Lance Greenfield's Blog, page 35
October 19, 2018
Cover Reveal – Embers (Short Stories)
Yes, I have another book in the works, a book of short stories. I call it “Embers“. One of the short stories is Embers, which was actually named from a #writephoto challenge by Sue Vincent. That story is in five parts, with the first being written for the challenge. And, of course, each short story can be thought of as an ember, a little nugget of imagination packaged up in a self-contained short story, ready to burst into flames in your mind.
See that picture at the top of the page? Yep, that is the book cover. Maybe 
October 16, 2018
The Weekly Smile – 10/15/2018 – Welcome Back! #weeklysmile
There is too much bad news and negativity floating around in the ether these days. Sharing something lovely from our lives, no matter how small, can only have a positive effect on those around us.
On the 13th of September, 2017, I posted the last Weekly Smile. It was a long run – 88 of The Weekly Smile plus a month of The Daily Smile. That post was the last, that is, for the first run of The Smile.
Guess what?
The Weekly Smile is back!
I thought a lot about what I was going to make this first post about. I have had many smiles over the last week or two. I visited family, saw my siblings and parents. I finished a couple of large projects at work and am finally starting one I’ve been waiting for for almost two years. I got out and did things outside. I met some writing goals. There is a lot to smile about!
But for this one, I decided to Smile about smiling. 
October 5, 2018
Perfect Remains by Helen Fields
Perfect Remains by Helen Sarah Fields
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
For me, this book proved to be quite extraordinary. It put me into a turmoil. Several times, as I read the first few chapters, I was on the verge of giving up on it. So much of what I was reading seemed ridiculous to me. It was just not credible.
However, I persevered and I urge you, dear reader, to do the same. The second half of the book was a huge improvement on the first, and the final few chapters had a pace and tension that really gripped my attention.
By chapter three, I was struggling to justify a one-star rating. When I got to about six chapters from the end, I had convinced myself that it deserved three stars and I’d revised my rating again by the time I finished.
Without giving too much away, let me tell you a few things that almost made this my third DNF: Did Not Finish.
Some of the journey times are absurd. Soaking a body in accelerant, “marinating”, wouldn’t mean that all tissue would be destroyed in a fire even if the peat floor of the bothy were to burn. The large stones in the foundations of the walls shift in the fire, yet a small piece of fabric is perfectly preserved because it is under a rock and starved of oxygen.
When Dr King, the perpetrator, declared in chapter two so this is not a spoiler, drives from near to Braemar (one hour in a 4WD) to Edinburgh in just two hours, he stops to drink tepid tea from his flask. His reason is that he wants to avoid being spotted on CCTV in any of the cafes. There are lots of cafes near to the A9 which don’t have CCTV. However, the road is lined with ANPR cameras. Everybody’s movement is monitored.
How the Dr King manages to lug dead bodies around when he is nowhere near the peak of physical fitness, is beyond me. It gets worse. He manages to source a barrel full of sodium hydroxide in which he dissolves a body. He takes the full barrel, in his car and on a trolley, to a warehouse in Grantham. Furthermore, he doesn’t spill a drop. He must be a world champion power-lifter. He wouldn’t even be able to lift it on his own!
The introduction of Franco-Scot Detective Inspector Luc Callanach to the story is completely nuts! He arrives in Edinburgh from Interpol. His first briefing with all of the team focuses on his fear that they’ll take the piss out of his accent – and they do – aggressively. His DS falls out with him immediately. THEN he takes a DS and 2 DCs off their current workload because Grampian police think that some bones that they’ve found MIGHT belong to a missing person from Edinburgh because one of the police officers recognises the preserved fragment of scarf as matching a detail of the mispers description that he has read. How likely is that?
Luc doesn’t even check in with his boss to ask if it’s OK to take half the team away. When he gets there, having driven all the way to Braemar, which would take three hours and then a further one hour in a 4-wheel drive vehicle, the pathologist and two from forensics are there on site waiting for him – why? The charred bones are in Aberdeen, an hour and a half away. The roof of the bothie collapsed, so it must have taken them days to get to the bones and the piece of scarf.
The Edinburgh team find a B&B to stay in. The next day, Luc goes to Aberdeen and back, then decides that they’ll all go back to Edinburgh. That only takes two hours.
However, the forensic side of the story, especially the DNA tracing, is all very authentic.
From half way through, the story picks up both in pace and atmosphere. The characters and their relationships develop very well. Once the momentum built, I just couldn’t put it down.
I would recommend Perfect Remains to any of my friends who like crime fiction with the proviso that they should be prepared to grit their teeth as they wade through the first fifty or sixty pages.
October 4, 2018
A Jar in Prague
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Lager?
In Praha?
No fear!
I prefer Czech dark beer.
October 3, 2018
Book Review: A Tale of Oak and Mistletoe by E.B. Brown
A Tale of Oak and Mistletoe by E.B. Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I expected this fourth book in the Timewalker series to be every bit as good as the preceding three, and it did not disappoint me.
The story of Maggie and Winn and all the complex relationships that they have across time and blood ties. It is essential that you read this story in its correct sequence as many of the twists and turns of this final episode will confuse you if you don’t.
There are extremes of love and cruelty. There is grief and sadness, and happiness and joy. Close bonds are brutally broken; sometimes to be repaired and sometimes impossible to repair.
There is so much emotion in this book, right up to the very last pages. There are many unexpected twists and turns, but it all makes sense in the end.
The characters are so well painted by the author that I found myself falling in love with them. Occasionally, one of my favorites would be killed off, and I would curse E.B Brown for taking the life of someone I loved. Being a novice author myself, I can imagine how emotionally challenging writing such scenes must have been for her. I’d be willing to bet that she wept as she typed. I certainly wept as I read.
The whole series is terrific and I recommend it to all who read this review. I repeat my advice: read them in order, one to four.
September 26, 2018
Book Review: The Failsafe Query by Michael Jenkins
The Failsafe Query by Michael Jenkins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this story. The political and international background is authentic. The characters are interesting and I particularly liked Natasha. The book could have done with a heavier dose of her and her sadistic ruthlessness. She is certainly not somebody who you would want to cross, even if you were battling for the same side.
For the most part, the pace is good, although it stumbles in places and I found some of the dialogue a bit forced and stilted.
What spoiled it for me, and brought it down to three stars from what could have easily been a five star review, were the number of inconsistencies and areas of procedure and crime scene investigation that were just not credible. If I were to start listing them all, I would be giving too many spoilers, but here are a few that happen in the first couple of chapters so there are no real spoilers..
• Although it is absolutely authentic that a cadaver dog will indicate a find by freezing and pointing with their head (knocking), it is ridiculous that the same dog would subsequently go crazy when he picks up a scent.
• An independent expert is brought in who is an expert in fibres, hair, soil AND pollen. Too amazing to be believable. Furthermore, she is brought in after the scene has been trampled all over by the other character and the dogs. Probably too late to find anything significant.
• There are no such things as forensic gloves or forensic bags. There are tamper evident bags and the gloves are typical nitrile disposable.
• I also found it difficult to believe that even the most brilliant “air dog” in the world could track the route taken by a car containing a body, in the windy Pyrenees, several days after the car had passed that way.
• Then there’s the successful search for the buried body by four people across seven identified sites in the peat bogs of the mountains. Surely, that would take months?
• Sean collects Alfie’s clothes from the washing machine but only bags two items. Why just those two? Then he puts that bag inside another bag. Why two bags?
• Sean believes that forensic evidence will tell him where Alfie had been taken or disposed of even though it was impossible, at this stage, to know if Alfie had been abducted or killed. Forensic evidence would not tell him this.
• Before it can get any worse, the totally ill-disciplined Billy Phish turns up and the first thing that he does is stamp out a cigarette. How careless is that kind of action in a scene which is still awaiting the arrival of the brilliant forensic expert?
I think that I have said enough for now. My problem was that these discrepancies continued throughout the story and there was one total impossibility toward the end. They became like itching powder for me.
However, having said all of this, the underlying story is great and is well worth reading. I just wish that the author had read The Real CSI by Kate Bendelow or attended one of the available masterclasses on writing authentic crime fiction before embarking upon his debut novel. It is not too late to write a second edition which would be bound to score five stars out of five.
I am looking forward to reading the sequel.
View all my reviews
September 24, 2018
Book Review: How I Got RICH Doing What I LOVE!: Its easier than you think! by Boikanyo Trust Phenyo
How I Got RICH Doing What I LOVE!: Its easier than you think! by Boikanyo Trust Phenyo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is the inspirational autobiographical tale of how the author became rich, at an early age, according to her definition of “rich.”
Her early years were harsh. She describes the difficulties that she encountered in her own family, being the only girl amongst her siblings and suffering the loss of one of her brothers. Her mother was definitely her rock. Her father was quite the opposite.
Boikanyo’s tough early years have made her appreciate everything she has in her life.
The author has made the best of every situation and she has been very generous in sharing the benefits of everything that she has learned with those around her. She has helped numerous young people from Botswana and other southern African countries to prosper in the face of adversity.
In this book she shares her positive outlook and her approach to life in general. Read it and you are sure profit from her words.
Book Review: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved the fascinating accounts of King’s early writing days at school and the continuing story of how he rose to fame and fortune.
His insights into writing styles are tremendous advice for anybody who writes at whatever level and in all genres. It would be foolish to try to copy his style as I believe that we should all find our own voice, yet there is much wisdom to be had in this book.
The only topic that I slightly disagree with Stephen King on is the use of adverbs. Whilst I agree that they are over-used and often unnecessary, I would say that they are occasionally appropriate and can add some colour and substance. There is no need to eliminate them completely.
Great book! Every writer should read it.
September 23, 2018
Book Review: Believe Me by J.P. Delaney
[image error]Many of my friends have told me that if a book does not captivate them in the first page, they are unlikely to read on. Indeed, I have said this myself. However, in the case of Believe Me, I would advise you to read on.
I admit that I was not captivated in the first page, nor even in the first two chapters. Despite that, I persevered and I am very happy that I did so.
The opening is supposed to be shocking, but it is like so many other murder scene reveals. I was irritated by the random capitalisation and the need to tell me who was speaking at any particular time, just like a script. Perhaps this is because the main protagonist, Claire, is a wannabe actress. I never really understood this style.
For example:
GooD-lookInG BARMAn What can I get you?
Me (shouting over the noise) I’d love a martini.
GooD-lookInG BARMAn Coming right up.
He fills a shot glass to the brim with….
I continued to read. All the way through, I was wondering who was crazy and who was sane. Let me tell you that not many of the characters turned out to be sane.
The more I read, the better it got, right up to the final pages.
There are twists and turns and tensions and surprises.
I can’t tell you much more without giving it away. All I can say to you is that I recommend this book to you and I urge you not to give up in the early stages. Your perseverance will pay off.
September 16, 2018
CRACKED FABLES // The Hedgehog and the Cactus
I love this little story!
Hieronymous Hedgehog was extremely picky, it was true, but he never could see the point in settling for second best. Bothering to get out of bed each morning was his tacit agreement that he’d engage with the world, but that didn’t mean he had to take its rubbish as well. Crooked spines? Short legs? Sparse whiskers? No freaking way! His future wife would be the epitome of style and echination, and that’s all there was to it.
And so it happened one beautiful morning that Hieronymous Hedgehog awoke early and couldn’t get back to sleep. He’d tossed and turned incessantly, only to eventually give up, sit up, and get up. He stretched, scratched his big round belly, and wended his way downstairs to the kitchen on his short bandy legs. Okay, it was time to get this show on the road.
Hieronymous Hedgehog slammed the pantry door. It…
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