Short Story Review - Stephen C Spencer

I have never really given much thought to short stories, I just dismissed them as stories for people who don't have time to read proper books... Then I became a book reviewer and came across Ellie Darkins on Twitter, she posted a link to a short story that she had written and posted on her blog... from the very beginning I was hooked, everything happened to quickly and then it was over leaving my wanting more.

So I decided to explore more short stories and put a hit out on Twitter. This is where the lovely Stephen Spencer comes in.. He very kindly sent me two of his short stories to read Role Reversal and Window of Opportunity. So here is what I thought...

Window of Opportunity

Released 6th March 2012

PDF 12

Publisher Self Published

Rating 2/5

Source Sent by Stephen

My thoughts…

Window of Opportunity was the first short story that I read by Stephen, it is about Paul Mallory, a journalist who is trying to track down a Russian criminal that tried to kill him.

The story does exactly what it needs to do as a short story and that is to move at a fast pace. For me a thriller works really well as a short story as you get to move the story along so quickly, engaging the reader to read on and want more at the end of it, as well as getting to the point quickly as opposed to dragging it out.

With this being said, as much as I liked the pace in which this story moved, I felt it left out a lot of detail. This is the first book that I have read by Stephen and from the Paul Mallory series, so maybe that is why I didn’t really connect with the book because there are so many before this that would have helped me understand the characters more.

I am not saying that this is a terrible book, but I would recommend maybe readying the Paul Mallory series in order, which is what I should have done!

Role Reversal

Released 9th September 2012

PDF 11

Publisher Self Published

Rating 4/5

Source Sent by Stephen

My thoughts…

Role Reversal was the second short story that I ready by Stephen, from the cover I saw that this was also part of the Paul Mallory series so I wasn't holding out much hope for it. However I am pleased to say that this was completely different to my first experience.

The story revolves around two women who live together and work for the same man as Paul Mallory, they have been invited to mark the 100 year anniversary of the Titanic by going on a cruise of the Titanic route. Both Marie and Fliss are looking forward to the trip, but then Fliss starts to get nightmares. Not remembering what the nightmares are Marie orders her to a hypnotherapy session to get to the bottom of it, with her hunch that it is something to do the Titanic.

As someone who is extremely interested in the Titanic, I love reading, watching documentaries, films and stories about it, and Role Reversal fits in perfectly with one of my interests. For me, this story could be expanded into a novel – exploring the history on both Marie and Fliss’s families and exploring the history of the Titanic.

This isn't really a thriller, like the first, but I still found myself reading at a record speed to get to the end and find out what the outcome would be. If you are looking for something quick to read, then I would definitely recommend this.

Book Review - The Rose Petal Beach

The Rose Petal Beach by Dorothy Koomson

Released 30th August 2012

Paperback 416 pages

Publisher Quercus

Rating 5/5

Source Purchased

Summary...

Every love story has a dangerous twist. Tamia Challey is horrified when her husband, Scott, is accused of something terrible - but when she discovers who his accuser is, everything goes into freefall. Backed into a corner and unsure what to think, Tamia is forced to choose who she instinctively believes. But this choice has dire consequences for all concerned, especially when matters take a tragic turn. Then a stranger arrives in town to sprinkle rose petals in the sea in memory of her lost loved one. This stranger carries with her shocking truths that will change the lives of everyone she meets, and will once again force Tamia to make some devastating choices...

My thoughts...

I am a long standing fan of Dorothy Koomson, from The Cupid Effect to My Best Friends Girl to Goodnight Beautiful. Her latest offering, The Rose Petal Beach is in true Dorothy style and did not disappoint one bit.

The story focus’s around Tami, a wife and mother who has a seemingly perfect life – two beautiful children, a stunning home, gorgeous husband, her dream job and a life that she had always dreamed of. Then one day, all that she knows about her life comes crumbling down around her, with dire consequences, where nothing will ever be the same again.

The tale is told from various different angles – Tami, her best friends Mirabella and Beatrix and newcomer Fleur. Mirabella and Beatrix both live in the ‘close’ – Mirabella works with Tami’s husband Scott and Beatrix is like a member of the family and Tami’s oldest friend. And Fleur pops up out of the blue one day, revealing secrets to Tami about one of her best friends, but is it too late to change things?

Tami, like so many of Dorothy’s leading ladies, is a strong, fiery, heroic woman, a true protector to all of those that she loves and someone that I think so many people can relate to. If I were faced with situations like Tami, I would hope that I could be just like her and handle the grief, betrayal and deception with that much dignity.

The Rose Petal Beach does fit into Dorothy’s usual genre of ‘Chick Lit’ but with the fast pace, edge of your seat, page turning, roller coaster that you get from a crime thriller. The chopping and changing from character to character really keeps the story going and left me wanting more after each chapter, I even stayed home on Saturday reading until I had finished the book as I needed to know how it ended!

One thing I love about Dorothy is her ability to create such interesting characters. In this book each of them change, some more dramatically than others, however they are all believable. She develops them over time and in a way that you can believe. Take Scott for example – he starts off as a kid from the wrong sort of background, he grows up and takes a different direction from his family, he is then a loving husband and father who would do anything to make his family happy, he then becomes a career focus, his ego takes over causing his marriage to suffer and the rest you will find out about in the book. Scott goes from one extreme to the other, but I didn’t think at any point that it had been taken too far.

The ending isn’t all happy and jolly, where everyone kisses and makes up, like most chick lit’s, but it is fair to all of the characters. It must have taken a lot of time to decide what to do with each of them, but I think it was fitting and believable.

I cannot recommend this book enough, The Rose Petal Beach is a story that be read by both men and women and I can really see that being made into a TV drama.

I LOVED this book and cannot wait to read more from the lovely Dorothy Koomson.

Book Review - Caught

Caught by Harlan Coben
Released 17th February 2011
Paperback 400 pages
Rating 4/5
Source Purchased

Summary

Seventeen-year-old Haley McWaid never gave her parents a moment's worry. Until one morning her mother wakes to find that Haley didn't come home the night before. Three months quickly pass without a word, and everyone assumes the worst.


Wendy Tynes is a reporter on a mission: to identify and bring down sexual predators via televised sting operations. Her latest target is Dan Mercer, a social worker known as a friend to troubled teens. But his story soon becomes more complicated than Wendy could have imagined.


CAUGHT tells the story of a missing girl, the community stunned by her loss, the predator who may have taken her, and the reporter who suddenly realises she can't trust her own instincts about this story - or the motives of the people around her...

My thoughts...

I have read a few Harlan Coben books in the past and have always thoroughly enjoyed them. My Mum is a huge fan and is constantly pushing his books onto me so when I saw this I thought I'd give it a go, especially since I had been reading a teary love story and lots of erotic fiction.

Scandal, suspicion, murder is the tagline, and Caught is full of it all. From the very beginning the story grips you and pulls you in.

From the beginning I was left hoping that Dan wasn't the monster that he was made out to be, but the more I read on, the harder it became for me to believe it and the more I doubted myself. Dan was made out to be this amazingly gentle and giving man, but as the story moved on everything seemed to change and he started to appear to be the man that the reporters had made him out to be.

The story is told from Wendy's point of view, after revealing Dan as a pedophile, ruining his reputation and life she gets a gut feeling that she may have been wrong about him. Out of the blue he calls her asking her to meet him, in a trailer in the middle of no-where she witnesses him being murdered. From that moment, everything that she thought she knew came tumbling down around her and she could no longer trust anyone.

Caught is everything that you want from a thriller, every chapter leaves you wanting more, you are on the edge of your seat and it has so many unexpected twists that it is impossible for you to guess where the story is going to end up.

This is probably one of the hardest books that I have reviewed so far, with so many unexpected events it is hard to put into words how incredibly thrilling this book is without giving anything away.

Until next time, keep reading x