Trey Stone's Blog, page 35

Book Review: Sakura Spark by Tomson Cobb

Sakura Spark is—as the cover tells us—a thriller about Jago Hale, investigative journalist and ex-military man. And it’s absolutely amazing.

Jago lives a lavish life after having left his secretive past behind. He writes articles, spends time doing what he likes, and tries to forget. That’s until a break-in at his house pulls him back in, forcing him to return to his old habits. Not really wanting anything to do with it, but at the same time finding himself at the center of it all, Jago has no choice but to follow the breadcrumbs hoping they’ll lead to some answers. If he’s lucky, maybe even about his wife’s death.

Cobb’s writing is sharp and detailed, clear and fast-paced (just the way I like it), but at the same time beautiful and well-composed. This book doesn’t waste time on intricate backstories, instead utilizing small drips of information here and there, just enough to paint the picture while simultaneously stringing us along, the carrot constantly just out of reach.

In case I wasn’t clear earlier, I loved this book. It’s a thriller, a drama, even a bit of a love-story, and it’s very well executed.

The downfall of these types of books—in my opinion—are usually that they become too long, spending too much time on things that in the end doesn’t matter. There’s nothing of that here, and it shows.

I in one sense found Jago’s past and his life outside of the plot to be the most interesting thing about this book. Jago’s character is interesting, so much so that I often forgot what he was doing in the moment. I kept wondering how he’d gotten to be where he was, what his life was like before, and how his life would change at the end of this. And well, at the end of this… Let’s just say I got answers to questions I didn’t even know I had.

If you’re into espionage thrillers, I highly recommend you give Tomson Cobb’s book a chance. Go check it out here.

Book Review: Life After Death by Jackson Paul Baer

*I received a complimentary copy of this book, and I’m leaving a voluntary review*

Another great book by Jackson Paul Baer. I think this is my fourth one, and second in the ‘An American Family’ series. You can read my review for the first one here, but the short story is that it’s a magnificent thriller about a family who loses their mother and wife to a serial killer.

This book picks up where the other left off, with Isaac, the father and husband trying to build up a life with his new wife, and his children trying to carry on with their own. It’s about life, love, and the struggle of having lived through a horrible event.

Baer writes how he always has; with passion, clarity, and captivation. Is style is clear and beautiful, not over the top, and the book isn’t too long. Just the way I like it. His book are all very family centric, with a focus on home, love, and the relationships within a family, as well as the horrible things that happen to them.

But this book isn’t what I hoped for, not because it isn’t good, but because I feel like we’ve changed genre. Book 1 in the series is an exciting thriller, but since we’ve dealt with that already, this feels more like family drama, and at times a romance. It’s an interesting development in a series, one I don’t think I’ve seen before, but at the same time I felt a bit cheated.

There’s of course some excitement, and thrilling stuff does happen, don’t get me wrong. Like I said, the book is good, and the continuing of the story is gripping. It just doesn’t taste quite the same, do you know what I mean?

If you’re looking for a well-written series about a family that suffer through horrible things, trying to (and maybe managing) to come out stronger by the end, give this a try.

You can find more on Baer and his work here – go check it out.

Taking A Break From Writing

One and a half week ago I sent my WIP away to my editor for some much needed TLC. Now, I always write on multiple things. I have a main WIP, then I usually always work on the following book, as well as a little side project. (Gotta have some of those side projects).

But when I sent my main WIP away, I thought to myself: “You know what? Don’t. Don’t write anything for a bit. Take a break. Read instead. See what happens.”

I’m not the kind of person who doesn’t read while they write. I usually always write, and I definitely always read. I suppose I get why some people are afraid to be influenced or to copy someone’s voice, but that’s not me. I’m not good enough to copy someone’s voice, even if I tried. So I always read.

But now that I sent my WIP away, I wanted to read more. Get through some piles, have whole evenings to myself to read. I did just that. And it was amazing. There was something so relieving about coming home and knowing I was on a break from my writing, knowing I could just pick up that book I wanted to finish.

Of course, I was kind of scared. Scared that I’d lose my mojo, lose my muse or whatever. I was worried that if I didn’t keep the writing up, I’d get worse at it. Like if you stop going to the gym for a while, and you come back weaker.

Like I said, it’s been a week and a half. It feels much longer, but I checked. Maybe by the time I post this it will be two weeks. And instead of ruining my writing habits, like I feared, the exact opposite happened.

I found myself sitting down to write, not because I scheduled in time for it, but because I really had to. There was this scene I just had to write suddenly. I’m usually very habitual and strict, I sit down to write because I’ve told myself that now’s the time to write. But this time it was different, now I was sitting down to write because I just had to. The withdrawal was getting too strong, I couldn’t stay away.

Taking a break from my WIP; setting aside a couple of weeks to just read has been one of the best decisions I’ve made in a while. Instead of struggling to get back into it, I can’t wait now. I’m still holding off, trying to get through some books. But the urge is strong. And I love it.

The lesson to take away from this? Maybe you need a break too? And maybe you don’t have to be as scared of it as you think. Maybe it helps.

Book Review: A Killer’s Alibi by William L. Myers Jr.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book, and I’m leaving a voluntary review*

This is a dark, gritty, legal/crime thriller. There’s murders, secrets, lies, cold cases—basically everything you’d want in a fantastic book. Let me tell you about it.

The plot is simple: A mafia boss is caught red-handed by the police, having murdered his rival and his daughter’s lover. The bloody knife is still in his hand. There’s no denying it, he’s going to jail. His lawyer, sees the case as quite simple—or it would have been, if our mafia boss would just talk to him. But there’s something he’s hiding, something he’s not revealing. And how can his lawyer defend him without all the details? The daughter is in shock, hospitalized, the victim is dead, and the main suspect isn’t talking.

At the same time, the lawyer’s wife is working on freeing a seemingly innocent woman, a victim of childhood abuse who’s been wrongly incarcerated. But is the case as simple as she thinks? Does everyone involved remember it correctly? And if they’re not, who’s lying? And what are they hiding? There’s also trouble brewing her private life, is someone stalking her and if so, who?

I won’t beat around the bush, this book is amazing. Gripping, fast-paced, and so incredibly intelligent. Myers has called it a ‘legal thriller’ and I didn’t even realize that this was a genre but I absolutely love it.It’s beautifully written, very well researched, and I wasn’t bored for a second. I read more than half of this in one evening, and it’s been a while since I’ve been this excited about a book. It’s the legal and law parts of it that does it for me; it makes it so exciting, so intelligent, so real. I love a good court thriller movie, and this is like a reading one.

To make a similar example, to me this read like a season of True Detective. It has that familiar slow burn of revealing secrets and plot devices with a steady trickle, but at the same time keeping you tense an interested. I thought I had it figured out so many times, but I was never right.

There’s nothing to complain about in this book, not one single thing. I was very happily surprised by the quality of both the writing and the story. And that should probably not come as such a shock, had I researched Myers a bit more before this. This is his third book in the series, and both of the two other ones have thousands of ratings on Goodreads. And they’re doing really well. Now I understand why, and I’m looking forward to reading more of Myers’ work. These books are going to be huge.

Oh, by the way, this book was just released today. Jump on it quickly.

Very highly recommended for anyone who wants a clever crime thriller, along the lines of True Detective or Law and Order. Go check it out here.

Book Review: The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah by Stephen King

Book 6 is done and we’re only one book out. This has been a while ride, and I’m happy to say that we’re seeing more action, more risk, more payoff, more everything. After the disappointment of book 4, book 5 was a welcome change and thankfully this trend has carried on in book 6.

As you can probably tell from the title, this is very much a book about Susannah. It picks up from where we left off in book 5, after the battle against the wolves, as Susannah leaves the Calla and heads to New York through one of the same doors Susannah and Eddie came through in book 2. (Not the actual same doors, on the beach, but you get it. Same type of door.)

There’s some stuff happening to Susannah, which I’d love to talk about but I don’t want to give anything away. Let’s just say that Susannah isn’t necessarily who we think she is (anymore), and that things are going to change for her, a lot. Eddie, Roland, and Jake, (with the help of Father Callahan) set after her into our world. They get separated, Eddie and Roland landing in Maine, and Jake, Callahan and Oy landing in New York. At this point, Susannah’s already been there, trying to do what she has set out to do.

This book is much shorter and though I feel it’s more fast paced (which if you’ve paid attention to me, you know I love), I also feel the pace is characteristically ‘King’. Slow and deliberate, taking it’s sweet time to unravel everything. Though I loved this book, I’m getting a bit sick of it. There’s so many things that take so incredibly long, and often they don’t seem to serve a purpose.

My absolute favorite part of this book, is that when Roland and Eddie land in Maine, they are of course able to meet the people who live there. They eventually make their way to certain writer’s house; Stephen King’s house. Seeing King write himself as a character was very cool. Weird, but cool. It’s the kind of thing I feel only King can pull off and it was exciting delving into his own mind, to see how he sees himself. Because of this, the ending of the book (after the ending of Roland’s story), included a few notes by Stephen King. At first I thought it was from the author Stephen King, but I realized after a while it was from the character Stephen King, within the Dark Tower universe. How do I know this? Because he died by the end.

At this point I’m very excited to get on with book 7. Looking back, at all we’ve been through with Roland, Eddie, Jake, Susannah, Oy, and everyone else who’s come along, I’m anxious to see how it will end. The ending of book 6 left us right in the middle of it, and I’m guessing that’s where it’s going to pick back up. And there’s so many things left to answer. I find myself wondering if all of our friends will be with us at the end of it.

After the next book, I’ll of course review that one as well, but I want to do a bigger overview on The Dark Tower. By that I don’t mean going into detail about the plot, because that’s what reading the books is for, but I want to… conclude my travels through this world of King’s mind. Tell you what I’ve learned, what I’ve thought about, how I feel about this story.

Looking forward to it. Now onto book 7.

The Magic Of Rereading And The Dangers of Nostalgia

Last year I stirred up some stuff (as I’m prone to do), when I admitted I very rarely reread books. You can read a blog post about it here, but the short story is, I just always have something new I want to get my hands and eyes on. It’s not something I do on purpose, I don’t actively decide that I’m never going to read a certain book ever again, it just kind of happens.

Anyway, a few people called me out and said that you have to reread books to truly understand them, so I decided to do an experiment and try.

I chose Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone as my book to reread, because of two reasons: 1 – it’s one of the few books I know I read when I was younger (15 years ago or so), and 2 – it’s on of the few books I actually have a semi-vivid memory of reading. No point in rereading something I can’t remember, right? Then it might as well be the first time I read it.

I love Harry Potter. I’ve loved it since I read the first book and I loved every book after that, and all the movies. They’re fantastic and I loved growing up around that universe.

But I was worried about reading this story again, about reliving that world. It sat so deep in me, I have such a strong connection to it, to my adolescence, I was worried I’d ruined it. What if the story wasn’t how I remembered it? Like that movie you remember being great when you were younger, and then you find it and watch it again and it just… doesn’t live up to the hype? The danger that nostalgia has clouded your memory, and that maybe it’s the memory of it, and not the thing itself you’re longing for?

I’m happy to report that I’m still myself, and that I – like 15 years ago – still thought the beginning was really slow. I remember trying to start that book 4-5 times when I first read it, because I was never truly hooked until I got to a certain point. I’ve always been one to argue against the whole ‘the-first-page-has-to-hook-the-reader’ philosophy, and I feel like this proves my point. Anyways…

The book is much shorter than I remember, and as a writer this is a point to take from J.K. Rowling’s writing. Many of the big, story-changing scenes, are so short. Scenes I remember as whole pages, whole chapters even, are just paragraphs. Bam-bam-bam, and we’re off to something new. I admired the quick pace of it, and I feel better about my own fast-paced writing as I read Harry Potter for a second time.

It’s still magical. It’s still a fantastic story, and there’s no question about how it gripped a whole generation of readers. It’s amazing.

At the same time, I feel like I’ve uprooted a childhood memory. Washed it clean of it’s dirt and grime, as if I’ve renovated a bent and battered toy I used to have when I was younger. It’s fresh and shiny now, polished to blend in to the 21st century. Is it still the same story I remember? In one sense, it feels like it’s less. It’s not as a grand, not as life-changing. The place it takes up on my shelf of life is smaller now, somehow.

I’m not going to say I regret rereading it, because it’s nice to be reminded of those memories I have with the story. But at the same time, I was very happy with the way things were, the spot I had reserved for them in the back of my mind.

In another 15 years, maybe I’ll read it again, and maybe I’ll start looking around for other stories I liked way back when, to pick them back up and reacquaint myself with them.

But I’m definitely in no rush, just like before, there are so many new stories I’d like to get my hands and eyes on, and I feel like I need to give them a chance. Rereading has its merits, but I for one, have no interest in trying too hard to relive old memories.

Book Review: Spider’s Web by Shannon Condon

Another great book I’ve just finished, Spider’s Web is the third book in the Magdalena Series, and follow Maggie and her special ops team as they take on secret missions for the government.

I haven’t read the other books in the series, and even though this is the third, it works well as a standalone. Even though I was confused about some of the information of the past books that I was fed, it was kind of like a puzzle for me, trying to piece together and understand what had happened before.

This book is very many things on top of each other, spy thriller, crime mystery, family drama. It’s a big all-in-one. To give you a hint of the plot, we’re thrown straight into it when Maggie is kidnapped. Where will she be taken, who’s her kidnappers and why do they want her, and will her team get to her in time? This is what’s at stake for Maggie, and though she’s quite a capable special ops agent in her own right, she can’t do it all by herself – she’s going to need her friends to help her.

The characters are beautiful and well-written, and I love how fleshed-out they all are. There’s so much background, so much history behind them making them come so very much alive. I particularly liked Maggie at the center of it all; on one side she’s woman with a tough, hard exterior who can handle anything; but on the inside she’s has a vulnerable, soft core of emotions. Watching her battle her anxiety and panic attacks made her especially interesting to me.

Condon’s writing is beautifully phrased and delicately constructed, with just enough mix of narrative and dialogue according to my taste. She never drones on, and she describes just enough to give you a taste of the world she’s created, letting you imagine everything else.

I felt perhaps the book lost a bit of it’s pace around the halfway mark, slacking off a bit toward the end, but as I said, this isn’t just a thriller or a mystery, this is a delicately interwoven story of action, love, and family, and at times it’s absolutely heartbreaking.

Spider’s Web comes highly recommended from me! Check it out.

How I Learned To Like My Own Writing

Twitter is a great place to be if you’re an author. (Or a writer, or a poet, or whatever you want to call yourself. If you make symbols that create words, in any capacity, Twitter is great). Just search for the hashtags #WritingCommunity or #AmWriting, and you’re in.

The #WritingCommunity has helped me a lot. I’ve met so many amazing people on there, people who keep me entertained, people who answer questions, and people who give me ideas.

But more importantly, I’ve gotten a lot of confidence from Twitter. Confidence in my own writing.

Because one thing I’ve always struggled with, is comparing myself to others, and to what other people do. When it comes to writing, this means I often read something and think I should do this and this and this, or this, and ‘I should do this too’. Luckily (kind of), I never do. As in, I never try to copy or replicate others’ writing. But I still feel like I need to be better, because everyone else is so much better.

And this is were Twitter has helped me. Because the #WritingCommunity has showed me my style. It’s difficult to see it yourself. It’s difficult to gauge what makes you, you, and to recognize all the cool little things you do that puts you apart from everyone else.

Some of this new-found confidence I’ve gotten through actually letting people read my books, or my WIPs (works-in-progress). Feedback is invaluable, there’s nothing like some great praise or criticism to either show you you’re going the right way, or put you back on track.

But through all the little games we play on Twitter, all the challenges and ideas we share, people have also showed me that they appreciate the way I write, not just what I write. And that’s gold to me. Knowing that I’m being me, doing something that’s unique to me, that shit right there makes me like my writing even more. And it gives me confidence that I can do this. I’m starting to like this whole ‘author’ thing.

And you should too! Know that there’s something that makes your writing unique, your books interesting, and your time spent as an author worthwhile. Don’t be the next someone else, be the first you.

So thank you, #WritingCommunity. Thank you for sticking around, for showing me my style, and for engaging with me. I love it – I love you.

 

Book Review: Rapier by R.A. Correa

Whoa! – This book surprised me a lot. It’s difficult to know where to begin, so let’s start with some plot:

There’s two protagonists; Kathy Masters and Cindy. Kathy is a woman on her way out in the world, working as a photographer, employed by the Galactic Geographic Society. Cindy is just a child, and by coincidence, they’re both on the S. S. America when it gets boarded by pirates. Thus begins the story of their 9 years aboard the Rapier.

This is a fantastic sci-fi adventure. There’s spaceships, space battles, fascinating planets, and of course aliens. And it’s all mixed together with a kind of 1600’s piracy-vibe, and it’s amazing. I was hesitant at first, thinking it was a bit slow to start, but this book is exactly the reason why I never put a book down before I’ve gotten well into it, because it got so good.

It’s the story and the characters that does it. The story is told to us by Kathy and Cindy, as they’re being interviewed by a journalist after their adventures on the Rapier, and their story is incredible. The character arcs are exciting and gripping, following Cindy’s upbringing. We actually use her birthdays as a way to track time in this book, which I thought was very well done. They learn to live aboard the Rapier, learning to fight with laser guns and sword, to battle other spaceships, and to navigate their way around space. It’s fascinating. And the sci-fi is very well done. By that I mean the focus on space and the spaceship. I feel like a lot of research has gone into this, and I like to gauge how well it’s been done by how little I understand. The way they talk about the Rapier makes me feel like I know the ship.

To begin with, I had an issue with the way the book is written, but that’s on me, not the author or the book. It’s in third-person present tense, and I don’t know why but my mind struggles to wrap itself around it. I felt like it should have been first-person present tense, or third-person past, but as I got used to it, that notion faded away. Again, my issue, not the book’s. Other than that, the pacing is a bit fast sometimes, listing up a series of events before quickly pulling us over to the next scene. I always enjoy a fast-paced book, but sometimes it feels like it’s a bit more showing than telling. Also, there was a weird obsession about very accurate measurements, particularly when it came to describing people. Exact heights and weight in centimeters and kilograms, which though it describes the body type very well, dragged me out of the story for a second.

But again, I want to highlight how great this story was. I went from not being too interested in the beginning, to being very captivated by the end. As I said, it’s the story and the characters that do it, their just both that good. Kathy and Cindy truly came to life in this book, and their adventures are amazing.

As so many other authors, Correa has lined this up to be a series, and I already know it’s going to be a good one. You should go check it out!

The Dark Tower V: Wolves Of The Calla

Finally finished this bad boy, and let me tell you, this is a big step up from book 4. You can read my review of the previous book here, but the short version of my impression is that nothing happened. At all. It was terrible.

Book 5 throws us right into it, with the terrifying revelation that The Wolves are returning to The Calla, after 23 years. The Calla is a town, full of people who live their lives. The Wolves? They’re… not wolves, that’s just a name. And their return to The Calla every 23rd year is not a nice vacation, let me tell you.

I think that’s as much as I’ll say about that…

After an introduction to The Calla and their troubles, we turn back to Roland, Jake, Susannah, Eddie, and Oy. They’re still making their way to the tower, but obviously they get dragged into the whole business with The Calla and The Wolves. Gunslingers as they are, they decide to help.

The whole impending-doom and something-happening-to-the-village thing is very exciting. I like it as a way to build up the tension in the town and between The Gunslingers and the villagers as well as the Gunslingers themselves. Because in the end, that’s very much what this book is, it’s building the characters, making them ready for the last two books, getting them ready for the final act. And I’m looking forward to it.

That being said… I’m getting a bit tired of these books being so incredibly long. I’m happy to see that book 6 is only half the length of book 5, because King has a tendency to ramble on. Not saying he’s not the most qualified person around to ramble, but… eh.

Anyway – we’re finally getting somewhere. We’re getting closer to the tower and it shows. Things are getting more dangerous, more serious, darker. I’m expecting some exciting development in book 6. We’re on the downhill, the home stretch. I need to know what happens.

I still highly recommend this series. I’m not saying it’s awful because the books are long, or because I found book 4 a bit boring. This is awesome. Very awesome, and it’s about to get real.