Show, Don’t Tell & Abusing Adverbs
If you’re a writer, or want to be a writer, you’ve heard about Show, Don’t Tell often enough, In fact, you believe you do it. So why all those adverbs?
A Wake of Crows by Kate Evans
Way back at the beginning of 2015, I reviewed a crime book, The Art of the Imperfect. The author, Kate Evans, was unknown to me, but she made a huge impression. In my review, I recalled the first …
The Couple at No 9 by Claire Douglas
Starts brilliantly, but fades a little towards the end
I’ve given this four stars; really, that should probably be 3½. For at least two thirds of the book (and it isn’t short) I was gripped. As the author moved from …
Police Procedurals. A Killer Makes Himself Known
I’m writing a series of police procedurals under the new pen-name, JJ Sullivan. Book 1, Drawn to Murder, is already complete and when I went to bed last night I was 17,000 words into Book 2, Death to Order…
The Truth in a Lie by Jan Turk Petrie
Jan Turk Petrie has quietly made her way into my list of favourite authors. Reading this latest of her novels, I found myself thinking of Deborah Moggach and there isn’t, for me, any greater compliment than that. This is the …
The Lost Blackbird by Liza Perrat
I’ll willingly admit to an interest here: Liza Perrat is an Australian writer married to a Frenchman and living in France, and I’m a fan. What you get with Liza is an Australian straightforwardness that draws you into her …
The Second Time Around by Gloria Antypowich
I know there are people in the UK who look down on the Romance genre. There are also people who look down on the horror, sci-fi, fantasy and religious/inspirational genres. I think this has to do with the snobbery that …
The Silent Kookaburra by Liza Perrat
The Silent Kookaburra is not an easy read. Extremely well written, it demands to be read with the same concentration as went into writing it. And it repays the effort. What this book does is to trace the evolution of …
Old Filth by Jane Gardam
Old Filth by Jane Gardam
5 Stars. Stunning. Brilliant. A tour de force by a brilliant writer
Just occasionally, you read a book that has attained absolute perfection. It doesn’t happen often – once a year if you’re lucky (and …