Col Bury's Crime Fiction Choice #10
CHARLES IN CHARGE - by Sean Patrick Reardon
Sean chose the rarely used 2nd POV for this Halloween short over at TKnC, and expertly pulled it off.
When a family man fighting his demons takes a trip to the fairground with his teenage daughter, things go horribly wrong, culminating in an unexpected denouement.
Col Bury's Crime Fiction Choice #11PILLOW TALK - by Jodi MacArthur
Found this beaut over at Beat to a Pulp. From the title, I initially thought it was gonna be a cosy number, but how wrong could I be?
The central character, Henrietta, has to be one of the most disturbing female protags I've read in any short around. Fierce, yet unembellished, in its delivery, this creepy tale will keep you shuddering long after the final word.
Col Bury's Crime Fiction Choice #12SLASH AND BURN - by Matt Hilton
In the third of the Joe Hunter crime thriller series, Matt Hilton provides the compulsory action, bullets, explosions and body count. However this time, not only is it sprinkled with dark humour, but also a pleasantly surprising touch of romance for tough guy Hunter, which adds further story depth.
In this adventure, Hunter is up against a murderous businessman (Huffman) who has kidnapped Hunter's dead, Special Forces friend's sister in a bid to save the former's corrupt empire from crumbling. If this isn't enough, the formidable Bolan twins on Hunter's tail remind me of Heavyweight Champs, the Klitschko brothers.
When reading a novel it's preferable to learn something new, and here I could certainly tell from the face-to-face combat that it was penned by a martial arts expert. The author is the first to concede it won't be everyone's cuppa, but if you like escaping via entertaining, dynamic prose and the thrill of the chase - in this case, from Florida through to Little Fork, Kentucky - then look no further than Slash and Burn.
16 comments:
A great shout out there, Col.
Read all three and they were a treat. All very good writers in their own right.
I've yet to read Sean's novel Mindjacker, but I wish him luck with it and success with his new writings.
Jodi is a great writer and she'll have success with whatever she writes.
Matt's novels are awesome. I've just started the 4th installment, Cut & Run. Anyone who reads his book are in for a great ride.
Nice one, Col. I hear you're pretty handy wordsmith yaself!! :-)
Hey there Col, I've heard the same bird that Barber character has chirped about - you ARE a rather spiffy wordsmither and you spin well 'round the gold that these three mighty mouths in Crime Fiction have to say.
I've been an afficiando of the jaunty haunting Jodi ever since she first learned to fling frogs - (You'll have to ask her). But the mighty MacA's talents titillate the senses the more as she grows past prose to all that can scare'ya.
Matt Hilton has become a silent hero of mine in this genre of crime (meaning I don't think he knows how much I follow his great stuff around WebTown) - ever since the illustrious Paul Brazill (my dashing mentor, I assure you) pointed me in his direction and said, "Aye, watch that one, he's bloody good." (I never argue with Paul. He's a real killer and I like him in my pub-scenes).
Now this Sean Patrick Reardon is the real deal I've recently found to my appeal - ever since he said "Awesome shit" or some such gallantry on my Hekate dark goddess of the moon rendition at cool Cole's ... Yep, I looked him up and shook my head wholeheartedly.
THANKS for your review attuning what we revere in Great Writers on their Rise. ~ Absolutely*Kate
Good stuff. Read Sean's story before, but it was worth a second read.
Excellent choices, Col! Yeah, Jodi's creeped me out too, lovely. I'll be heading over to the other two spots shortly.
Thanks. I'm glad you did this again-
Great selections, Col. Loved both those short stories--didn't catch Reardon's the first time around so I'm glad you posted on this.
And here's me thinking, 'who the hell would want my take on things?'!
Dave - as ever, cheers, bud.
Kate - LMAO. Me a 'spiffy wordsmither'? I've a way to go to paint vivid pictures with words as you do! But many thanks, all the same. And these 'frogs' that Jodi 'flings'... I'm intrigued.
Oh, n I'll tell Matt he has a secret admirer. :)
John - thanks for popping by.
Erin / Chris - I'm glad you're glad!
Regards,
Col
Every one a gem!
Col- Thanks for the nod man. Being mentioned with Jodi and Matt is beyond cool to me.
Thanks for the comments everyone. I have enjoyed all of your own tremendous stories, have learned so much about many facets of writing, made a lot of great friends, and can't wait to read more!
Col, this was a great shout out to us. Thanks for sharing.
Hey Col,
thanks for the cool review, bud. Very much appreciated.
All you guys, thanks for the lovely feedback as well and for your continuous support.
Kate...I know now! Mwuhahahahahahaaaa!
(Seriously: I'm humbled by your words. Thank you.)
Thanks for mentioning Jodi's terrific "Pillow Talk."
Paul, Hi!
Sean, Absolute pleasure, bud.
Jeanette, You're welcome. Cheers.
Matt, Credit where credit's due.
David, Glad I found it - it's a belter!
Hey Col,
I am proud of Henrietta making your top list of disturbing females. She is entirely her own entity of shadows & charisma. I am thrilled to pieces you mentioned this story.
I am new fans to Sean & Matt's work. The stories sound terrific and I'll be checking them out.
Thanks again. ;-)
Hey Jodi,
Nice to see you over here. It was an absolute pleasure reading your story and such an easy pick.
You'll enjoy Sean n Matt's stuff.
Regards,
Col
Good blog: always nice to see books that real people read getting praised, rather than newspapers licking awards winners' backsides.
I'm intending to review a few of the Manchester authors in the future - I'll link back to this then if you don't mind.
My blog of book reviews/writer reviews
Thanks, Paul.
I don't mind at all.
Regards,
Col
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