What do you think?
Rate this book
Clockwork
In his first two books, Rainbow's End and Midnight, award-winning author John M. Floyd gave us a total of sixty short stories of mystery, suspense, and deception. In this collection of forty more tales, he once again uses his talent for classic storytelling and his love of plot twists to keep us guessing--and enthralled--until the very last word. As before, Floyd goes beyond the mystery/crime genre to dip occasionally into areas like westerns and romance and humor and fantasy, but each story promises--and delivers--a rollercoaster ride of delicious plot reversals and a Hitchcock-style surprise ending. And his fans will be pleased to discover several more installments in the small-town series featuring retired schoolteacher Angela Potts and her former (and long-suffering) student Sheriff Chunky Jones. So if you love mysteries, or if you enjoyed the old Alfred Hitchcock Presents or Twilight Zone TV series, or if you just like to be kept on the edge of your seat, this collection of stories is right up your alley. But be reading it might make you lose track of the time. Better make sure your clock works...
341 pages, Hardcover
First published October 5, 2010
1 person is currently reading
3 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 31, 2018
This isn’t my normal fare. It’s a collection of mystery shorts, mostly what you might call ‘cozies’. I chose to read it because it was written by a college friend’s dad, I like a good mystery every now and then, and I also like to read southern authors, especially ones from my home state of Mississippi.
Mr. Floyd’s ability to write well is beyond question. The descriptive elements are weaved in unobtrusively, and always leave you seeing exactly what’s there without being overly intricate. The modern stories range in timeline from the 80’s to pretty close to present day. Some of the stories in this particular anthology are a bit anachronistic, and the plot would no longer work because of current tech; however, as long as you can suspend that part of your brain and live in the moment of the story, it works fine. There are a few that jump back to the wild west, or just after, that are actually my favorites.
I do know for sure that it’s not the genre I prefer for entertainment. The short story format is where my problem lies, I think. I prefer more intricate, drawn out, complicated plotlines than a short story can provide. There weren’t many that I couldn’t immediately see where the plot was going, and many of them were tropish. There were a few twists that were interesting. If you like that sort of thing, and many people do, then you will probably enjoy the book more that I did. Taste is subjective... some people like hot sauce and others don’t.
As for characters, again, short stories make for shallow development as a general rule. There are only a couple major ones from the anthology that stood out to me.
The main two were recurring characters who appear in several different stories. Sheriff Jones and Ms. Potts, while possibly endearing to fans of shows like Matlock or Murder She Wrote, were kind of annoying to me. As a writer, I should be able to describe what bothered me about them, but all I can come up with is that they gave me an ‘ick factor’ that made me not like them. It’s a personal preference, no doubt.
Conversely, I can’t praise The Warden’s Game enough. That story is absolutely riveting, and is, by far, the best in the anthology. It has an old western feel, even though it takes place in rural Alaska. It is a tale whose theme is of justice found from mysterious sources. I think the fact that it is also one of the longer stories makes it more appealing to me. The characters are able to be developed in more depth, which increases my concern for them. The plot, while not unique, still managed to pull me in because of my like for the theme.
All told, I can recommend the book to those who like to read mysteries, especially cozies. I give it three stars and call it an Interesting Variety Read for me.
Mr. Floyd’s ability to write well is beyond question. The descriptive elements are weaved in unobtrusively, and always leave you seeing exactly what’s there without being overly intricate. The modern stories range in timeline from the 80’s to pretty close to present day. Some of the stories in this particular anthology are a bit anachronistic, and the plot would no longer work because of current tech; however, as long as you can suspend that part of your brain and live in the moment of the story, it works fine. There are a few that jump back to the wild west, or just after, that are actually my favorites.
I do know for sure that it’s not the genre I prefer for entertainment. The short story format is where my problem lies, I think. I prefer more intricate, drawn out, complicated plotlines than a short story can provide. There weren’t many that I couldn’t immediately see where the plot was going, and many of them were tropish. There were a few twists that were interesting. If you like that sort of thing, and many people do, then you will probably enjoy the book more that I did. Taste is subjective... some people like hot sauce and others don’t.
As for characters, again, short stories make for shallow development as a general rule. There are only a couple major ones from the anthology that stood out to me.
The main two were recurring characters who appear in several different stories. Sheriff Jones and Ms. Potts, while possibly endearing to fans of shows like Matlock or Murder She Wrote, were kind of annoying to me. As a writer, I should be able to describe what bothered me about them, but all I can come up with is that they gave me an ‘ick factor’ that made me not like them. It’s a personal preference, no doubt.
Conversely, I can’t praise The Warden’s Game enough. That story is absolutely riveting, and is, by far, the best in the anthology. It has an old western feel, even though it takes place in rural Alaska. It is a tale whose theme is of justice found from mysterious sources. I think the fact that it is also one of the longer stories makes it more appealing to me. The characters are able to be developed in more depth, which increases my concern for them. The plot, while not unique, still managed to pull me in because of my like for the theme.
All told, I can recommend the book to those who like to read mysteries, especially cozies. I give it three stars and call it an Interesting Variety Read for me.
June 27, 2020
Good read
Each story was captivating and most had twists at then end that kept them very entertaining. Could read a few each night before bed and keep enjoying the book.
Each story was captivating and most had twists at then end that kept them very entertaining. Could read a few each night before bed and keep enjoying the book.
February 6, 2012
Overall the stories are very diverse and most of them are interesting. I really enjoyed the first story of this collection, which was titled "The powder room." The reason for the mark-down in stars was the stories with Mrs. Potts and Chunky Jones, I really didn't like the characters and the plot was rather thin and almost childish. But the collection as a whole was a very readable and entertaining experience.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews