Lance Greenfield's Blog, page 50
March 28, 2017
Whatever Happened to Small is Beautiful?
In the main, I agree with Sheila.
The odds are set against that breakthrough coming along when one is battling alone. Very occasionally, it DOES happen.
I keep my faith and I hope.
My dream is that somebody influential notices the review comments that say, “This would make a great movie.” I cannot afford to make the film of either of my novels, so I need an established movie director to come to the understanding that “Eleven Miles” could be the next award-winning blockbuster.
In the meantime, I must get on with writing the sequel.
In 1993, E.F. Schmacher published a book entitled Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People Mattered. 
It was well received, and promised a potential revolution in ideas for capitalism and for the consumer society.
Recently I saw a plea from a Christian charity for us to invest in poor (“small” in economic terms) countries and help them develop their economies within their own culture. The benefits of this will radiate out to encompass all of us. The truth behind this is one that philosophers have clearly seen and expressed (in particular John Ruskin) yet it continually seems to bypass the greedy, the corporate, the leviathans of our consumer society.
I found myself relating it to the situation of the “indie” author. Our society does not yet fully honour the idea that it is good to invest in small indie writers and help them in their businesses (comparable…
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March 27, 2017
Review: How the Marquis Got His Coat Back
How the Marquis Got His Coat Back by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This story is absolutely crazy!
When I was about twelve years old, I watched the psychedelic animated cartoon of Yellow Submarine by the Beatles. This story reminded me of my feelings as I watched that cartoon.
As the recently dead, but now recovered, Marquis De Carabas makes his way to from the Floating Market in the Tate Gallery and the strange Mushroom People, via the Mortlake, lake of the dead, to meet the dangerous shepherds of Shepherd’s Bush, we share his very psychedelic trip. He is lucky that he can rely upon the combination of his own guile and the occasional appearance of his mysterious brother.
His main objective, as the title implies, is to retrive his missing, magical coat.
You’ll have to read the book to find out what happens and the other strange events that happen along the way. I can guarantee that you will be amazed and entranced, and you will have a lot of fun.
March 26, 2017
Well on my way!
I just wanted to share my joy with you all. I have just picked up my 400th follower on my blog. That may not seem very many to you, but it means a lot to me, so please rejoice and celebrate with me.
In my 2017 New Year Resolutions, I set myself a target of 500 followers by the end of this year. I feel that I am well on my way to achieving that goal.
You can help me by spreading my words wider. Please re-blog some of my time-travelling coach tours or my book reviews, or share the fun of the shorties contained in my Titbits tab. The main objective of my blog is to promote my novels, so I shamelessly beg you to pass on the links to Eleven Miles and Knitting Can Walk!
I extend a big thank you to all of my 400 loyal blog followers!
Review: More Than You Can Say
More Than You Can Say by Paul Torday
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The first part of this story is totally ridiculous and my thoughts were that none of this could possibly ever happen. However, as the story unfolds, it becomes more and more plausible, until, eventually, I began to think that these events could really, actually happen. That is what I would call very clever story telling.
Paul Torday is an incredibly imaginative author. I liked this book very much indeed and would recommend it to any of my friends.
All that stopped me from awarding five stars was that it tended to ramble in places. In an action packed thriller, that can be most frustrating! Don’t let that put you off though. It is well worth reading.
March 20, 2017
Review: The Toy Breaker
The Toy Breaker by Roy Chester
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This story moves along at a niec pace that hooked me from the start. The characters are very well introduced and developed throughout the book In fact, they are still being developed towards the conclusion, which sets up Dr Hannah Nightingale and her fellow protagonists for the sequel.
There is the classic line that the seasoned police officers are very skeptical, at first, about the introduction of a psychological profiler, but gradually become convinced of her value to their investigations. By the end, of course, she proves to be absolutely vital. That storyline is hardly original, but the author manages to make it convincing.
The pace is maintained by good, strong dialogue and the dilemmas that face at least two of the main characters.
There are a few twists and turns and surprises throughout, although the main surprise was not a shock to me, even though it seemed to leap out of the blue at the two detectives and the profiler. I was expecting one major twist at the end that didn’t actually happen, so I lost my personal bet with myself.
The tension in the end play was expertly managed and I was swept along by it. A very good conclusion.
I thoroughly recommend The Toy Breaker to any fans of the psychological thriller.
March 19, 2017
Review: The Christmas Promise
The Christmas Promise by Sue Moorcroft
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I had the privilege to attend a class at the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School in 2016 which Sue Moorcroft delivered. There were two topics that she covered which made an impression on me and which I bore in mind as I read this book.
That might make me slightly over-critical.
The first was “point of view.” It took skillful writing to give me a good feel for the points of view of each of the main characters rahter than just the main protagonist, Ava. I enjoyed that.
The second was on how to end chapters. Sue’s instruction was to try to end each chapter on a note that would make the reader want to read on rather than put the light out go to sleep. On this point, The Chrsitmas Promise only scored 50%. My thoughts are that this was due to enthusiastic editing rather than the author’s own intentions.
Back to the book itself.
The storyline is very good and is captivating. After a slow start, during which there is much house and party hopping to get to know the characters, the narative rolls along at a good lick. I enjoyed it and was always wondering what would happen next.
All in all, this is a fun read with a happy ending. I recommend it.
March 10, 2017
Let The Blood Run Free
5am. Just as the birds have decided on which song to sing to welcome the day, she barges into my bedroom, crying.
“Muuum! I can’t breathe!” she gurgles, a hand held to her nose.
Thanks to many years of being woken up by a child running into my room in the middle of the night like the bogeyman has come to visit, I automatically wake up, ready for action.
“What happened? Did you throw up again?” I ask, dreading the answer. I’ve also had years of practise scrubbing carpets in the middle of the night.
A mumbled response followed by a deep cough which sounds like a knife wound to the gut. There’s a slippery wet sound to it as blood collects in the throat.
Her next words confirm my gut instinct. “By dose ith bleedin’,” she chokes.
Her little body comes into focus and I notice the droplets down…
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March 9, 2017
Review: Death of a Ghost
Death of a Ghost by Margery Allingham
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book is OK, as far as it goes.
It is a thirties crime mystery based around a posh family and their connections, and almost everyone is connected with the art world in some way.
The initial murder, there are more to come, takes place early on during the first viewing of one of the paintings which has been left by a famous artist to be revealed at the rate of one per year.
Some of the characters are so appalling, that I woud have loved to have leapt into the pages of my book and killed them off myself. When I say “appalling,” I don’t mean that they are badly written, quite the contrary, but they are just people that I wouldn’t ever want anywhere near me. So that is good writing, is it not?
The main policeman in the plot is just so straight and humourless, and appears to lack the wit to outsmart a slug on the garden fence, never mind a dangerous criminal. Campion also lacks humour. He is such a serious man who happens to be on the scene due to his long-standing connection with the widow. To me, he seemed to be rather slow in picking up the clues and sorting out the motive and the killer, but I suppose that prolongs the ending.
It may seem a strange thing to say about a story which revolves around the art world, but I got irritated by the amount of art talk and technicalities in this book. Others may love that, but it was not for me.
In summary, the book was OK, I don’t regret reading it, but there are many other books out there that I should prefer to read ahead of another Campion mystery.
March 5, 2017
Review: Sister Sister
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I was excited when I started reading this book. It has so many really good reviews. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations.
As a psychological thriller, it is OK, and I enjoyed reading it. However, many of the twists and turns were predictable. There were a few that weren’t. The plot is very good, but I feel that more could have been done with it.
There were chunks of the book with which I became very frustrated. Firstly, the behaviour of Clare as the story unfolds. I couldn’t believe that a top solicitor could be so stupid. Also, there were parts that were simply not credible. I cannot tell you about most them without insterting a spoiler, but one of them which particularly wound me up was the central thread around a photograph of the long lost sister, Alice, and her friend, Martha. (view spoiler)[The photograph is a mirror image and the explanation is that it flipped when it was scanned. That is not plausible. But I immediately suspected that the “Alice” that turned up was actually Bertha. Clare takes a copy of the photo to Florida with her as she investigates the background, yet she never shows the photograph to ANYONE who she questions. That is crazy! Why did she carry the photo with her? (hide spoiler)]
There were quite a few inconsitencies in the narrative. One which almost stopped me from reading on was when Clare is in Florida and tries to call her husband, Luke.
It’s early evening here in Florida, which, given the five-hour time difference, means that it’s mid-afternoon in UK.”
In actual fact, the five-hour time difference works out the opposite way around and it would be past midnight in UK. As she goes on to describe that Luke has taken their daughters swimming, it makes matters worse.
So my summary is that it is a good story, but the twists and turns were mainly predictable and there are too many implausibilities.
However, I would recommend it to people who want a psychological thriller to read on their sunbed on holiday.
February 24, 2017
Review: Someone Like Me
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Someone Like Me by Tom Holt is a bloodthirsty, gripping thriller, which is set in the future but in a world that has regressed into almost primitive times. There is no electricity or transport system. The human race lives in fear of a race of aggressive beasts that hunt people for their flesh.
The hero, who is a hired hunter of the beasts, narrates the story in the first person. The quest of the hero and his colleagues is to eliminate all of the beasts before they can totally eliminate mankind.
The opening scene places the hero in the midst of recently inflicted carnage resulting from an attack by two of the beasts. It is not long before he finds himself trapped in dark underground tunnels with one of them. It is literally a case of kill or be killed.
The story moves at a very fast pace but the style may not be to the liking of all readers. Certainly, I would not recommend this book to anyone who faints at the first sight of blood, even if it is only in print. However, the twists at the end of the tale are worth waiting for and leave the reader deep in thought. The book took me less than ninety minutes to read, and is about the right length. Any more, and I would have begun to feel bored. Any less, and I would have felt slightly cheated.
I can’t honestly say whether I would recommend it to a friend or not. That would depend on what I knew about the friend!
