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The Silver Ring
David Beveridge is in the wrong place at the wrong time.
When a gunman storms into a convenience store demanding money, he ends up shooting both the counterwoman and David. Only David doesn't die. Neither does the counterwoman. David is able to bring her back to life with the help of a mysterious silver ring he found earlier that night — a ring that the darkest evil in the universe wants for its very own.
THE SILVER RING is an 18,000-word novella that contains a special afterword and a bonus short story.
Praise for THE SILVER RING:
"Robert Swartwood's THE SILVER RING is a full-tilt no-holds-barred bobsled of a ride, absolutely engaging and a hundred percent fun. If this one doesn't grab you, it's time to up your Ritalin."
— Joe Schreiber, author of CHASING THE DEAD and NO DOORS, NO WINDOWS
"In short, sharp chapters, Robert Swartwood's THE SILVER RING launches the reader into a high-flying, fast-paced cosmic adventure in which the fate of the universe rests in the hands of a seventeen-year-old movie clerk. Grounded in the emotional realities of an everyday family, Swartwood infuses his tall tale with the humanity of a young man navigating his way through the emotional minefields of everyday life while trying to be the best big-brother he can be. THE SILVER RING delivers light in the heart of darkness, and simple truths from webs of mystery. Have fun!"
— Gerard Houarner, author of THE OZ SUITE and A BLOOD OF KILLERS
When a gunman storms into a convenience store demanding money, he ends up shooting both the counterwoman and David. Only David doesn't die. Neither does the counterwoman. David is able to bring her back to life with the help of a mysterious silver ring he found earlier that night — a ring that the darkest evil in the universe wants for its very own.
THE SILVER RING is an 18,000-word novella that contains a special afterword and a bonus short story.
Praise for THE SILVER RING:
"Robert Swartwood's THE SILVER RING is a full-tilt no-holds-barred bobsled of a ride, absolutely engaging and a hundred percent fun. If this one doesn't grab you, it's time to up your Ritalin."
— Joe Schreiber, author of CHASING THE DEAD and NO DOORS, NO WINDOWS
"In short, sharp chapters, Robert Swartwood's THE SILVER RING launches the reader into a high-flying, fast-paced cosmic adventure in which the fate of the universe rests in the hands of a seventeen-year-old movie clerk. Grounded in the emotional realities of an everyday family, Swartwood infuses his tall tale with the humanity of a young man navigating his way through the emotional minefields of everyday life while trying to be the best big-brother he can be. THE SILVER RING delivers light in the heart of darkness, and simple truths from webs of mystery. Have fun!"
— Gerard Houarner, author of THE OZ SUITE and A BLOOD OF KILLERS
79 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 2009
21 people are currently reading
247 people want to read
About the author
Robert Swartwood
62 books308 followersUSA Today bestselling and ITW Thriller Award–winning author of The Serial Killer's Wife, The Killing Room, Man of Wax, and several other novels. He created the term "hint fiction" and edited Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 2, 2010
I'm not sure exactly where to put this work. It has a lot of elements of fantasy, but some SF, as well, and quite a bit of the thriller to it. A young man finds a silver ring, and once he puts it on everything changes for him. He becomes aware of a much wilder universe around him than he'd imagined. There's sort of a Tolkien meets Koontz vibe.
As you see with the title, the book is a novella and is a quick read. I found it very fast paced. I liked the human characters very much, and found the primary villain to be well developed. The revelations keep coming fast and furioius.
I probably would have given this five stars but I wasn't overly enamored of the ending. It's hard to end a work like this and the ending is perfectly fine. Maybe I would have just liked a longer work with more revelations about that wilder universe.
This is the first thing I've read by Swartwood and I enjoyed it a lot. As far as I know, it's his first major work of fiction. He's an author to keep an eye on.
As you see with the title, the book is a novella and is a quick read. I found it very fast paced. I liked the human characters very much, and found the primary villain to be well developed. The revelations keep coming fast and furioius.
I probably would have given this five stars but I wasn't overly enamored of the ending. It's hard to end a work like this and the ending is perfectly fine. Maybe I would have just liked a longer work with more revelations about that wilder universe.
This is the first thing I've read by Swartwood and I enjoyed it a lot. As far as I know, it's his first major work of fiction. He's an author to keep an eye on.
May 1, 2020
A fun story, lots of twists and turns and almost screwball action. There's a magic silver ring, shapeshifting aliens and mysterious shadow men. A teenaged kid just trying to fix his family and his dying grandma.
I was happy to read the author's words, in the end of the anthology Real Illusions, where I read this story, that this was the first story Swartwood wrote, around the same age as the young narrator. :)
I was happy to read the author's words, in the end of the anthology Real Illusions, where I read this story, that this was the first story Swartwood wrote, around the same age as the young narrator. :)
January 20, 2019
Interesting read. Not really my thing and kind of short, but okay.
November 28, 2011
I'm always on the lookout for independent authors who self-publish their e-books for bargain prices. Unfortunately, while it's fairly easy to find indie authors on Amazon's Kindle store, it's a hell of a task to find good ones. Sure, a lot of folks out there have decent ideas and understand what a book should be about, but it seems like very few of them know how to put together a good sentence. I'm constantly coming across authors whose prose is painful to sift through--it seems like so few people actually know what they're doing.
Robert Swartwood is one of the rare gems who gets it.
I'd downloaded "The Silver Ring" back when it was free, several months ago. I'd completely forgotten about it until I saw an interview with Mr. Swartwood on Joe Konrath's independent publishing blog (http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/11...). When I read that post, I decided I'd give this novella a shot, even though I'd previously read things recommended by Mr. Konrath that had been something less than stellar.
From the very first page, I could tell that Swartwood was someone who actually knew how to write.
I tend to have a consistent set of complaints in the writing I see from independent authors: the exposition is clumsy; the dialogue doesn't sound like things real people would actually say; and character motivations are over-described to the point where I feel like my intelligence is being insulted. (You don't have to spell everything out for me--I can figure some things out on my own, thanks.) Robert Swartwood's writing suffers from none of these problems. His people sound like people. They very rarely talk in a manner that makes it seem like they're clearly explaining something for the reader's benefit and no one else's. And Swartwood doesn't make the mistake of detailing for me exactly how a character feels or what they're thinking--he realizes I can figure it out based on context clues.
As far as the story goes, "The Silver Ring" is interesting enough. But more than anything, I was impressed simply by Swartwood's ability to write like a writer. It's a skill I don't see nearly enough in independent authors these days.
Robert Swartwood is one of the rare gems who gets it.
I'd downloaded "The Silver Ring" back when it was free, several months ago. I'd completely forgotten about it until I saw an interview with Mr. Swartwood on Joe Konrath's independent publishing blog (http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/11...). When I read that post, I decided I'd give this novella a shot, even though I'd previously read things recommended by Mr. Konrath that had been something less than stellar.
From the very first page, I could tell that Swartwood was someone who actually knew how to write.
I tend to have a consistent set of complaints in the writing I see from independent authors: the exposition is clumsy; the dialogue doesn't sound like things real people would actually say; and character motivations are over-described to the point where I feel like my intelligence is being insulted. (You don't have to spell everything out for me--I can figure some things out on my own, thanks.) Robert Swartwood's writing suffers from none of these problems. His people sound like people. They very rarely talk in a manner that makes it seem like they're clearly explaining something for the reader's benefit and no one else's. And Swartwood doesn't make the mistake of detailing for me exactly how a character feels or what they're thinking--he realizes I can figure it out based on context clues.
As far as the story goes, "The Silver Ring" is interesting enough. But more than anything, I was impressed simply by Swartwood's ability to write like a writer. It's a skill I don't see nearly enough in independent authors these days.
March 4, 2012
I enjoyed the 1st book I read of Robert Swartwood's, 'The Calling'...however..this book was just a mess. It was really choppy and felt like he was just throwing in things here and there and then mixing it all up and calling it good. It could have been a great fun read but it was just too sloppy and annoying for that. A magical ring with healing powers......good guy/bad guy......and hey, let's throw in some aliens...UGH! Why do they always have to do that....start out decent and then run out of ideas so they throw in aliens....as if that will help to make everything come together and make sense.
Anyway.....I wouldn't waste your time on this short story.....there are MUCH better choices out there for you to choose from.
Anyway.....I wouldn't waste your time on this short story.....there are MUCH better choices out there for you to choose from.
November 22, 2010
A fast-paced urban fantasy novella with twists, turns and excitement.
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March 9, 2010Robert Swartwood is in Volume 13 of Emprise Review, find Point of View here. http://emprisereview.com/?page_id=3540
May 23, 2011
Wonderfully engaging short read.
May 24, 2011
Good little novella
September 6, 2011
i thought it was a very interesting and good short read.
November 24, 2011
An interesting story and well written.
June 12, 2012
Great writer & great short story. I read the whole thing in one hour, not becuase its short but because I just could not put it down!!! Cant wait to read more books by Swartwood
October 23, 2013
Great short story. the characters and the fast pace are very interesting make me want to read to the end....
April 10, 2014
A very nice fantasy thriller and interesting story!
Must read once for fantasy lovers.
Must read once for fantasy lovers.
July 17, 2017
Sci fi
Well written and a good idea but for some reason the story track's badly, I wish I knew why but it doesn't gel
Well written and a good idea but for some reason the story track's badly, I wish I knew why but it doesn't gel
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews