P.D.R. Lindsay's Blog, page 16

Review: The Obsession by Nora Roberts

The Obsession by Nora Roberts

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I am staggered by Nora Roberts's ability as a writer. She can take the ingredients which make her genre, all commonplace and expected by readers, and turn them into a cracking good story and a corking good read. She doesn't write badly either.

In the Obsession we have the hurting heroine, the 'tough guy but not a jock' hero, a lovable dog, Big city girl falling in love with the Real America as in the sweet little home town in the country, goo...

Review, 'An Asronaut's Guide to Life On Earth'

An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Now this is a book I would like every aspiring youngster to read. Kids who want to be the tops and never mind youngsters, all adults should read this book. It's a great advert for co-operation, for planning, organising and thinking ahead, and gives excellent reasons why striving to be number one and better than everyone else, and making sure they know it, is not the way to succeed.

Chris Hadfield is a laconic Canadia...

The Sea Detective by Mark Douglas-Home

The Sea Detective by Mark Douglas-Home

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Oh full marks, Mr Douglas-Home! A crime series which is new, original even, and on the literary side of the genre. It's a satisfying read and avoids many of the clichés common to crime novels. It's another crime series from Scotland which adds considerably to the mana of the Scottish crime genre.

Cal McGill is a PhD student in his late twenties. His doctorate is oceanography, specifically making a computer programme which will track...

Review 'Memory' by Margaret Mahy

Memory by Margaret Mahy

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


'Memory' is a great Mahy novel. Typically she tells a good story, makes the reader laugh and cry and leaves the reader with plenty to think about. The problems she examines in 'Memory' are ones teenagers might well be dealing with, and as she helps her hero through his problem she also shows the reader how to cope and hope.

Old Sophie West has trouble with her memory now she is developing Alzheimer's. It makes her vulnerable. Jonny might be ninetee...

Review: 'The One-In-A-Million Boy'

The One-in-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


It takes real talent to make a memorable novel from the tale of a very old lady, a boy scout, and the Guinness Book of Records. And it takes real talent to make the reader think about life, death, coping with grief, and one's own place in the universe through this gentle tale, but Monica Wood does it brilliantly.

Ona Vickus, 104, Lithuanian immigrant from the turn of the century, is still spry but needs a little help feeding her wil...

Three cheers for the Author earnings team.

Find them here, Indies and rejoice.
http://authorearnings.com/report/may-...

This  time they:
...went deeper. Instead of just looking at Amazon’s bestseller lists, we had our spider follow links to also-bought recommendations and also through each authors’ full catalog. This resulted in a million-title dataset, our most comprehensive and definitive look yet at author earnings. We were able to tally up precisely how many indie authors, Big Five authors, small/medium p...

Review of 'Down Among the Dead Men'

Down Among the Dead Men by Peter Lovesey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Peter Lovesey has been writing good crime novels for many years, and they are good. He has some seriously prestigious awards for them.

'Down Among the Dead Men' is a British police procedural about one of his popular detectives, Peter Diamond. This time Diamond has to play spy in a neighbouring police force, checking on the claims of wrongful imprisonment and suppression of evidence. He does not want to do this but his commanding o...

Book Review 'The Ashes of London'

The Ashes of London by Andrew  Taylor

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Andrew Taylor can certainly write. He knows how to research too. The end result is a novel well worth reading. Taylor also writes modern thrillers and he knows how to pare down a plot and make it full of surprises. There is a neat surprise right at the end of this novel.

'The Ashes of London' begins with London burning in the great fire of 1666. Soon we reading about the personal problems of James Marwood and Catherine Lovett and...

Book Review

The Ashes of London by Andrew  Taylor

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Andrew Taylor can certainly write. He knows how to research too. The end result is a novel well worth reading. Taylor also writes modern thrillers and he knows how to pare down a plot and make it full of surprises. There is a neat surprise right at the end of this novel.

'The Ashes of London' begins with London burning in the great fire of 1666. Soon we reading about the personal problems of James Marwood and Catherine Lovett and...

The Book Blast - 5 days of PR

Seems to me that writers need a lot of PR sales help and advice. 1've posted my Promotion results in several places where other readers can access it. Now I'll tuck them in here to help with October's sles push
THE PLAN
Kindle countdown deal for 5 days, our novels reduces to 99 cents then rising to 1.99 and back to the original price of 3.99
Beginning Wednesday, May11th 2016 finished Sunday, May 15th
BOOKS ON PROMOTION
Kindle versions of ‘Tizzie’ and The Effects Of Henry’s Cage: Elean’s Story’
The...