Liam Quane (Author of Road to Juneau)

Liam Quane rated a book it was amazing Catchers by Ben Rock	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I’ve listened to a number of audio-only stories in my and unfortunately I have been able to get fully immersed in them for too long. Now that I’ve listened to Catchers, I can say that this trend has been shattered and I finished the whole thing in on ...more
Mar 20, 2023 02:24PM · like · see review
Liam Quane is now following Ben Rock Author of Catchers
Mar 20, 2023 02:23PM · like
Liam Quane rated a book it was amazing Catchers by Ben Rock	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I’ve listened to a number of audio-only stories in my and unfortunately I have been able to get fully immersed in them for too long. Now that I’ve listened to Catchers, I can say that this trend has been shattered and I finished the whole thing in on ...more
Mar 20, 2023 02:13PM · like · see review
Liam Quane is currently reading Thick as Thieves (Thieves, #2) by M.J. Kuhn (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 09, 2023 05:21PM · like
Liam Quane rated a book really liked it The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Yeah, it's quite good. Not the greatest story of all time, it's not even the greatest American story of all. Love the setting, the prose and the whit but it did feel like there was san awful lot of filler. Mostly like a sight-seeing tour than a tale ...more
Aug 16, 2022 12:27AM · like · see review
Liam Quane rated a book did not like it Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (George Smiley, #5; Karla Trilogy, #1) by John le Carré	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Psuedo-intellectual garbage. Old world conservative paranoia stretched across an enigma that is a maze that is a puzzle that is a story lost down its own throat, A shallow text written by a privileged hands meant to reveal the realism behind stuffy s ...more
Aug 05, 2022 07:34AM · like · see review
Liam Quane wants to read The Starlight Watchmaker (The Watchmaker and the Duke, #1) by Lauren James (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 10, 2022 04:59PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Starlight Watchmaker by Lauren James. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Starlight Watchmaker by Lauren James <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Liam Quane rated a book it was amazing Carrying On by Jonita Davis (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Carrying on is an electrifying release. Jonita Davis creates a rich world here, a delightful combination of funny, wholesome and filthy. The characters seamlessly switch from cartoonish and zany to heartfelt and authentic. Although at first it seems ...more
Jul 10, 2022 03:01PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Carrying On by Jonita Davis. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Carrying On by Jonita Davis <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Liam Quane is now following Jonita Davis Author of Questioning Cultural Appropriation
Jul 06, 2022 04:47PM · like
Liam Quane rated a book it was amazing Among Thieves (Thieves, #1) by M.J. Kuhn (Goodreads Author) recommended for: Everyone	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
THIS BOOK STOLE MY HEART! “Was it normal to be attracted to a weapon? She was only kidding, of course…mostly.” As I made my way through this thieving fantasy I found a familiar feeling gripping me tighter with every page turn. A feeling I haven’t felt ...more
Jun 19, 2022 08:03AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Among Thieves by M.J. Kuhn. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Among Thieves by M.J. Kuhn <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

Liam Quane rated a book it was amazing

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I’ve listened to a number of audio-only stories in my and unfortunately I have been able to get fully immersed in them for too long. Now that I’ve listened to Catchers, I can say that this trend has been shattered and I finished the whole thing in on I’ve listened to a number of audio-only stories in my and unfortunately I have been able to get fully immersed in them for too long. Now that I’ve listened to Catchers, I can say that this trend has been shattered and I finished the whole thing in one sitting. Catchers is an intergenerational horror tale that delivers on both scares and shocks all carried by terrific writing, Ben Rock’s impressive direction and the presence of the stellar cast each member of which giving an impactful performance. It can be called a mash up of Cloverfield, Stephen King’s The Mist and Alan Wake.

The story follows Blair, a trainee “Dog Catcher” who spends her first night on the job after they take refuge in a secluded farm house to help an unfortunate family fend off a pack of unrecognisable creatures as they try and force their way into the family’s home. The series pushes the listening experience up to another level with its incredible diegetic sound design. The story takes place in a number of locations and the world itself plays a role in the storytelling as much as the dialogue with the each new location being met with a change in atmospheric sound effect that elevate the story from an audiobook narration into a fully realised world. As this is a podcast, there quite a number of episodes with 8 episodes making up the total, especially for someone with the attention span of a wind chime caught in a hurricane like me but thanks to the strong character dynamics and the fantastic pace the show never dips for a second.

As this is an audible exclusive it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it is mixed to the highest quality possible and is well worth the price of admission to horror fans and SFF fans alike. It feels like a classic “creature of the week” story pulled into the modern day with its layers of social commentary that highlights the issues that come with corporate deregulation, the dangers of messing with nature and the new trend of political individualism that encourages people to harbour a deep-seated distrust of those outside of their own political and collective folds. Catchers is an engaging horror mystery with feisty characters, biting social commentary and is a welcome addition to this updated format of audio storytelling. ...more

Liam Quane is now following

Ben Rock

Author of Catchers

Liam Quane rated a book it was amazing

Catchers
by Ben Rock

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I’ve listened to a number of audio-only stories in my and unfortunately I have been able to get fully immersed in them for too long. Now that I’ve listened to Catchers, I can say that this trend has been shattered and I finished the whole thing in on I’ve listened to a number of audio-only stories in my and unfortunately I have been able to get fully immersed in them for too long. Now that I’ve listened to Catchers, I can say that this trend has been shattered and I finished the whole thing in one sitting. Catchers is an intergenerational horror tale that delivers on both scares and shocks all carried by terrific writing, Ben Rock’s impressive direction and the presence of the stellar cast each member of which giving an impactful performance. It can be called a mash up of Cloverfield, Stephen King’s The Mist and Alan Wake.

The story follows Blair, a trainee “Dog Catcher” who spends her first night on the job after they take refuge in a secluded farm house to help an unfortunate family fend off a pack of unrecognisable creatures as they try and force their way into the family’s home. The series pushes the listening experience up to another level with its incredible diegetic sound design. The story takes place in a number of locations and the world itself plays a role in the storytelling as much as the dialogue with the each new location being met with a change in atmospheric sound effect that elevate the story from an audiobook narration into a fully realised world. As this is a podcast, there quite a number of episodes with 8 episodes making up the total, especially for someone with the attention span of a wind chime caught in a hurricane like me but thanks to the strong character dynamics and the fantastic pace the show never dips for a second.

As this is an audible exclusive it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it is mixed to the highest quality possible and is well worth the price of admission to horror fans and SFF fans alike. It feels like a classic “creature of the week” story pulled into the modern day with its layers of social commentary that highlights the issues that come with corporate deregulation, the dangers of messing with nature and the new trend of political individualism that encourages people to harbour a deep-seated distrust of those outside of their own political and collective folds. Catchers is an engaging horror mystery with feisty characters, biting social commentary and is a welcome addition to this updated format of audio storytelling. ...more

Liam Quane is currently reading

Thick as Thieves (Thieves, #2)
by M.J. Kuhn (Goodreads Author)

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Liam Quane rated a book really liked it

The Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald

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1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Yeah, it's quite good. Not the greatest story of all time, it's not even the greatest American story of all. Love the setting, the prose and the whit but it did feel like there was san awful lot of filler. Mostly like a sight-seeing tour than a tale ...more

Liam Quane rated a book did not like it

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (George Smiley, #5; Karla Trilogy, #1)
by John le Carré

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Psuedo-intellectual garbage. Old world conservative paranoia stretched across an enigma that is a maze that is a puzzle that is a story lost down its own throat, A shallow text written by a privileged hands meant to reveal the realism behind stuffy s ...more

Liam Quane wants to read

The Starlight Watchmaker by Lauren James

The Starlight Watchmaker (The Watchmaker and the Duke, #1)
by Lauren James (Goodreads Author)

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Liam Quane rated a book it was amazing

Carrying On
by Jonita Davis (Goodreads Author)

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Carrying on is an electrifying release. Jonita Davis creates a rich world here, a delightful combination of funny, wholesome and filthy. The characters seamlessly switch from cartoonish and zany to heartfelt and authentic. Although at first it seems Carrying on is an electrifying release. Jonita Davis creates a rich world here, a delightful combination of funny, wholesome and filthy. The characters seamlessly switch from cartoonish and zany to heartfelt and authentic. Although at first it seems short in length at 142 pages, eventually it becomes clear that the narrative is one without any unnecessary padding. It is as long as it needs to be and has no chance of overstaying its welcome. I absolutely adored every page and know that others will do too.

The story concerns Nadia, a small town paralegal and mother to 3 lovable children. One day she finds her world flipped upside down as her husband tears their marriage apart, leaving Nadia and her kids to fend for themselves as a black family in a very white community. The story begins in medias res, with a stressful and dangerous situation being thrown at the audience face-first, leaving us to speculate as we continue through as to how such an ordinary group of people could find themselves facing such odds. Eventually, she finds herself back at her childhood home; 500 miles away from the place she raised her family. There she rekindles her relationship with her father and siblings, all of whom she has been semi-estranged from.

The narrator herself, Nadia, is absolutely hilarious, overflowing with world-weary humour and a southern charm. She spends most of the novel bulldozing her way through each new struggle like a, well, a bulldozer. The author makes great use of brackets in the narration which helps give an impression as to how fast Nadia’s mind works and how self-aware she is as a character. I love this style of writing so I was always going to love her as a character. She shows great strength in the face of an ever increasing adversity, kind of like an American Bridget Jones but one that’s more likely to give you a SMACK on the head for talking out of turn. These traits can be found in her immediate family members, most commonly her father who has Nadia’s brains and willpower but lacks her self-awareness. This often sends him across to the abusive side on the parent’s scale with childish taunts aimed for his kids who give in to his every request.

The whole adventure reads like a comedic Animal Kingdom but told from the perspective of a black working-class family in the rundown suburbs of Chicago. This was another thing the book offers that most don’t: real working-class representation. Not many authors can get it right, others certainly try but they always fall short (for example, they cite a store that the working-class famously don’t frequent etc) so it was good to see this story come with the familiar chaos working-class life brings with it.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone interested in speedy, quirky, witty stories told from an engaging perspective with electric humour, deep commentaries and sharp teeth. ...more

Liam Quane is now following

Jonita Davis

Author of Questioning Cultural Appropriation

Liam Quane rated a book it was amazing

Among Thieves (Thieves, #1)
by M.J. Kuhn (Goodreads Author)

recommended for: Everyone

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THIS BOOK STOLE MY HEART!

“Was it normal to be attracted to a weapon? She was only kidding, of course…mostly.”

As I made my way through this thieving fantasy I found a familiar feeling gripping me tighter with every page turn. A feeling I haven’t felt THIS BOOK STOLE MY HEART!

“Was it normal to be attracted to a weapon? She was only kidding, of course…mostly.”

As I made my way through this thieving fantasy I found a familiar feeling gripping me tighter with every page turn. A feeling I haven’t felt since watching early seasons of the still-running manga series: One Piece created by Eiichiro Oda. Good stories invite creative questions from the reader as a reaction to the drama that unfolds from within and the dramatic question I found myself asking wasn’t: “how will these characters get out of this?” It was “What can these characters do?”

“What can Luffy do?”

“What can Ryia, the enigmatic figure at the centre of M.J Kuhn’s spectacular fantasy debut, actually do?”

This is a protagonist who is so filled with mystery and power that they achieve exactly what the author was attempting to do: provide the reader with a character they wish to follow. I found myself gleefully following the wondrous feats of this character like a baby duck following its elder. She is cool, unflinching, frightening, sweet and foolish all at once, only letting flecks of this behaviour slip through as she leads a plucky group of multi-layered bandits on an impossible question to reshape their world forever

By the time I was half-way through reading the title, I found myself ensnared in a perfect storm of character: Nash, Ivan, Tristan, Clem and Evelyn, all of whom are as deep and captivating as their aforementioned leader. This is before we learn of the deep held secrets that each character is saddled with, every reveal ratchets the stress up by a large margin when a precious vulnerability is held up in front of us only to be pocketed away by the damaged and the dangerous. They are the Saints, and they are our guides on this swashbuckling adventure. The spectacles comes and goes in satisfying ways but then that question from earlier still lingered long into the book: “what can these characters do?” Not only to the world around them but to each other. How far will they go to keep their secrets secret and the pieces of their lives held together? The possibilities were endless, as was the tension. This lasts the whole way through the novel with plenty of “OH SHIT” moments forcing their way out of me during the darker moments of the Saints’ nail-biting quest. This is the way it is with all the main characters as their secrets are held close to the vest and are revealed at the perfect times. Layers of realism are ripped away chapter by chapter revealing a rich mythology of the world of Thamorr in which the primary location of Carrowwick is located. Carrowwick is a home of many gangs and the sins of these syndicates are many. Tensions are high as the threat of gang warfare serves as a microcosmic warning of things to come to all in play as we cross the Yawning Sea on a daring heist to retrieve what can only be described as a weapon of mass domination.

The whole thing just operates on a level of cleverness all on its own with its many unique ideas being perfectly balanced against the narrative verisimilitude that makes for comfortable reading. For example, there is master of disguise character Ivan who reads like Disney's John Smith crossed with Jason Bourne. He is the member of the crew who can change his appearance and mannerisms to match others at the drop of one of many hats. But then it's revealed that his impersonations run further, that he goes as far as to write like his targets in both penmanship and spelling. It's a small addition to the character but it breaks the world open in a huge way. Paranoid habits run so deep that even calligraphy isn't safe from strict scrutiny. This grounds the book, giving power to the smaller things that are often taken for granted in fantasy worlds.

Another thing I found refreshing was the novels focus on gender equality, there were only a handful of times that the sleuthing female characters were treated as being “out of their element” by gruff passersby and each time this happened those very critics are soon silenced as Thamorr itself quickly rebalances the issue they presented: this is not a man’s world and you either accept that or fall quickly. Adult fantasy usually carried with it a semblance of forced misogyny; this is done so the authors can reflect the unenlightened times in which their stories are set without realising that they aren’t actually set in those times. Fantasy can be whatever the author wants and Among Thieves skilfully dodges the trap that has caught so many before it. Three things run most of the world of Thamorr: money, ships and swords. The book does not waste its time allowing a shallow obsession with appearance muddle its clear-cut story that was clearly plotted from the beginning to be fantasy. Every narrative step happens exactly when it is supposed to, letting the tale breathe and allow for total emersion. This isn't to say that the story whitewashes the abominations of history, it just lays out that, no matter how despicable some of the inhabitants of Carrowwick were, they can be better than us in a lot of ways. Admirable, as I said earlier.
The story is written with a colloquial hand, allowing the reader an easy time understanding who they are and where they’re going. There is a smattering of words in a fictional language but the meanings of these words are pretty self-explanatory. The author is careful not to get lost in their own magical funhouse. Additionally there is a lot of skilled environmental storytelling on display fleshing out not only the world but the characters that inhabit it. When a character with braided hair finally let's her locs loose, you know something important has happened.

There is a little caveat that comes with reading such an engaging story: I don't just want to read it as a book series; I want to play it as a video game too. I wish for this to be possible in the future. The whole thing was filled to the brim with characters following a logic that video gamers can relate to, for example, if there is a foothold in a wall, it will be climbed eventually giving whoever is nimble enough a height advantage in a cutthroat world filled to the brim with mercenaries, pirates and tyrants. It's like Assassin's Creed on steroids! I want to run through the streets of Carrowwick, fighting off prying eyes as me and my co-op crew find adventures both in and out of the city.

In summary, I give Among Thieves my highest recommendation as a fan of fantasy. And I am eagerly awaiting part 2. The saints are here and I want them to stick around for as long as possible.

:~) ...more

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	Road to Juneau 3.62 avg rating — 13 ratings — published 2021 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lampoon - A Short Story 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2022	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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