Lance Greenfield's Blog, page 18
August 11, 2020
Book Review: Here is the Beehive by Sarah Crossan
Here Is the Beehive by Sarah CrossanMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
It took me a while to get into this book because the style of writing is so unusual. Read an extract and you will see what I mean. The narrative is written as the thought stream of a married probate solicitor, Ana, as she talks to her lover. It opens with a telephone conversation with her lover’s wife in which it is revealed that Connor, her lover, has been tragically killed in a road traffic accident.
There are many twists and turns as Ana gets to know Rebecca, Connor’s wife and each of them peel away the layers of deceit that have surrounded the affair. It is well written and is very thought-provoking.
The ending is fairly good but could have been much more dramatic and impactful.
I would love to see a side story: the thoughts of the ghost of Connor. That would make interesting reading.
This is a short read and is worth the effort.
View all my reviews
July 14, 2020
The Value of a Short Chat
As I returned to my depot late on Sunday evening, I spotted a man lying at the side of the road near the edge of a Wiltshire village. I found a convenient place to turn around and went back to see if he was alright.
He didn’t seem to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs and he told me that he was not physically ill. However, he did tell me that he had had enough of life and was ready to pack it all in.
I sat down next to him and chatted for fifteen to twenty minutes. He told me a lot of things about his recent life and I could understand why he was feeling down. At first, he was reluctant to tell me his name but, eventually, he revealed that he is called Michael [name changed to protect his identity].
Before I left him to continue with my duties, I convinced him that he still had a lot to contribute to the lives of others and made him promise me that he would stay alive long enough to do that. He’d said that he was expecting his son to come to pick him up, so I made him promise that he would wait there until his son arrived.
As I drove through the village, a police car was approaching from the opposite direction. I flagged him down and made the officer aware of Michael’s whereabouts and that he could do with some help.
I worried about his welfare and was so relieved when, almost twenty-four hours later, I received an email from Michael.
Here’s an extract . . .
Subject: Many thanks for moral support last night
Dear Lance,
Very many thanks for your kindness and very welcome moral support at last night .
The police picked me up about 5 minutes after you had to attend to your duties.
Very kind chaps. Indeed the second escort who took me home after Xxxx, the Devizes-based young PC who collected me where we met, got me a drink on my getting back and even offered to prepare me some food.
If I can help about your son in any way, please feel free to get in touch.
Many thanks again,
Very best wishes,
Michael
This is my response . . .
Dear Michael.
I can’t tell you how delighted I am to hear from you and that you are alive and kicking. As I drove away from you, regretting that I had to get on, I saw a police car coming towards me before I got to the other end of Collingbourne Ducis. I flagged him down and told him where you were and that you could do with his help. That must have been the officer who arrived not long after I left.
Until I received your email and your request to connect on LinkedIn a few minutes ago, I have been worrying about you for almost 24 hours.
I may contact you about my grandson, rather than son, in the coming days, but I am much more concerned that you get your own head back above water before you trouble yourself with anybody else’s problems. You have obviously had huge experience of life and the university of hard knocks, which puts you in a very strong position to help others who really need you at this time. Please turn your bad times into positive boosts for others. As I told you last night, you have such a lot to contribute by staying alive. Don’t waste it!
Stay safe.
Lance
We all reach lows in our lives but ending it is not the answer. There is not much you can do to help other people once you are dead, as far as I know, but, by staying alive there is a chance that you’ll be there for somebody when they need you most. I certainly feel that stopping for fifteen minutes for a brief chat with Michael, saved his life on Sunday evening and, perhaps, I gave him the opportunity to save somebody else in the future.
See my previous post: From the Depths of Despair…
The Eye of a Camel
You can guide a camel to water through the eye of a needle but you cannot be sure that it will then sing the Eton Boating Song. If you tell her to sing, she may get the hump.
What I’m trying to tell you is that you should know your limitations.
July 6, 2020
Book Review: The House that fell from the Sky by Patrick R Delaney
Rating: 2 out of 5.
The House that Fell from the Sky by Patrick R. DelaneyMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
If you are a big fan of clever, quirky metaphors and similes then this is the book for you.
If I were to do word counts of “as if” and “like a”, I believe that the numbers would come out to be around twice the number of pages in the book.
For me, they were mostly very irritating, inappropriate and not at all relevant.
Allow me to share a few examples.
“Scarlett thought it sounded as if an immense vat of hot jelly was being poured into a bottomless well.”
“The texture reminded him of a sea lion that had just plopped down on the ice after a swim, shiny and wet.”
“… where a tall pole greeted them with a length of stained glass at the side, as if they’d arrived at the North Pole.”
“It’s just an old Victorian bedroom, like Princess Anne vomited all over it.”
This sentence fails to conjure up any sort of meaningful image in my mind.
There are also some continuity errors. For example, “He’d waited for her for hours at the hospital, calling her so many times that his battery died. When he finally realized that she wasn’t coming, he’d called Jackson to come pick him up.” He managed to call Jackson after his battery died!
There is also a plethora of unnecessary adverbs. I really don’t understand their purpose.
“Well fuck,” Jackson said amusingly.
REALLY?
I really struggled to get through this book and almost cast it aside as the second DNF of my reading career. It is slow-paced and there is so much filler that it becomes a challenge to find the substance.
The concept of a sinister, mysterious house appearing in the centre of a city and casting evil on all who approach it, never mind attempt to enter, is absolutely brilliant. This was the reason that I elevated my rating from one star to two. However, so much more could have been made of the story.
The characters and storylines are weak and the narration didn’t grab my interest until I was 92% through my reading of the book. At that point, there is a flashback chapter entitled, “The Wizard behind the Curtain,” which makes a strong connection between the characters. From that point on, my interest was held.
The ending is disappointing as is the whole book, to be honest.
It seems to me that the author is trying to emulate Stephen King and is failing miserably. That great author would be horrified by the proliferation of adverbs (see On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft).
Something that I DO love about this book is the cover. Isn’t it great? It draws you in. Sadly, the contents don’t fulfill the promise of the cover.
Looking through some of the other reviews, I can see that the story has an appeal to many of its readers. It is just not for me and I would not recommend it to any of my friends.
View all my reviews
Book Review: The Herb of Death (a Miss Marple short story) by Agatha Christie
Rating: 3 out of 5.
The Herb of Death: A Miss Marple by Agatha ChristieMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
A charming parlour game that starts with a fragment of a story about an ill-fated dinner in a big house and ends with the resolution of a murder case. Classic Christie condensed into an easy-to-read pot-boiler.
You can read it in thirty minutes and I think that you’ll agree that it is a worthwhile distraction to fill a half hour gap in your life.
View all my reviews
July 5, 2020
Book Review: The Greenwood Goddess by Ina Morata
Rating: 4 out of 5.
The Greenwood Goddess by Ina MorataMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Read as part of the Erotic Myths & Sexy Tales: Boxset: Books 1-4 series.
The story is based around the ancient pagan festival of Baltane, which is still celebrated as May Day.
The powerful, seductive goddess, Gaia, sets a challenge. Five men must tell their erotic tale. The best will be handsomely rewarded. The losers will suffer the consequences of their failure.
The tension mounts. Ben is determined to win at all costs. He is sure that the mysterious prize will be worth the battle. The fear of losing is almost too much to bear.
The sex scenes are very hot and there is no doubt that Gaia is always in total control.
This is a great little story and must be read in one sitting as you won’t be able to leave it once you’ve started.
View all my reviews
Book Review: Desires on Kiska by Ina Morata
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Desires on Kiska by Ina MorataMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Read as part of the Erotic Myths & Sexy Tales: Boxset: Books 1-4 series.
In the frozen wastes of Alaska, ice goddess sisters battle to the death in their love and lust for a human trapper. They despise each other and eventually enlist the help of an evil cave-dwelling monster in their quest. The trapper is blissfully unaware of the supernatural properties of the sisters and just enjoys the benefits. Meltdown is inevitable, but who will win and who will lose?
A chillingly hot tale!
View all my reviews
July 4, 2020
Book Review: Belts: A National Snapshot in Poems by Holly Hearn
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Belts: A National Snapshot in Poems by Holly HearnMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Punchy and powerful poetry.
Holly Hearn doesn’t waste a single word.
These ten short poems resonate with me.
They might be considered to be slightly rebellious by some of my American friends and downright traitorous by a few of my friends in SW Florida.
However, I feel that these are just ripples on a very deep poem and that the poet has a lot more to offer with regards to the injustices and inequalities in the western world. She obviously shares my views on the ruination of society by the current creed of greed.
Allow me to sample just one line from one of her poems:
“blaming China doesn’t feed a child”
True!
I look forward to more from this poet in the future.
View all my reviews
July 3, 2020
Book Review: The Red Club by Cynthia Plume
Rating: 5 out of 5.
The Red Club by Cynthia PlumeMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is excellent erotica. I say that because not only does it contain some smoldering sex scenes with plenty of kinks, it has a great storyline with sinister echoes of The Handmaid’s Tale. I liked the conflict and tension and the fear of discovery. The eventual resolution of a very hairy situation is most satisfying. The characters are well developed for such a short story and it is easy to connect with them all. A hot, short story that fully deserves my five-star rating.
View all my reviews
Book Review: The Chocolatier by Ina Morata
Rating: 4 out of 5.
The Chocolatier by Ina MorataMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Read as part of the Erotic Myths & Sexy Tales: Boxset: Books 1-4
I really enjoyed reading this curious little story. There is plenty of supernatural flavour with a taint of darkness. Imagine an orgy of ghosts. Add in oodles of molten chocolate and a goddess who is capable of building your lust to explosive proportions and you are getting close to where this story takes you.
Poor, tormented Edward is drawn in by goddess Lilith. Is he satisfied? You’ll have to read this to find out for yourself.
View all my reviews
