Jason Zandri's Blog: The GUNDERSTONE GOODREADS Review, page 34
March 1, 2015
Received the MEMBER OF THE MONTH award for March at the Rave reviews Book Club
Psyched and humbled to be the MEMBER OF THE MONTH for March at the Rave reviews Book Club.
Thank you everyone who supported me for this recognition.
February 28, 2015
BOOK REVIEW – “Damaged Goods: A Detective Inspector White Caper (D.I. White Mysteries Book 1)” by Jack Everett and David Coles
Damaged Goods: A Dectective Inspector White Caper by Jack Everett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Damaged Goods: A Detective Inspector White Caper (D.I. White Mysteries Book 1) by Jack Everett and David Coles
A tested British detective versus a battle fatigued American soldier on a murderous tear.
FOUR STARS * * * *
This story spans multiple homicides across two continents as tested British detective becomes embroiled in an investigation into a murderous tear executed by battle fatigued American soldier who has succumbed to a mental break and has lost his full grip on reality and morality.
This is the second novel I have read this year where the story is told from more than one narrative point (the first-person perspective) to a third-person narrative. The transition is properly defined so you can pick up right away on it when it occurs. It was a little more abrupt than in the last novel I read (where I liked that transition style better) but it does not detract from the story flow.
The story is told from an investigative perspective (when in that first person perspective) and then it lends to a tension / thriller setup when you are reading the parts of the story where it is being told in the third-person narrative.
I personally felt the change up kept me as a reader slightly more engaged (“gee – what’s going to happen next”) than how I might be with one avenue of storytelling alone.
I felt a little disconnected at times with the story where it was being driven from Robert Cleghorn’s “tell” (the American soldier) but tried to read it (once I got used to that feeling) like I was the disassociated special forces trained killer. I really feel locking my mind into that perspective helped me get a feel for the character and the pacing and emotion (or his lack of it) of his situations and scenarios as they played out.
I recommend “Damaged Goods: A Detective Inspector White Caper (D.I. White Mysteries Book 1)” by Jack Everett and David Coles – * * * * Four Stars (out of five)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1203324423
http://www.amazon.com/review/R2NM7AZAO3CWSF/
My book rating system here on The GUNDERSTONE review
I was so interested in getting the site up and running I realized I never actually identified what my star ratings meant here so with that I wanted to release this post.
* * * * * Five Stars – An excellent, compelling, must read, that I could not put down and could see reading again someday.
* * * * Four Stars – A very solid read, one I would recommend to other readers.
* * * Three Stars – A good read; may have minor issues in continuity or pacing. Something that might detract from a solid story.
* * Two Stars – An “okay” read. Something I would not generally recommend to others. The writing likely has a few minor issues in continuity or pacing or perhaps something major and glaring. Something that definitely detracted from making it at least a good story.
* One Star – Something I just couldn’t finish. A story that had too many issues or problems to overlook.
Generally speaking, I won’t post anything publicly below a three star review. Some three star reviews go public and others don’t. I will follow up privately with the author (if they are willing to engage) and discuss why I feel it warrants a one or two star review in the hopes they might take the time to review the issues with the story, or if nothing else, take it as a learning experience and improve from there.
I wanted to preface that as I get the occasional message of “I never see you give out anything other than four and five star reviews.”
The truth of the matter is I haven’t POSTED them but I have given them.
Some of the counter argument I get of that “policy” is “well then how is a reader supposed to know about a bad read?”
I am not in the market to steer people away from a book with a PUBLIC bashing of it (even if it is justified). If someone asks me specifically about a title that I PRIVATELY “three stared” (or less) I will tell them why I didn’t like it.
If someone says to me “hey, what’s a good [GENRE] that you liked, THEN I point them to something I enjoyed rather than say “stay away from this”. Now if they ask me about [TWO STAR TITLE] I am likely to say “well, I really didn’t care for it and I would recommend [TITLE] instead”.
Just because I found something “two star” why should I publicly dissuade someone else from it? They might find it OK, or even like it.
So that’s just my rhyme and reason of how and why I do what it is I do.
February 27, 2015
The discovery of Another Sunset?
So this morning over on Twitter I have a new follower @TayeDiggs.
Then I remembered from a while back that @SonyPictures also followed me.
How cool it would be if this is how the discovery of my book, Another Sunset, starts.
Hey – I write fiction; I’m entitled to my imagination and I am sure stranger things have happened.
February 26, 2015
Before Another Sunset – FREE through end of day Friday 2/27/2015
Before Another Sunset – FREE through end of day Friday (Giveaway ends at midnight)
#1 ranked Kindle Short Reads > Literature & Fiction
#8 ranked in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Literary Fiction
Before Another Sunset (The Sunset Series Book 1)
February 25, 2015
Guest Author Jason Zandri
Originally posted on By Candlelight:
Say hello to Jason Zandri, everyone! Be sure to check out his new release by clicking on the book cover.
Please introduce yourself. Where can we find you? Blog? Twitter? Facebook?
My name is Jason Zandri and you barely have to look past a search engine to find me. I’ve been online such a long time (I predate Windows 95) that my name is everywhere. I am new to writing fiction so to focus in on that you can by going to my Author Page on Facebook via
https://www.facebook.com/jzandri
I can also be found on Twitter at https://twitter.com/gunderstone and to a
lesser extent on Google+ via https://plus.google.com/+JasonZandri/posts
I also have a number of blogs but they are topical to my hometown and not
my writing.
Give me a random tidbit about you. It could be anything. Anything at all.
I hope my kids (I have four of them – all…
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February 24, 2015
Does social networking work when trying to market your product?
So quickly here is my PRO argument on the subject with a 12 hour old tweet (at the time of this post). The caveat being (at least partially) “what is your product and how many people want / need it.”
In my next post on this subject I will show you why I personally think quick, easy, and simple is best.
New review posted for Another Sunset; rankings for Before Another Sunset climb
A new review showed up today for the main novel “Another Sunset”:
New numbers are also in as part of the “Before Another Sunset” campaign:
#2984 in Overall Kindle Store for free books.
#15 in Kindle Short Reads > One hour (33-43 pages) > Literature & Fiction
#46 in Literature & Fiction > Literary Fiction
Looking forward to the remainder of the week.
February 23, 2015
First half day of the giveaway and Before Another Sunset is moving
The free Kindle giveaway for Before Another Sunset has been strong with the below as the update as of 4PM on 02/23.
I am really excited to see such a high leap with the novella. There are hundreds of thousands of free books given away as part of other authors’ special offers and while it’s not a direct competition I am really encouraged at the numbers.
The jump shown above from yesterday to today (along the orange line) is from the end of 99 cent sales to the start of the giveaway for free today.
Hopefully this will translate into the focus on Another Sunset (the full novel) as that is the main focus of all this work.
I am looking forward to the remainder of the week’s effort and for the reviews I am hoping to get as part of this effort.
Regardless, I appreciate the opportunity to expose my work to a broader audience.
