January 22, 2013 · 7:32 pm

Book Review – End of The Road, by Tom Gresham

And today, we get taken to the End of The Road by Todd Gresham!

Synopsis: Poor, crazy Henry. Driven to the End of The Road motel to nurse his steadily-worsening agoraphobia and a whole host of other issues. Poor, crazy Henry, already suffering hallucinations. Poor, crazy Henry, who looks out of his window at the wrong time. Poor, crazy Henry, who sees something he really shouldn’t, gets caught in something he really oughtn’t…

There’s much to like about The End of The Road. It takes a collection of horror clichés, and merrily plays with them. Not necessarily subverting, or slipping into wink-wink-nudge-nudge-see-what-I-did-there territory. Just, enjoyably so: The secluded location. The loner. The troubled past. The mental issues. Mysterious abductions. Friends with a troubled past. Conspiracies. Dark destinies, Memories, real and false. Voices in the head.

It’s easy to take horror standards like these and just coast with them.

Refreshingly, Gresham has chosen not to coast. Both Henry, our hero, and his friends are well-written. The dialogue, annoying tics and all, works – moreso when some reasons suggest themselves for the odd behaviour. Gresham’s characters, descriptions, dialogue, handling of tension, handling of action scenes are all very competent.

There are, of course, a few minor issues. (Gee, have I become that cynical already?) Some sentences should work, but oddly don’t. A couple of minor wording mistakes. Nothing to get worked up about. However, a couple of points worth noting:

There’s something about the build up of the mysterious characters outside the motel which… I don’t know. Just fails to grip me as much as it should.

There’s a very oddly titled interlude, which seems as much of a reminder from the author to himself as anything else.

The story takes a bit of a swerve from ‘mundane’ horror to the supernatural a little too late in the tale.

The set up is for a sequel/series. However, this gives a slightly disappointing ending to this novel. That may be entirely redeemed with the next publication.

These aren’t intended as outright criticisms. More like observations, based on my own taste. The horror, both mundane and supernatural I quite like in execution and delivery. They just don’t seem to go together as well as they should.

What it comes down to, though, is this: I enjoyed the story. I got wrapped up in it. I wasn’t jolted it out of it by some bad piece of writing. I empathised with the characters. There were a couple of nice twists and turns. And I want to see what happens next.

End of The Road is available at:

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008KPHHE4/ref=cm_cr_mts_prod_img

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008KPHHE4/ref=cm_cr_mts_prod_img

Description: The End of the Road Motel is a nightmare, and something worse than death dwells behind its locked doors. Something savage. Something heartless.

Henry Cohen, a man whose illnesses torture his every moment, has just discovered this horrible truth. And although he has the undying help of his closest friend, Henry must face the evil alone.

Witness his descent into madness. See the horrors of the human heart and the darkness that waits at the END OF THE ROAD.

 

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January 13, 2013 · 3:34 pm

Book Review – Room 118 by Jason White

First of the new year, eh?

Fantastic!

Right. A review of Room 118 by Jason White, a short story available for Kindle now through Amazon. Links at the bottom. Scroll down and you’ll find ‘em.

Synopsis: In the gym, there’s a room which no one goes near. Room 118. For our intrepid hero, the room calls to him as strongly as his co-workers warn him away from it. Tempted and disturbed, the balance his held. Until a friend, another who’s heard the call of the titular roon, goes missing…

Room 118 is a short story, 23 pages long, and serves as a nice introduction to a collection of short stories which the author has released separately. Not a bad idea to build interest.

Short stories require a different way of working to a full-length novel, although a good one can make you forget that. Sometimes, a good short story is one that makes you wish for the idea to be built up on, developed into a full-length novel. Certainly, Room 118 could have that. As a full-length novel, it could work, and work very well for that. As a short story, it works nicely too.

It’s not perfect by any means. There’s a certain indefinable something missing, and maybe a little polish needed. However, that’s a miserable little thing for me to say. The lead character works. The supporting characters work. They’re defined well enough – a tough challenge in any short story. Although the girl who goes missing is a little annoying. The build to Room 118 and the warnings work. The contents of Room 118… well, that’s why I’d like to see a longer story!

Not a bad read, and it’s done its job well enough. Its made me want to buy the collection of White’s short stories. What more could you ask of it?

Room 118 is available from:

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Room-118-ebook/dp/B006MQ6GGI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358091066&sr=8-1&keywords=room+118

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Room-118-ebook/dp/B006MQ6GGI/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1358084137&sr=1-1

Description:

A young university graduate finds himself cleaning toilets for a living. He works with a cast odd characters in a gymnasium, where everyone is obsessed with one room no one’s allowed to enter.

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January 2, 2013 · 4:03 pm

You want to know about Hinthunt?

Oh, and for those of you who find your way here through the Hinthunt search terms, I have this to say:

Go play Hinthunt.

Do not seek out spoilers or clues – it defeats the purpose of the game.

Go play Hinthunt.

You will enjoy it. And the more people that go, the more likely they are to open another room, and then I can go and play again.

Go play Hinthunt.

Give it as a birthday gift. Do it as a team-building activity. Do it as something fun. Do it as something random. Do it with a clear head (because you will be testing your brain throughout). Go dressed as a superhero. Or Sherlock Holmes. Or Super-Sherlock.

Go play Hinthunt.

Check them out on Twitter (@HintHuntLondon), online www.hinthunt.co.uk or Facebook. Read the reviews – all of them are excellent. Cannot recommend it enough.

Go play Hinthunt.

Spread the word…

 

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· 3:56 pm

Hitting the target

Well well well… It finally happened.

Hallo, yes, I’m back, by the way. Happy New Year! The Mayans didn’t get me!

You can expect to see a few more posts from me imminently, including some new reviews (yes, I am still reading, and enjoying some of those books). And, funnily enough, it’s reviews I wanted to talk about today.

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I’ve been drifting along with Clown for a variety of reasons, but I’m very happy to have picked up a number of reviews on the Goodreads and Amazon US and UK sites, and for that, I’d like to thank the reviewers. Obviously, commenting directly on a review is usually regarded as taboo, so I’ll refrain from that, but I will make some mentions here.

However, this isn’t going to be of the “Argh! You posted something negative, therefore I must bash your own book in retaliation!” nature. See, I’ve picked up some three star reviews, and I’m actually pretty pleased with them. They offer an insight from a reviewer/audience perspective. Authors far too often get so caught up with their own baby that they’re convinced it’s the greatest thing ever written, and the readers who don’t appreciate it are morons. There was a lot of things I tried to do with Clown, playing gently with expectation and subverting the genre in small ways. From the technical format, through to perspective, and a whole host of other things. For my own amusement and experiment, more than anything else. Some of it works, some of it doesn’t, and different readers will see things differently.

Did they pick up on everything that I wanted them to as readers? No.

Is that their fault or mine? It’s mine. I’m the writer.

Did everything I tried to do work for the readers? No.

Is that their fault or mine? It’s mine. I’m the writer.

Did they get where I was coming from, did they understand the innermost workings of my mind every time? No.

Is that their… you know what? Let’s just make it very clear:

If the reader does not “get” or “appreciate” something I was trying to do or say in my book, it is not through any fault of theirs. I am the writer. I am the conveyor of my story. The words, the phrases, the settings, the characters, the scenes… they all come from my head. Any message I want to get across has to be delivered by my hands.

Oh, and this isn’t some self-pitying rant, by the way. No writer has the ability to reach every single reader on the planet. I’m comfortable and confident enough to know that my writing succeeded on some levels. I’m not arrogant enough to insist it succeeded on all levels. The feedback I receive gives me something to work on. I’m damned grateful for it. Admittedly, a small part of me wants to weep and wail, “Why don’t they like me?”, but that’s just a natural emotional response. Write something, anything, and you set yourself up as a target.

Which brings me on to the second part of this post. I’ve also been lucky enough to receive a one-star review on Amazon’s US and UK sites.
Strangely, this is from an unverified purchase, and not from someone I’ve provided a free copy to.
Oddly, the reviews make strange comments: “For a book about a clown, this isn’t even funny”, “This book is about a clown lost in his own labyrinth”.
Weirdly, they are the reviewer’s only reviews. Well, apart from the one review they’ve done on their own book. Funnily enough, that got five stars.
But most bizarrely of all, and surely coincidentally, they’re from an author who received a very poor review from me (although, I hasten to add, the review I did write was a much restrained and far less damning one than his book deserved).

Sigh.

The bullseye was placed on my book, and someone took a cheap shot at it. Am I going to lose any sleep over a negative, malicious review like that? Heh. If it had been a well-thought out critique, then I would spend a lot more time thinking about it. As it is, I’ll focus on my other reviews, from people who’ve taken the time to read and digest, and give me something constructive to work with.

Thank you, peeps. Here’s to a bright and prosperous 2013!

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December 17, 2012 · 4:16 pm

Book Review – kind of

Book Review – Apocalypse of John by KGW Rahman

Well, this is a different one.

I received a request to review this book, and agreed to do so as usual. I duly read the book, and went to get the links as part of my usual reviewing process. To my surprise, I found that the book in question is no longer listed for sale.

Hmm…. What to do? I strongly suspect that the book has been taken down for the various issues which I would normally state in my review. So, I can either provide a review of a book no longer for sale (which would then be a different book when the work is done on it, so the review would no longer be an accurate reflection of the book on sale), or I can post no review at all and chalk it up to experience.

Or, I can use the opportunity to make a few general suggestions. Or all of the above.

I had a few issues with Apocalypse of John, but the story wasn’t one of them. The basic premise was a simple but good one:

God has gone AWOL, and Lucifer has simply moved into Heaven. For reasons of his own, he decides to bring about the end of days, and employs the Four Horsemen to set it all off. Death himself gets to dwell in the mind of the titular John, an everyday nobody, until Lucifer sends a nondescript demon to lead John towards the fruition of his masterplan. Angels, demons, humans and the Horsemen all mingle, with alliances formed and betrayed, plots plotted and chaos and death surrounding them. Throw in a mix of oddball background characters, and you should have a winner.

Theoretically.

So, this is where some little bits of advice are going to be thrown out in general:

1. Know your words, especially your homophones. The occasional lapse with getting a word wrong can be forgiven (here/hear, for example). When it happens with every single word that can have a similar sounding/differently spelt word, and every single time you pick the wrong word, you have a problem. Dictation software is not always your friend.

2. Use a proofreader. Your first draft is never good enough. You need to review, edit, review, edit, ask someone else to review, edit again, and repeat until done. A fresh pair of eyes works wonders, clears up the mistakes, and helps to trim the fat.

3. A little exposition here and there is fine. One huge dump after another is not.

4. Show more than tell. A poor author has to tell the reader about everything – every emotion, every reason, every action – because they lack the ability to put it subtly and still have the reader pick up on it.

5. Say your dialogue out loud. Or get someone else to. If it’s painful to say or painful to hear, it’s going to be painful to write, so change it.

6. Plot inconsistencies will kill the reader’s ability to lose themself in the plot.

7. Punctuation should not be thrown randomly onto the page. Ditto for capital letters.

8. “Said” is not the only way to describe how a character vocalises something.

9. If you are going to refer to established mythology/religion – get the names right, unless you’re consciously doing it across the board.

10. Telling the reader the same thing over and again, in the same manner, is like beating them around the head with an bat. It makes for painful reading.

11. Try and keep the tone vaguely consistent. Little bumps up and down are fine, but moments of brutal, graphic violence can sit at odds in a story which has been fairly whimsical until then.

I may be wrong, but these are things that will kill a book for me, regardless of how much I like the actual story behind the words. I hope to read the Apocalypse of John again, some day. And I hope that it’s in a much more polished state than it was when I received it.

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· 3:53 pm

Book Review – Bloodtrail by David R Lewis

Yes, yes, hello one and all! TrueJDK still slogging away through the hardships of life, and valiantly making it on here with a belated review. My apologies. Links for this will be at the bottom of the page (you know the score), and on with a review of Bloodtrail by David R Lewis available in e-book and traditional format through Amazon.

Synopsis: Casey is pretty much a model prisoner. Keeps himself to himself. Nobody messes with him in the yard, no one wants on his bad side. Especially when staying on his good side means that he can share a little of his healing ability – even to those with a medical death sentence. However, it’s that kind of skill that can get a man noticed on the outside. And when a curious party comes calling for the mysterious healer, Casey finds himself having to bust out of prison and on the run. Sharing his secrets, falling in love, tracking his long lost daughter, and ripping open the occasional neck or two. Life ain’t easy for a vampire, these days.

Yes. There. Let’s say it. Vampire. Or, rather Nosferati, as the undead are known by in Bloodtrail. It’s become an eye-rolling cliche. Another fragging vampire book. In fact, a vampire love story. Cue much banging-the-head-against-the-desk actions.

Or, there again, hold on. No sparkly vampires here. No twinkling in the daylight. No moping angst (well, only a little). In fact, the book kicks off with a bit of graphic sex and blood-letting. “Ah, so it’s True Blood-esque!” I hear you cry. And… no. Not really.

It’s getting harder and harder to reinvent the monsters these days. Zombies, werewolves, vampires, angels, they’re all being given the sparkly-glowy/historic parody/vicious and bloodthirsty/reinterpreting/whole mythos makeover. So, kudos to Lewis, who seems to have shrugged at all that and switched from trying so hard to be new and different, that it comes quite easily within the story to be just that.

The Nosferati owe a definite nod to the traditional vampire, but work a little more grounded in reality. Kind of. No burning in the sunshine and whatnot. Blood, yes. They still need blood, but there’s a kind of scientific explanation behind it, which still works with the elements of the supernatural.

Which ties in nicely with the story of Casey, our 400yr old vam… Nosferati, as he joins forces with Moira Flynn. She wants to know the secret of his healing skills. He wants to find his vam… Nosferati, damnit, daughter. On the way, the two find out about each other, the secret to what makes the Nosferati into blood-sucking superbeings, and hunt down his psychotic serial killing daughter.

Is it perfect? No. There’s a few flaws (a mere spattering of misspellings, more in line with speech patterns; some annoying speechifying and repetitive exposition; a couple of storyline plausibility issues; some annoying dialogue; and some of the action seems a little weak), but nothing that actually spoils the story. In fairness, even when the story starts to wander into cliche territory, Lewis puts his own mark on it and handles it nicely.

Overall, it’s a pretty pleasant read. The characters work. The story works. There’s a bit of a cop-out ending – purely because it goes against expectation, but it all works.

A great middle-ground between twinkly-sparkly-vampire-love-stories and down-and-dirty throat-ripping tales of the undead.

Definitely worth a look.

Available at:

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Bloodtrail-ebook/dp/B007BDM2LY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1355758248&sr=8-2&keywords=bloodtrail

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bloodtrail-ebook/dp/B007BDM2LY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355757918&sr=8-1

Description: Tired of his life and weary of his sins, Joseph Casey places himself and his fate in the hands of medical researchers as an object of study. A 400 year old Nosferati now in the power of mere humans, he asks for only one thing in return: help in finding his 14 year old daughter, who he has not seen in over 150 years and who is the most bloodthirsty serial killer ever to walk the earth.

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November 17, 2012 · 4:36 pm

TrueJDK, where are you?!

OK, I’ll admit that I haven’t been here as often as I should have been over the past couple of weeks. For that, I sincerely apologise, and I’d like to let you know why.

There’s actually several reasons, all coming together at the same time in a rather unfortunate and fortunate synchronicity.

To begin with, there’s work. I have a day job. Brief history, is that a year and a half ago I was advised I was being made redundant. To stave this off, I secured a frequently-extended secondment within the company, and for this I was grateful. However, it led to an incredibly unpleasant 18 months of uncertainty and stress. Thankfully, I did make it through that period, and was ultimately fortunate enough to secure a new place within the company. Even more fortunately, this turned out to be a position I have long wanted, and presents me with a great opportunity. It is, however, very very busy and chaotic! Thankfully, I thrive in this kind of environment, and thoroughly enjoy it!

Secondly, there comes a point when I want a little variety in my reading. There’s several factors around this at the moment. I don’t want to just turn back books I’ve accepted for review, saying I can’t be bothered any more – mainly because nothing is further from the truth. However, I do get a little jaded at times, and when I’ve got books that are several hundred pages, or the umpteenth version of the “chosen college girl” variety, I need to take a break. I miss my favourite authors, sometimes. I want to go back to reread a comfort book.
To make it a little worse of this score, I’ve discovered the Repairman Jack series of books, and absolutely love them. I’m pretty much devouring them at the moment. To make matters worse (2), the wonderful world of Comixology (no advert here!) has regular sales for digital comics, allowing me to get my grubby little hands on new and familiar titles – Locke and Key, The Boys, Angel: After The Fall, Deadpool and the likes being favourites. And to make matters worser and worser (3), my loving mother has had a clearout at the family home, and discovered my old comic collection. She has started sending these down to me, which means I suddenly have piles of Hellblazer, Hitman, JLA and the likes to refamiliarise myself with.

Thirdly (and most definitely not leastly), we were blessed with the news that there’s a new little TrueJDK-er on the way. Yes, my good lady is currently in the family way, and we have a “bump” blossoming. Which means, reading through baby books, decorating, doing (now urgent) house jobs, finding storage for stuff, moving stuff around, and taking on a whole lot more responsibility. Particularly as she has debilitating morning-sickness.

So, with my average working day now meaning my free time is limited to about an hour each evening (which I like to spend with my good lady and existing youngling, wherever possible), and reading time is limited to my train journeys to and from work, I’m fairly rarely able to do the things I want to do. Writing, for example, has taken a brutal backseat. I’m hoping to claw back a little time for this after this weekend.

And I will be doing more reviews. They just might be a little slower than before. I trust you’ll forgive me for this.

Now… Time to make dinner!

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