Six Word Stories - A Review

 

Six Word Stories

Edited By

Doug Weller

A Review

Review:

Six Word Stories -

Imagination Starters

Doug Weller has provided a fun collection of stories - each six words long. The first half of the book contains 200 (?) stories consisting of six words each. Some are funny, some are serious, some are thoughtful, all are current - with one exception. The oldest story included in this collection comes from William Shakespeare, “To be, or not to be.”

The book is divided into three main sections:

1. The first section is a collection of stories written by and submitted to the author.
2. The second section is a tutorial on writing six word stories - included are more examples of this new art form.
3. The final section is an invitation and instructions for entering a contest with prizes (including publication) for submitting original six word stories.
   
   

I enjoyed reading the many stories included in the first section - coming from around the world, they represent many of the details of life - from childhood to death. Several picked up the very modern theme of the COVID-19 virus. Each was a complete thought (though not always a sentence) that further inspired this reader's imagination. Section two serves as a set of instructions on writing six word stories. It could more easily have been offered as a web page or site, rather than occupying one-half of the book’s pages. It would seem that its purpose was more motivation, rather than instruction. The third section was an invitation for readers to submit their own stories for inclusion in a future volume of this series of books. The current book is the third in the series.

Many of the stories could stand alone, others served as open doors to the reader’s imagination. The result is a five-star book that I enjoyed sharing with my wife and son.

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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.

Meteor Men - A Review

 

Meteor Men

by

Jeff Parker

Sandy Jarrell

A Review

The authors have combined science fiction and a graphic novel into an interest story of an alien visit to our planet. The story is well-written, the graphics are colorful and easily seen, and the lettering is easily read. My only concern is the slightly dystopian ending which leaves the future of humanity in question. I give the book four-stars.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review.  The opinions expressed are mine alone.  

Front Page Murder - A Review

 

Front Page Murder

by

Joyce St. Anthony

A Review

The United States had just committed itself to fighting Germany and Japan in WW II; the Duquesne Spy Ring had been captured, tried, and convicted. At the same time men were joining the war effort leaving women to work the factories and edit the local papers. It was true not only in the big cities, but in the small towns as well. Progress PA was no exception. Irene Ingram had assumed the position of Editor at the Progress Herald when her father departed as a war correspondent in the Pacific Front. Women were filling positions on all 22 lines at Tabor Ironworks.

But when reporter Moe Bauer was found dead, small-town Progress was shaken to the core. The police chief, Irene’s future father-in-law, was convinced it was an accident. Irene was not so sure. When more “accidents” occurred at the Tabor Ironworks’ plant, additional questions were raised. Irene and her staff of reporters would need to dig for the details as they began to report on the changes around town.

The resulting story, though fiction, gave this reader the opportunity to learn a bit about the history of America’s involvement in WW II - both at home and abroad. It provided an intriguing plot that made the reader guess who was fighting for and fighting against American interests. Each chapter begins with a headline from the news - some from history, some from the book itself. If I had any concerns about the book, it was its tendency to weave these stories into the text and then repeat them as a headline at the beginning of the next chapter. But even with that question, I give the book five-stars.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.

Poems of Faith - A Review

 

Poems of Faith

Edited By

Bob Blaisdell

A Review

Bob Blaisdell has republished his collection of 100 poems selected “from five hundred years of English verse”. Some of the authors are well-known (e.g. Charles Wesley and and John Donne), but many are less well-known. Coming from so many sources and over so many years, this collection of poetry seems less connected than other works that have crossed my path this past year.

Many of the selected works spoke to this reader; but it seemed, at times, easier to find pieces that were either so generic that they might apply to everyone or disconnected to this reviewer's life. I might be more likely to leave this book sitting on my coffee table than to use it as part of my daily spiritual reflections. I give this book three stars.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.

Murder at the Summer Fete - A Review

 

Murder at the
Summer Fete

by

Victoria Walters

A Review

Being a fan of BBC mysteries, I felt right at home in Dedley Endings, a small village set in the midst of the Cotswold countryside, and the scene for a new, interesting, and sufficiently complicated, cozy mystery. Though this story is set in the current day, it has its roots thirty years in the past.

The story is particularly interesting in that it takes two distinct phases. The first phase is discovering the person responsible for the murder of Michael Jones. Phase two involves exposing the criminal to an unbelieving world. Both parts of the story are intricate enough to hold the reader’s attention from the Prologue to the final pages of the book. The story becomes more complicated when Nancy Hunter and her family and friends must stumble on the truth while having little trust in the local police force.

While thoroughly enjoying the book, there was one (two?) concerns - the current book is closely tied to the previous (i.e. the first) book in this series and to the next book (i.e. the third) book in the series. From a publisher’s and writer’s perspective, this will encourage purchase of more books; from a reader’s perspective, this is distracting and unneeded for the enjoyment of the current story. For this, I give the book 4-½ stars.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.

Malivious Intent - A Review

 

Malicious Intent

by

Lynn H. Blackburn

A Review

Ivy sat behind her desk and dropped her head against the high back of her seat. Lord, I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do. It took her several minutes before she managed to whisper, “...but my eyes are on you.”

Lynn Blackburn has a record of combining faith, suspense, and romance, into believable stories that will hold most reader’s interest from the first pages to the very last page of the book - while still leaving the reader wanting more. She has done it again.

From the pile of counterfeit cash found in chapter one to the grenades tossed in the final moments of the book, we get a glimpse of Gil Dixon and Ivy Collins working to discover who is trying to destroy her business and her life. In the process Ivy will need to rebuild a 15 year-old dead relationship with Gil that may or may not be refreshable.

This satisfying book is worthy of all five stars I am giving it.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.

Caramel Pecan Roll Murder - A Review

 

Caramel Pecan
Roll Murder

by

Joanne Fluke

A Review

I quickly became confused as I began reading this cozy mystery. Was I reading a cozy mystery loaded with recipes or was I reading a cookbook with a side of cozy mystery. I first stumbled on a couple of recipes in the last few pages of the book - they sounded good and there were not too many. But as I began to read the mystery from the beginning of the book, I found myself inundated with more and more recipes. Some chapters (note: not every chapter has recipes) seemed to have more pages with recipes than mystery. What made this discovery even more discouraging was that a vast majority of the recipes would not be allowed to be a part of my diet by my physician - they looked good, but they would not be allowed . There were exceptions - Reuben Omelets, Baked Scotch Eggs, and Wild Rice Soup, would all pass muster, but the vast majority of recipes were sweet treats and/or desserts.

The mystery itself was well written. The Walleye fishing tournament brought some of the best fisherman out for the week as well as many of the locals. Hannah Swensen was a local pastry chef (and source for many of the recipes) and a helpful amatuer detective. The story held my interest as I wandered through the recipe collection. I really thought I had figured out the guilty party early on, but I was caught off guard. Despite misreading the clues, I still found the culmination of the mystery to be satisfying. 

The mystery will receive 4-½ stars; the book as a whole will receive only three stars.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.