Review - Queen Bitch

McKenzie (Mac) Moss is at the end of her parole having served a five-year stretch. She wants to put her past behind her, but before she can, she has to claim what’s rightfully hers - $1m and revenge against those that put her inside.

Manfred Fuller and Bucky, two New York detectives, investigate the suicide of a paedophile. However, it’s not quite the cut and dried case it first seems, so Manfred and Bucky dig deeper and what they subsequently find has serious implications for them and Mac.

Queen Bitch opens with Mac throwing a man off a roof before seeing her parole officer for the last time. Yes, it’s that sort of book. The writing is sparse. By that I mean there’s not a wasted word. Some chapters are very short, only a few paragraphs, however, it works. There are only a handful of characters, but all are well drawn and the relatively short length and tight style means there’s little room to successfully explore many more anyway so this was a good choice. Mac herself is quite startling, a girl with some serious issues. The dialogue is also sharp and snappy.

Throughout Queen Bitch two parallel plots run – Mac taking revenge and the detectives investigating first the apparent suicide and then Mac herself – which ultimately come together at the end.

I like the mix of 1^st person and 3^rd person perspectives in alternate chapters (it’s a technique I use) as it generates pace and multiple perspectives to make the story richer. There’s also a clever use of time where in the last quarter of the book one chapter deliberately lags another to create tension.

Underneath Queen Bitch is a difficult subject, but Harwood handles it well, using it to justify Mac and the story without sensationalising.

Unfortunately, there were some format and spelling errors but these are easily corrected.

This is a good book, I’d like to see more of Justin Harwood’s work.

Originally published on Books & Pals blog.

Rating? Four Stars

Would add this to my bookshelf? Yes

Review - Know Your Place, Andy Knaggs

Nick Newman used to be a City trader but now he shines shoes in a busy London train station for a living. He was happy with his lot until Kay Talbot and her husband, Lee enter his life. When Kay employs Nick to carry out an unusual task his world steadily becomes more complicated and when he stumbles upon a nasty conspiracy things get deadly.

This is a good, solid debut from Knaggs. It’s pretty well written with a decent small set of characters that play out their anguished lives during Know Your Place. Talking of place, London, its busy concourse and the relatively hectic pace of life is well drawn, a major strength. Nick’s shoeshine oasis is an interesting contrast. The dialogue is pretty good too.

I hesitate to be critical of it simply because it’s not my type of book. Fundamentally, it’s about relationships – Kay is in an unhappy marriage, whilst Nick is happy with his girlfriend, Justine. But Kay cannot help herself and embarks upon several destructive relationships. There are periods of introspection whilst Kay and Nick examine their respective situations. Again, I’m not saying this is wrong.

The conspiracy is only alluded to and doesn’t seriously come into play until the final chapters. This is particularly well written and creates good tension. The hanging ending is pleasing and leaves plenty of questions for a sequel.

I’d certainly recommend it and, on the evidence of Know Your Place, Knaggs is likely to deliver in the future too.

Originally published on Books & Pals blog.

Rating? Three Stars

Would add this to my bookshelf? Yes

Review - Long Way Down, Tony Black

Gus Dury is a down at heel ex-reporter with a dark past. He’s kicking his heels in life when Danny Murray, a runner for local gang boss Boaby ‘Shaky’ Stevens, asks Gus to do a job for him – find an old friend, Barry Fulton. Gus is reluctant, but £3,000 helps sweeten the deal. Gus quickly learns Barry has got involved with Irish gangsters encroaching onto Shaky’s patch and, unless he finds him soon, someone’s going to end up dead.

This standalone novella is part of Black’s Gus Dury series, the other four (Paying For It, Gutted, Loss, and Long Time Dead) are full length novels.

Appraisal:

Long Way Down is a gem of a story. It’s theoretically a quick read, however I found myself spending a lot longer than normal with it simply because I wanted to stay immersed in the prose. This was a challenge because the action starts on the first page, when Danny steps into Gus’s sphere, and doesn’t let up.

The characters are very strong, Gus himself clearly has a deep background with references made to a difficult upbringing. He drinks, swears, fights – not someone you’d want your daughter to bring home. But he’s resolute, loyal, tough – someone you’d want at your back. The supporting cast of (few) friends and (many) enemies are equally entertaining – Gus mixes with some dubious company. A particular favourite is Mac the Knife, a man not to be messed with.

The dialogue is sharp and at times witty, despite the gritty and grimly sharp Edinburgh location which, is excellently described with a minimum of carefully chosen words and some local vernacular. For example:

The bar was dark, dingy. In days gone past there’d have been a pall of grey smoke you’d struggle to shine headlamps through. Now the nicotine-stained walls and ceiling looked painfully over-exposed – the woodchip papering would turn to writhing maggots after a few scoops.

And another:

I picked out the smell of p*ss and sickly-sweet Buckfast mingling on the grimy stairwell. Some of the young crew had been in to tag the walls since my last visit, and despite being a respecter of the creative urge I couldn’t help but think their efforts sucked balls. Right into a hernia.

The only ‘disappointment’ with Long Way Down? I finished it too quickly! Top drawer noir.

 

Originally published on Books & Pals blog.

 

Rating? Five Stars

Would add this to my bookshelf? Yes



Review - The Bastard's Handbook

The Bastard’s Handbook is a manual for men, basically how to be a better bastard towards your friends and women in general. It contains information on how to steal your best friend’s girl, favourite sexual positions, how to recognize different types of bastards, how to borrow money and never pay it back, and must have bastard accessories.

There’s really not much to say about The Bastard’s Handbook, either you’ll like the humour or you won’t. For example there is a section about dumping your girlfriend for someone better:

Wait for her to make the first move and then kiss her with false passion, holding back tears due to the fake raw emotion will only add to the effect. Then if the situation presents itself have your wicked way, remember there is nothing better than to prey on the emotionally needy.

This is a very mild quote in comparison to some of the suggestions.

There are chapters on quotes by famous bastards (e.g. Napoleon), bastard categories (like lucky, dirty etc.), how to get more sex, how to cheat on your partner, suitable music and books and careers as a bastard among others. It can get a bit repetitive. For example, there are 37 types of bastard plus another section called ‘Other Bastard terms’ where a further 12 are listed.

The dropped capital T in the above heading is as it is in the book. This was quite typical. The version I reviewed looked thrown together. There were large gaps between lines and paragraphs and there were many and repeated punctuation and spacing errors.

Unfortunately, I didn’t laugh once. I once read How to be a Complete Bastard by Adrian Edmondson, a spin off from a UK comedy series, The Young Ones. At the time I loved it, however, I was 16. Perhaps that’s the problem…

 

Rating? Two Stars

Would add this to my bookshelf? No

 

Review - Skin Games

When Maria needs help to save her business from mobsters, she turns to Skin, a shadow of a man who lives in the dark. But Maria wants to know if Skin is the right man for the job so he tells the story of Sean O’Donnell.

O’Donnell is New York Irish who grew up in the Bronx. When still young his father disappears, so his mother is forced to perform sexual favours in order to survive. Before long Sean is drawn into the mob world, stealing cars for Vinny Macho, a low level gang member. However he falls for Nicole, a troubled wild child – unfortunately her father is the mob boss Don Mario. The Don tries to dissuade O’Donnell from seeing his daughter, applying ever-increasing pressure to ensure the message gets through.

There was a lot to like about Skin Games. The sense of place in gritty New York was well drawn, the characters were generally strong (O’Donnell himself was a good protagonist) and the dialogue interesting. The story moved along at a decent pace as we watched O’Donnell back himself further and further into a corner because of his strong will and deep-seated need to never break a promise, despite the heap of trouble it ultimately gets him into.

First and foremost O’Donnell is loyal, initially to the mob (the police put him under pressure, but he won’t give) and then to Nicole (who applies her own demands on O’Donnell with her behaviour). Skin Games is also about friendships but most surprising was the gradual realization that underlying the mob life and violence this is ultimately a love story.

This was a good book, well written and enjoyable.

Rating? Four Stars

Would add this to my bookshelf? Yes

Review - FIREPROOF

Mike Rocks is, literally, in Hell. He’s given a choice by Lucifer himself – stay in the nether region for the rest of eternity or return to earth and set up a Satanic religion in Belfast. Mike takes the latter path, in part because he has his own unfinished business, getting revenge on the people that sent him to Hell in the first place. Before long, Mike’s mission is well underway, but then Cathy Maguire, wannabe contract killer, crosses his path and things start to get complicated.

This is a unique story, I don’t think I’ve read anything like it previously. At first I was asking myself, what’s this all about? The opening scenes of Fireproof are of Mike in Hell being tortured by a strange creature before receiving his mission and getting on with his own. Then Cathy appears, she seems quite a normal girl besides her desire to murder people, starting with her boss.

However, once I was in a few chapters I found it to be a good read, very well written, entertaining (if you can put aside the ‘religious’ elements) and in places funny. There is a good sense of place and the dialogue is sharp. The characters can be distinctly peculiar, for example, there is Cadbury, a tramp who appears and squats in Mike’s flat whilst he’s on a brief respite in Hell. He has a number of very unusual qualities including the ability to read minds. Sounds odd? Yes, but it does fit well in the story.

Towards the latter part of the book, the tone changed somewhat as Mike builds the religion and follows his own plan, but primarily because he grows much closer to Cathy. Fireproof becomes more a story of redemption and relationships.

Overall, I enjoyed Fireproof. It’s a very good read if you enjoy something a bit different.

Rating? Four Stars

Would add this to my bookshelf? Yes

The Fix - FREE

The Fix is FREE for two days on Amazon. Only two days - 13 & 14 March.

22 reviews to date (including a 1* for excessive swearing!) 

These are some of the comments to date:

‘The Fix moves like a bullet. Can't wait for more from Keith Nixon.’
- Tony Black, authoor of Murder Mile

‘Razor sharp and original.’
- Ryan Bracha, author of Strangers Are Just Friends You Haven’t Killed Yet

‘Keith Nixon plots a wonderful corporate caper with his tongue placed firmly in his cheek.
THE FIX smacks of insanity brought on by too much time spent in the rat race, something many of us can relate to. Cool, creative and downright crude, THE FIX will get your heart pumping.’
- Gerard Brennan, author of FIREPROOF

'If words were drugs, and Keith Nixon my local dealer, you'd find my sweating presence waiting for my man on a street corner.'
- Mark Wilson, author of Naebody's Hero

'Five Stars'
- Books & Pals Blog

Pick up a copy now & see what all the fuss is.

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009ZITONW

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009ZITONW

The Fix - FREE!

The Fix is FREE for two days on Amazon. Only two days - 13 & 14 March.

22 reviews to date (including a 1* for excessive swearing!) 

These are some of the comments to date:

‘The Fix moves like a bullet. Can't wait for more from Keith Nixon.’
- Tony Black, authoor of Murder Mile

‘Razor sharp and original.’
- Ryan Bracha, author of Strangers Are Just Friends You Haven’t Killed Yet

‘Keith Nixon plots a wonderful corporate caper with his tongue placed firmly in his cheek.
THE FIX smacks of insanity brought on by too much time spent in the rat race, something many of us can relate to. Cool, creative and downright crude, THE FIX will get your heart pumping.’
- Gerard Brennan, author of FIREPROOF

'If words were drugs, and Keith Nixon my local dealer, you'd find my sweating presence waiting for my man on a street corner.'
- Mark Wilson, author of Naebody's Hero

'Five Stars'
- Books & Pals Blog

Pick up a copy now & see what all the fuss is.

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009ZITONW

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009ZITONW

Review - The 19th Element

An Al Qaeda terrorist cell plots to attack a nuclear power plant in the US heartland. Only one man, James Becker, can stop disaster happening.

What’s the point of a thriller? Well, I guess the clue is in the word itself. Unfortunately there were many issues with The 19^th Element from a contrived plot (an Al Qaeda attack on a nuclear power plant?!) that never got out of second gear, to weak characters, and odd dialogue.

First is Becker himself who failed to convince me of his credentials. He’s ex-secret service, but then describes himself as wealthy because he invented a new bullet that can kill people at 1.5 miles (great!). He also has an unused degree – this and the money mean he’s been able to change profession and still act undercover (although independently of the government) but seems able to call in favours at will, like bringing in two Apache helicopters to take out the bad guys at just the right moment.

The writing isn’t bad, it’s just overly descriptive and ponderous. It’s ‘tell’ instead of ‘show’, observation instead of participation. For example, Becker gets into a fight at one point, it felt like I was watching the process from afar. When Jack Reacher fights, he fights, you feel every punch, every injury, adrenalin pumps. Unfortunately not with Becker. I wanted to put on my pyjamas and go to bed with a hot water bottle.

There were quite a few examples of this over use of tell. Remember the unused degree and new job. From the following, can you guess what Becker does?

‘Today was Wednesday and I was at my office. Becker Law Office. James L. Becker, Attorney-at-Law.’

Um, I think he’s an attorney? But I could be wrong.

On occasion, there were long, bulleted and descriptive lists. Once Becker described everything he was carrying on a mission. So what? Then there was the whole set of instructions to take off in a B-24. Why?

Then there were continuity errors. Most, but not all, chapters started with some or all of the time, date, and location. In the early chapters, the date jumped around. It was May 8^th, then the 6^th, back to the 8^th, then the 7^th, then to 1979 (this chapter didn’t have a date description though!). It was difficult to keep an eye on. Sometimes you’d be informed that it was 3 am, then be immediately told this again the first line of the chapter. Or you’d be told you were on the plane, it’s obvious. We know where Becker is because he hasn’t moved. Tell, not show.

Also, a couple of sub-plots seemed thrown in. A Mongolian, part of a gang Becker took down in his past, follows his daughter on campus. He races to save her. There’s also some Al Qaeda observer early on that’s explained away at the end, tied into the Mongolian.

Finally, the style changed in some chapters. When in the nuclear plant scenes all of the dialogue is written as if it’s a screenplay. Why? For interest perhaps. If so, it didn’t work. It made the dialogue clunky.

So overall a disappointing read. The 19^th Element promised much but failed to deliver. I needed much more ‘thrill!’ and a lot less ‘er?’

Rating? Two Stars

Would add this to my bookshelf? No

Review - The Vanity Game

Beaumont Alexander, superstar mega-rich footballer, has the life some people will kill for. He seems to have everything – fast cars, a mansion, beautiful pop star girlfriend, Krystal McQueen, the adulation of his football team’s fans and parties with a multitude of famous friends. He can have what he wants, when he wants.

But Beaumont is a man on the edge and, after a sordid encounter with a hostess at a celebrity party, his life spins out of control and he turns to his manager, Serge, to help him. Enter a shady crime mob, The Substitutors, and Beaumont is going to have to fight to keep the life he so easily achieved.

This is an impressive debut novel. It is fast-paced, topical and darkly witty. Beaumont lives in a money-no-object world many would aspire to but probably wouldn’t want once they had it. The Vanity Game cleverly shows both sides of the fame game where egos are large and life is ultimately the cheapest thing on offer.

Beaumont himself was initially vain, selfish, and seedy, very much like many of the football (or soccer depending which side of the pond you live on) stars of today. He has a couple of unhealthy quirks, a fear of germs and an obsession with George Michael. However, during the story Beaumont’s character develops into someone much more palatable – although I still wouldn’t like him as a friend, he never quite shakes the football mud off his boots.

In fact very few of the characters are likeable (which was the point). Celebrity, either gained or wished for, seems to have skewed them all. The wannabes are just as bad, they’ll do anything to be with Beaumont and his friends. The character’s names read like something out of the celebrity magazines that Beaumont regularly appears in.

The action is constant, except for a brief pause in the middle when Beaumont thinks he’s got away with his crime. There are many unexpected twists and turns that keep you guessing right through to the end.

H.J. Hampson poses some interesting questions about the society of today’s obsession with celebrity via The Substitutors mob. Without spoiling the read, Hampson brings about a physical change in Krystal which at first I questioned. Then, however it made me think – how much do we truly know about celebrities? Only what we read in the papers or see on the TV and how much of that is real?

Well worth a read and highly recommended.

Rating? Four Stars

Would add this to my bookshelf? Yes