Miranda Kate's Blog, page 2

Review: Last Night of Freedom, by Dan Howarth

Last Night Of Freedom: One Weekend. One Hunt. One Survivor. by Dan Howarth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another compelling read from Dan Howarth and a full novel this time. The concept is mind-blowing. It's about four lads who go on a stag-do in the north of England, and come across a local group of lads who sets them up for a particular forfeit ...

It's an utterly gripping, edge-of-your-seat, brutal, occasionally gory, horror, and not for the faint-hearted. I was tense and anxious, while reading, and struggled to stop turning the page because I just had to know what would happen next. And when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it. Like watching an accident in slow motion, it's very much a 'can't look away' read.

Written in first person POV, switching between characters for each chapter, you are lead into a shocking concept that will forever have you wondering whenever you drive around beautiful countryside and idyllic villages. Never be fooled about what might go on behind closed doors!

As always I look forward to whatever Dan Howarth will be writing next.

If that's your kind of thing, I urge you to grab a copy.

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New release: How to Self-Edit Your Fiction Book

I've released a new book, aimed at authors. It's part of my 'Author Aid' series that I am developing. The first book being How to Create a Wraparound Cover using Canva. This book is for those authors who wish to feel moreconfident about going through the first draft of their manuscript and improveit before sending it out to anyone to edit or proofread. 

It's a simpleguide with grammatical and practical tips, but covering the less conventionalaspects of writing and editing. Aspectsthat most authors struggle with, but which, if they became more aware of, theycould encompass during the writing process. 

It can be used as a reference book,or it can be read cover-to-cover.

Why not grab a copy? Click on the picture below. 👇

Review: Be Useful by Arnold Schwarzeneggar

Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life by Arnold Schwarzenegger
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm a fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger, and have been for some time, being a subscriber to his Daily Pump newsletter and enjoying the helpful health and mental health tips and advice. This book sort of combines that with his life story.

Arnold uses the events in his life to highlight how to take control of your own life and push through. How to be inspired and how to follow your inspiration. How to go about getting excited about your life and getting disciplined.

His voice and manner of speaking comes through clearly in this book, and there was so much to absorb. If you find him inspiring it's definitely worth a read.

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Review: The Long Earth, Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter

The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Reading this was a slog! I love Terry Pratchett books, and though I've never read Stephen Baxter, the combination clearly doesn't work - for me at least. As another reviewer said, the result is that it came out flat.

It is a brilliant concept, that there are endless identical, parallel worlds which we are able to 'step' to, but the writer spent too much time repetitively explaining it, and describing it, losing what could be a dynamic story in its midst. I had hoped that something amazing was going to happen at the end, but it didn't really, just the usual human destruction. And it didn't feel like a climax of any kind, it was told in the same monotonous monotone narrative used throughout the book.

There were elements where it attempted to get interesting. They kept returning to characters, but not quite building anything substantial besides the main narrative of the lead character and some strange human robot, which felt like a cross between CP3O and Hal 9000, who was unlikeable and spent most of the book over explaining everything.

It was a real shame, and I have the rest of the books in the series, but I'll be returning them to the charity shop I found them in.

Not a recommendation from me. I think people rave about it because of the authors involved, rather than on the merit of the book.



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Buy my books direct!

For some time now I have wanted to be able to offer my ebooks direct to readers, and finally I can! 😀

I have set up a Payhip shop, linked to Bookfunnel for easy delivery. But although I would love to make my print books available, I am not yet convinced the postage is worth it, though I am going to look into it, maybe for special signed copies! 

Just click on the store image below! 

Review: Throttle by Joe Hill and Stephen King

Throttle by Joe Hill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I probably bought this back when it was released, or a couple of years after. As with many book on my ereader, I tend to buy them and then promptly forget about them, unlike my shelves of unread paperbacks, which stare at me silenting telling me to read them. And at the end of the year, I decided to have a look through to find some short tales and I spotted this one.

Written by Joe Hill and his father Stephen King in dedication to Richard Matheson, the director of many films, including Duel, which this is a sort of homage to. I know the film Duel, having seen it at some point in my teens, and so I understood that something was going to happen with the truck, when it appeared, but it was still pretty shocking.

There were a lot of characters, but they were handled well as we started to understand the story through dialogue and interaction. A group of bikers have been scammed out of a lot of money, and when confronting the perpetrator, things went array and a murder took place. They are on their way to Vegas, debating whether to confront a connected person to try and get their money back, when a trucker overhears them - at least that's what they believe, we never really know. What follows is grim, and tense and there are few survivors.

I really enjoyed this, it's definitely in the King wheelhouse. Worth a read.

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Review: Burn by Daniel Swensen

Burn by Daniel Swensen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have had this story sitting on my Kindle for a LONG time, but, like sometimes happens, you forget they are there. This is a short novella I read over two nights. I loved how this story unfolded. My first book of Stephen King's was Firestarter and this was similar, but told in such a way that you aren't quite sure what has happened, what is currently happening and what will happen - though you suspect the longer it goes on. Full of tension and suspense, Burn, builds and keeps you sitting on the edge of your seat. Brilliant writing.

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Tricky's Tales Book Sale, going on until the end of January 2025!

You might have already noticed that the ebook editions of my Tricky's Tales book are currently on sale. If you haven't, they are, for the entire month of January 2025!

They are on sale across ALL book selling platforms. And on some platforms you might get a 'bundle offer' - like on DriveThruFiction and Google Play Books.

Click on the banner below to be taken to the bookfunnel link which lists all the major the bookseller sites to buy. 

Review: Billy Summers, by Stephen King

Billy Summers by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

For me, recent books of King's have been very hit and miss, but this one was very much a hit. I was completely engrossed, and there was a lot of character development in this one, which might have bored other readers, but it's what I love the most about King's writing.

In this one you also get a story within a story - and maybe two really. First you have the main character, Billy, writing his life story which is a whole other story, and you get the story of his Alice Maxwell which then crosses over into Billy's.

I loved the mix of different characters Billy encounters and works with and his two personas he uses for his 'work', and different lives that Billy leads within this story and within the inner story of his life. King brings in so many ideas into the story, from veterans and their PTSD, to a woman being gang raped and the 'just desserts' the perpetrators get.

This is not an easy read, and has many disturbing scenes of varying degrees. As always King doesn't shy away from any of it, and running the background there is a political narrative going on, and also a narrative about rich media men and what they can get away with.

I loved it all, and it gave me a huge book handover - which for me is an indicator of an excellent book. Definite recommend from me. Now I have to go and find another book that I will look forward to reading as much as I did this every night before I went to bed - and in fact kept me awake a lot longer than it should!

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New Cover for Sleep, by M K Boers 😀

I received the final proofs for the new cover of Sleep, my psychological thriller, and I'm really excited to share it. It's far more genre defined and I hope it will give the book a new lease of life, and it will find more readers.

Sleep was my debut novel back in 2019. It's still the favourite of all the books I've written so far. It's a book that took me 27 years to publish from it's initial conception in 1991 - the prologue is actually the short piece I wrote back then (though heavily edited since). I'm really proud of this book, not least because one of the reviews it received was from someone who used to be a court stenographer, and they told me it was the most accurate depiction of a UK court room they'd ever read in a crime novel - and they're a book blogger.
A whydunnit rather than a whodunnit, Sleep follows a woman on trial for killing her husband and his lover. Was it premeditated, a crime of passion, or a moment of madness? Told through a series of flashbacks and testimony, what drove Lizzy Dyson to murder are revealed.