YvonneAbstract Communications
I held the thing up to the light and studied it closer.
It was a postcard. 3.5 inches high by 5 inches wide. Just a postcard. And it didn’t make the slightest bit of sense to me.
The artwork on the front showed a pleasing living room scene, bright and cheery, with oodles of burgundy and gold. Left center was a Christmas tree. The artist had a nice avant-garde style with clean lines and colors. I liked it.
The back contained a short message. I give it to you exactly as written: ….
“John,
Best wishes on your impending nuptials.Things sure are livening up for you. Say hello to the old man for me.
Stothard Hope.”
…
Well, Sherban has done it again! … First lines that have me completely baffled, yet totally intrigued and itching to know more!
Together with some fantastic cover art (courtesy of Katerina Vamvasaki), which is as abstract as the first lines inside its covers, this has all the hallmarks of a ‘mystery caper’ that’s too good to miss!
Click here, to find out more about both book and author.
…
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 here and visit Gilion @ Rose City Reader
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 Gilion 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.
…
As this was an author invitation to read and review, a Kindle download of ‘Fleeting Glance’, was sent to me free of charge, by its author Sherban Young
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.
…
That’s an interesting cover. I hope that you are enjoying your read!
My post
Hi Vonnie,
I love the cover art on this particuar series of books, the artist has done such a great job of interpreting the context and feel of the story and translating it into something very visual and eye catching.
Sherban actually named and acknowledged his cover artist in this book and I just really thought that she deserved a mention, although I haven’t been able to find out too much about her, from the research I have done.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.
I like the sound of this one and would keep reading.
Here’s my Friday post: http://www.bookclublibrarian.com/2013/07/friday-focus-friday-56-and-book_12.html
Hi Catherine,
Thank you so much for making your first visit to Fiction Books. I love ‘meeting’ new people, so your visits will always be welcome and your comments always appreciated.
If you like your murder / mysteries on the slightly unconventional and quirky side, then this one is definitely for you. Judging by the first book in the series, which I have previously read and reviewed, those first few, slightly disconnected lines, will be indicitive of what is to come, as Enescu Fleet solves the case in his own inimitable style!
I like this opening, it draws you into the story and it makes me want to know more!
Hi Lindsay,
Thank you so much for deciding to visit Fiction Books. I love ‘meeting’ new people, so your visits will always be welcome and your comments always appreciated.
I may be having to make one or two apologies to any English readers of this book , further down the line. I believe that Sherban has made one of the secondary characters in this book English and it wasn’t until after we had had a few lengthy email exchanges, where we compared ‘Englishisms versus Americanisms’ and he then wrote to let me know that he had included me in the ‘acknowledgements’ preface of the book, that I fully realised the implications of what I might have done!
You are right…definitely intriguing and baffling. Enjoy! Here’s MY FRIDAY MEMES POST
Hi Laurel-Rain,
You really do need to have your wits about you, when reading an ‘Enescu Fleet’ mystery. The character is a complete enigma and his reasoning and methodology is often difficult to follow logically …. although he does always get there in the end!
The first story in the series was certainly a fun read and I have high hopes for this sequel story.
Thanks for stopping by this week, your comments are always appreciated.
I have no idea what’s going on but I really want to know what is going on! Is he getting married, who is the old man he should greet, and who is Stothard Hope? I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for sharing 🙂
My Friday post
Juli @ Universe in Words
Hi Juli,
So many questions that I just can’t answer, as I was really good and only literally looked at the few lines I was going to quote, so that I didn’t find out too much more myself, in advance of actually starting to read the book.
I like it when the opening lines of a book raise plenty of questions, as not only does it help to hook me and draw me into wanting to know more and needing to read on, but I also feel that there is going to be a story of some substance and intrigue, to provide the answers to all those questions.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope that you are enjoying a good weekend.
Intriguing opening! Thanks for sharing this title with us, hope you’re enjoying the novel 🙂
My Friday Book Memes
Hi Lianne,
Thank you for deciding to stop by Fiction Books this week. I love ‘meeting’ new people, so your visits will always be welcome and your comments always appreciated.
I probably won’t actually start reading the book for another couple of weeks, so I tried not to peek past those first opening lines, so as not to spoil what is no doubt going to be a lengthy and convoluted explanation for all the intrigue and questions they provoked.
Having already reviewed the first book in the ‘Enescu Fleet’ series, I have no doubt that I shall enjoy this slightly quirky, off-beat, murder / mystery.
Interesting……thanks for sharing!
Here is my post
Hi Gautami,
I am so looking forward to reading this book. The character of Enescu Fleet (hence the great twist on the titles of the books in the series), is a mix of so many individuals and personalities, that the quirky way in which he arrives at the conclusion to a mystery, is always a unique lesson in detective work!
Thanks for stopping by this week and I hope that you are having a good weekend.
That’s a fun beginning for what sounds like a very fun book. I like the idea of the author being the “new PG Wodehouse.” I’m going to go investigate more.
As always, thanks for playing along on Book Beginnings on Friday.
Rose City Reader
Hi Gilion,
When Sherban Young first approached me with a request to read and review ‘Fleeting Memory’, describing it as a ‘mystery caper’, I had no idea what to expect from either the book, with its very quirky cover art, nor the genre in general, which I had never come across before.
A fun and quirky take on the traditional mystery story, was exactly what I got, with the character of Enescu Fleet’, getting right under my skin, very quickly.
Now, being given the opportunity to follow Enescu in his new case ‘Fleeting Glance’, is something I shall be looking forward to, with pleasure.
Thanks for hosting this week and for taking the time to visit the meme’s participants, the thought is much appreciated.
The “new” Wodehouse? I STILL haven’t read the REAL Wodehouse yet, and I feel as though I’m missing out on something great! I’ll have to look into THIS author as well. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Julie,
I have to confess that, although I have watched the televised editions of ‘Jeeves and Wooster’, I haven’t actually ever read any of P.G. Wodehouse’s work yet.
He is yet another of the ‘classic’ authors who I keep promising myself I should invest time in reading, but there are just never enough hours to actually follow through on all my good intentions.
I can see where maybe people might be coming from, when they talk about Sherban Young belonging to the same ‘ilk’ as Wodehouse, with his new brand of humorous and avant garde titles and the slightly quirky style of ‘mystery caper’ writing, but I can’t compare from personal experience.
Thanks for taking the time to check out the additional information to this post, I appreciate your thoughtful comments.
I can never resist jumping into these discussions.
It’s never too late to start reading Wodehouse (or Sherban Young).
I’d recommend anyone starting out with Wodehouse start with either Right Ho Jeeves (for the Jeeves & Wooster series) or Leave It to Psmith (for the Blandings series). Those are Wodehouse’s two main series of novels. Uncle Fred in the Springtime is another excellent Blandings. Both Right Ho and Leave It are actually the second novels in their series, but I’ve always felt Wodehouse was more at the height of his powers with them (not that the first ones aren’t great). They also both set up events for later books, whereas the previous volumes are a little more standalone. Just my view on it.
As for Sherban Young, all of those are excellent of course 🙂 Five Star Detour takes place before the Fleet books, but you might want to read Fleeting Memory before Detour (you’ll see why after you read it). Glance, the book we’re discussing here, also makes a few references back to Detour.
Who says authors aren’t fond of self-promotion?
Hi Sherban,
Thanks for sticking your five pennyworth into the conversation, great to hear from you!
Having researched Wodehouse following comments on this post, I have to admit that I had no idea just what a prolific author he was, with a total of a hundred or so books to his name!
I have made a note of your own personal Wodehouse recommendations, as a good starting point for my journey, thanks!
Never one to shy away from courting controversy, I have a question for you … I would be interested in garnering your reaction to the news article below, dated earlier this year, that best-selling author Sebastian Faulks has been commissioned by the Wodehouse estate to write a new Jeeves and Wooster book, bringing the characters to life once more, for todays audience to enjoy. The new work, titled ‘Jeeves And The Wedding Bells’, is due for publication in November 2013
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/faulks-write-new-jeeves-and-wooster-novel.html
Personally, I believe strongly, that classic authors and books are exactly that for a reason and should therefore remain unaltered, or otherwise plagiarised in any way, other than by naturally time gendered recurring print runs.
The idea of prequels, sequels, vampirisation etc, doesn’t sit well with me and therefore by default, the idea of having someone new take up the challenge of writing about another author’s characters is almost bordering on abhorrent.
Comments on a postcard please!!
I agree – I don’t feel a series should be continued after an author’s death. As you pointed out, Wodehouse wrote A LOT of books. In his own words, he accomplished all he wanted with his writing. His work is especially problematic, too, because so much of the charm of his books was in the use of the language – as opposed to the Sherlock Holmes books, for instance, where the characters and methods made the stories what they were. (Not a fan of the latter Holmes books either.)
Of course, I’m biased – but I think it’s great when authors are inspired by past greats and that inspiration shows in their work. I’m inspired by Wodehouse. Wodehouse himself was inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (and no doubt others). I think it’s better for everyone when the spirit of an author’s work continues on, instead of an actual series.
With that all said, this seems to be the way of the world. All you can ask is that the continuing author treats the work with the care and respect it deserves. It looks like Faulks, at least, is promising to do that.
Hi Sherban,
I can quite see the validity of your argument and totally agree that authors, such as yourself, should be inspired by past greats, however your line:
“I think it’s better for everyone when the spirit of an author’s work continues on, instead of an actual series”
is so succinct and apt, that anything else, to use more ‘Englishisms’, is ‘hedging your bets’ and ‘sitting on the fence’ …
Have a great week.