration and compassion. His adventures cause him to question today’s competitive, consumer-based values, eventually challenging his perception of reality and prompting him to reflect upon who and what his purpose in life is before finding himself faced with the definitive test of resolve and bravery. Hoodie’s blend of up-to-date realism, dream-like escapism, fast-paced, hard-hitting action, wistful musings, humour and tragedy, all while the story navigates its way on a magical mystery tour of Ben’s mind, ensures an enjoyable read. It provides the perfect antidote to alarmist Daily Mail reporting of youth issues, exploring the problems facing modern day Britain from the perspective of a disempowered, disaffected teenager.

On a deeper level, there is a moral/spiritual sub-text, fed by Ben’s belief that he has a secret weapon; the simian lines (fused head and heart lines) on the palms of his hands. These are extremely rare and noted as being a genetic abnormality shared by drug addicts, mass murderers, scientific researchers and religious fanatics (and, by sheer coincidence, Tony Blair). Could these lines hold the key to his future?

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brendon Lancaster, grew up and still lives in London and has worked for some 25 years in civil service employment.

Deciding that he then wanted to take time to explore and pursue his creative potential, he discovered that writing gave him the ideal opportunity to daydream, although ‘Hoodie’ is his first published work, with a second novel already on the drawing board.

Brendon has stamped his individuality into the storyline, by giving his principal character Ben, one of his own distinguishing features, having simian lines on the palms of both hands.

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WORDS FROM THE BOOK, WHICH I WANTED TO SHARE

To be honest, there were so many sentences, phrases and even complete paragraphs which fitted into this section, that I eventually settled on this small selection, to illustrate the depth and feeling of Brendon’s narrative.

‘”Learn to read life’s signs. boy. They’re all over the place and full of hidden messages. Your head and heart will sniff them out and lead you to your destiny. Follow your instincts and you’ll be sure to find success over failure, distinguish right from wrong, tell truth from reality. You’re gifted boy.”‘.

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‘”But speak from the heart”, he said profoundly, “for it is only from there that we can see the truth. What’s essential to life is invisible to the eye!”‘

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MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THE BOOK

I am really struggling to know where to start the discussion about this book, as it stirred so many strong emotions that my allegiances and sympathies constantly shifted back and forth, until I found myself completely ‘sitting on the fence’.

At times I just wanted to put my arms around Ben, let him pour out all his worries and troubles, then help to set him on a hopefully more fulfilling and worthwhile path. Then he would do something so crass and thoughtless, that I just wanted to slap him and tell him that I wanted nothing more to do with him.

Such is the maturity and intensity of Brendon’s superb narrative, with totally believeable and genuine characterisations, relationships and situations.

The book is brutal in its vivid descriptions of the progression through the spectrum of anti-establishment activities, which the gang participates in, and with which they appear to be sending out a challenge, both to authority and to each other, as they increase in intensity and violence … gang membership and violence, teenage sex, underage smoking, alcohol abuse, banned substance abuse, knife culture, illegal possession of firearms, underage driving and murder…

The writing is also perceptive, sensitive, well considered and balanced, when we manage to get Ben on his own and see his true personality begin to develop and expand … Loneliness, aloneness, unhappiness, dysfunctional families who do not communicate, the need to succeed, the feelings that he should start to try and find someone with whom he can share his life. These are all emotions and observations which Ben is more than adaquately able to express , when he puts his mind to it and he is not being led and influenced by others in the gang, or is acting the big shot in front of them, with always something to prove. He is actually quite astute and observational when he takes the time to ‘people watch’, concluding that most of them are inherently unhappy and spend most of their time ‘chasing their tails’, in an effort to appear trendy and part of the ‘in crowd’.

At what point, Ben wonders, was his innocence lost, when did everyone become so judgemental of him that he felt the need to close himself off from the outside world into a place of safety and security by hiding behind his hoodie. Why is it that the only person he feels really wants to talk and (more importantly) listen to him, understands him and is sensitive to his vulnerability is Joe, a disreputable tramp?

Joe is perhaps one of the best supporting characters in the book, although he makes the least appearances. Despite his own obvious fall from the mainstream of life, Joe comes across as an educated man, who is quietly aware and sensitive to Ben’s inner turmoil and is genuinely eager for Ben to get on with his life and make something of himself. Things are going well between them, until Joe badly mis-reads the situation and his relationship with Ben, and makes what is to Ben, a devastating revelation, his reaction to which sends them both into a downwards spiral, with disastrous consequences for both and leading to their combined ultimate sacrifice.

I am not sure whether Brendon deliberately wrote the book in such a way, that the reader is almost forced into this position as a neutral observer, however, after much contemplation, I came up with these clear thoughts about the book …. It is, in almost equal measure ….

Sickeningly Realistic
Profoundly Touching
Emotionally Draining
Uncomfortable, yet unputdownable

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Would I give this book to a Young Adult to read? … possibly.

For many, it would certainly be all the deterrent needed to avoid this path to certain, total and ultimate self destruction. However, I would worry that for the certain, albeit small minority group, it might only serve as a catalyst to magnify, glorify and promote to exalted status, the power which ‘Hoodie’ and ‘The Shady Boys’, think they command.

On the other hand, I think that ‘Hoodie’ should be compulsory reading for all guardians of young adults, about to enter the ‘Secondary’, or ‘Middle School’ phase of their education. ‘Hoodie’ is an inspirational work of fiction, which speaks to everyone, regardless of age or social class, so if you don’t think this scenario is ever one that you will face with your own young adult, then be sure to track the character of Isabelle, very closely.

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The poignant, emotional and personal poem, with which Brendon chooses to close the story on ‘The Shady Boys’, is a fitting tribute and brings a closure and finality to the book, unlike anything else he may have written in its place.

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On a final, lighter note, I loved the cover graphics for ‘Hoodie’, the design for which became apparent as I followed Ben on his travels to the skatepark, and was brought full circle by its obvious link to the book’s title. So many book covers have no cohesion to the storyline in any way, that ‘Hoodie’ provided a refreshing change and set the scene before I even started to read.

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As this was an author invitation to read and review, a copy of ‘Hoodie’ was sent to me, as a ‘smashwords’ gift, free of charge by its author, Brendon Lancaster.

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Update

You can read what the author says about this review and join in the discussion, by clicking here

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Featuring … Newly Published Author Colin Browne, With His Debut Novel ‘The Baggage Handler’

Yvonne — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:50:24 +0000

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I was first introduced to author Colin Browne, after he contacted me to enquire whether I would be prepared to read and give my thoughts about his new, debut novel, The Baggage Handler

He had apparently come across Fiction Books, when reading reviews that had been posted here, about his fellow author Nadine Rose Larter’s debut novel, ‘Coffee At Little Angels’.

Colin sold the concept of the book to me, as that of a ‘romantic comedy’ with a twist, it had been written from a man’s perspective … That idea intrigued me no end, and as I am certainly not averse to a light and easy to read interlude, here we are ….

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First lets find out a bit more about the book itself …

Available From Amazon

A twisted romantic comedy, written from the male perspective, The Baggage Handler is an acknowledgement that if you’re going to be serious about it, this love stuff is hard.

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… And now, something about the author

Colin Browne, has lived and worked in several countries, including Belgium, Dubai and South Africa, however he has returned to his birthplace of England, where these days, he calls London his home.

Colin’s early career was in business-to-business magazines, writing articles which took him on his worldwide travels.

He is now making time to indulge in his love of writing, which has been a big part of his life for many years, although this has yet to bring him recognition as a published author.

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I suspect that is all about to change, with the long awaited publication of his first novel ‘The Baggage Handler’. Colin bills this as a romantic comedy with the twist that it has been written from the male perspective.

In itself, this is surprisingly not a rare phenomenon, as there are more male authors out there, writing in the romance genre, than anyone would have guessed at. The difference lies in the fact that the majority of male writers in this genre, are writing under female pseudonyms, whereas Colin has had the courage of his convictions and published under his own name.

I am sure that many male authors, writing under a female alias, would have much preferred to be recognised and received credit for their work, as themselves, and in many cases that I am aware of, it was purely a publishers directive, which brought about the ensuing subterfuge. However, with access to todays increasingly easy to use, self publishing sites, many, if not all of those decisions are very much down to the individual authors discretion.

Colin is very down to earth and circumspect about his writing career and has written a brilliant post on his blog, about ‘Putting The Emphasis Back On Creating, Where It Belongs ..’

I haven’t yet started to read ‘The Baggage Handler’, however the PDF is sat there just looking at me, so I am sure it won’t be long before I am part of this somewhat quirky synopsis.

I wonder what the male equivalent of ‘chick-lit’ is?

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My Thoughts About … ‘The Safety Expert’ by Doug Richardson

Yvonne — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 22:51:03 +0000

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SYNOPSIS

Available From Amazon

“Ben Keller lives life by one simple rule. Safety first. Ben is keenly aware of life’s hidden dangers. Ben never smokes. Ben always uses the crosswalk. Ben always drives within the speed limit. He has to be because safety is his business. From his home in Simi Valley, California, one of the safest cities in the United States, Ben works hard at living a perfectly normal, perfectly uneventful, perfectly safe life.

And life is good until the past reaches into the present. In the dark of the night, a man crosses a lonely intersection and is struck by a car, setting events in motion that will unravel the finely stitched strands of Ben’s cocoon, from a recently retired porn actress who is desperate to be a mother to the butch cop determined to shield her young son from the whisperings of the queen bee moms at his private school to the addict who is clawing to hold onto the sobriety which cages the violence within him.

A long dismissed demon has resurfaced, presenting Ben with a most unsafe dilemma: preserve the haven he has carefully built for himself or confront the evildoer who decimated his carefree young life all those years ago.

Ben is in danger. Ben’s world is unsafe. Ben’s life will be changed forever. Again.”

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Doug Richardson was born, raised and still lives in the State of California USA, attending ‘the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema’ to complete his education towards his chosen profession of movie director, although he wisely revised this course of action, turning instead to screenplay writing and since then he has never looked back.

His resume reads like a list from ‘who’s who’, with his feature films including * ‘Die Harder’ *, ‘Bad Boys’ and ‘Hostage’, together with his two hugely successful previous novels ‘Dark Horse’ and ‘True Believers‘, which have both received nothing but 5 star reviews.

*I left hubbie watching yet another re-run of this film as I speak, he never seems to tire of this all action hero style movie*

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PASSAGES FROM THE TEXT WHICH I FOUND THOUGHT PROVOKING

“Her boss had a deep wound inside. From that wound he had transformed himself into a human miracle, she thought. A man who had taken the horror from his life and built it into a safe little niche.”

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“It was plain. Both husband and wife were certain they knew the other’s secret. Yet neither knew anything at all.”

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MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THE BOOK

When ‘Pratt’, a dying convict suddenly decides to have a pang of conscience, his well-meaning actions have a devastating effect on the future of so many, setting off an unstoppable chain reaction of events, which take so many lives into a downward spiral of self-destruction and misery.

Ben, is a model citizen; loving husband, and devoted step-father, existing in his ‘safe’ life, where every action is made only after the considered risk has been analysed and accepted. It isn’t until we discover the horrific demons which haunt Ben’s past life, that we begin to realise just how fragile is the cocoon he has built up around himself and how easily it can shatter into a million pieces, leaving Ben vulnerable once again to his raw feelings and emotions of hatred, revenge and retribution.

When we are first introduced to Stew, it quickly becomes obvious that he has a whole different set of demons all his own, which he battles on a regular daily basis. His naturally violent tendencies and addictions, are only barely controlled, still bubbling away gently, just below the surface veneer of domesticity and respectability he has built up around himself. Repressed memories of his past horrific crimes, are re-played in his mind as always being the ‘other persons’ fault, with himself having been provoked beyond all reason, to carry out the terrible acts of retribution and violence that he has inflicted on so many.

Detective Lydia (Gonzo) Gonzalez, is yet another in a long line of fiction detectives who is trying to juggle the pressures of family life, with the stress and demands of the job and probably achieving neither to their full potential. She makes the fundamental mistake of allowing her heart to rule her head and looses her cool on more than one occasion, only then does she realise that her actions have probably made an already bad situation, much, much worse. In trying to make reparation for her mistakes, her life as well as her career are on the line. Loosing one and narrowly saving the other, forces her to re-evaluate her life and what it really means to her.

The two main supporting players, as this terrible scenario unfolds, are Alex and Pam, Ben and Stew’s respective wives. Although they outwardly appear to be at opposite ends of the social spectrum and are destined never to meet, they are not so different as you might think. Both are determined characters, who will defend their homes and loved ones with their own lives if necessary. Neither however, are strong enough to withstand the combined force of the hatred between their husbands and are powerless to influence the outcome and the effect it will inevitably have on all their futures.

All of the remaining supporting characters are well developed and defined, in a way which is both sympathetic to the overall storyline, yet which is also designed to highlight both their individual strengths and weaknesses.

Ben and Stew, complex and at times almost frightening characters, two men both fighting to keep buried dark memories from the past, controlling demons which, when the layers of the story are peeled back, find them both pushed beyond their limits, hunter and hunted both.

The fast paced storyline flows naturally from one phase to the next, on this horrific roller coaster ride, of high tension and exposed, raw emotions. The storyline is a carefully measured piece of writing, which is equally plot and character driven, creating a finely balanced narrative, which keeps its pace and action right until the very last page. The ending however, did come as something of a surprise and wasn’t quite what I had expected, just one last twist in the tail of this venomous, deadly snake named ‘revenge’.

Given Doug’s hitherto successful screenplay writing career, I think that ‘The Safety Expert’ would definitely, easily lend itself to being adapted as a screenplay script for a film and even the title sounds fantastic as it is.

‘The Safety Expert’ had me in its grip and on the edge of my seat, from the very first page, to the very last word and even then I didn’t want it to end!

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Doug has provided me with a copy of ‘The Safety Expert’, in exchange for me reading and sharing my thoughts. The fact that my copy was gifted, has not influenced, nor in any way will influence in the future, any comments I may express about the book, in any blog article I may post. Any thoughts or comments are my own personal opinion and I am in no way being monetarily compensated for this, or any other article.

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