'A cracking good story...'

I've just seen the latest edition of a local weekly newspaper, The Coastrider and was very pleased to see a review of my book Sudden Vengeance (published by Crooked Cat).  Here is the full review, below (click on the image and the text should be legible).

I particularly liked the phrasing 'Sudden Vengeance is one of those books that is difficult to put down but is unsettling at the same time.'  Because the subject does tend to be a controversial issue, especially in recent times.

Amazon UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sudden-Vengeance-Nik-Morton-ebook/dp/B00KE1GTPA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1409051550&sr=1-1&keywords=nik+Morton

Amazon COM
http://www.amazon.com/Sudden-Vengeance-Nik-Morton-ebook/dp/B00KE1GTPA/ref=sr_1_6?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1409051553&sr=1-6&keywords=nik+Morton

Paperback post-free worldwide
http://www.bookdepository.com/Sudden-Vengeance-Nik-Morton/9781909841697

'The moral question'

The latest issue (no.1509) of Euroweekly News has kindly run a book review of Sudden Vengeance.  This English newspaper in Spain is ‘read by over half a million every week’.

As the review states, one of the book’s themes is a moral issue: ‘The moral question is posed about the rights or wrongs of taking the law into your own hands, and how addictive it can be.’

 

Please click on the image to read it:

 

Many thanks, Euroweekly News!

*** 

Sudden Vengeance published by Crooked Cat - see them here

 

Purchased from Amazon UK here

Purchased from Amazon COM here

Purchased from Smashwords here

Eating the elephant

There’s an old African saying, “You eat an elephant a mouthful at a time.” This means that no matter how large the task, if you start it and persevere, you can accomplish it. As this blog has a literary bent – i.e. it mainly pertains to reading and writing – then this saying can be applied to both these pursuits.

The Writer

For a writer, it’s a daunting idea to begin and then embark on writing an entire novel, comprising anywhere from 40,000 to 150,000 words. Yet it only takes that first step, that first word, followed by another, and so on.

Yes, some of the words and ideas committed to paper or screen might not survive as the work progresses, but that’s not important in the writing stage. It’s the doing that counts.

All you need is the imagination and the time; and anyone can make time, if they’re determined enough.

The Reader

The same goes for a book. Recently, I’ve read some thick tomes, over 800 pages. Those pages have been read quickly, fortunately, because the authors have the happy knack of making their narrative impel the reader to turn the page. Again, time is the issue.

A few years back (1995) I conceived of the not particularly original idea of publishing novellas, under my imprint Manatee Books. These were 92-page perfect-bound paperbacks, and I felt that they would appeal to busy people who have little time to read a normal-length novel. Alas, I was lacking in marketing skills and the Internet outlets were somewhat limited then, so after only four titles I shelved the idea. Interestingly, Penguin took the same route some years later, with several best-selling authors. Now, of course, novellas and even short stories can be purchased for e-readers, so the market has been transformed both in accessibility and reading-times.

This is a long-winded way of saying that short stories can offer a great deal of satisfaction. I was prompted to write this by a recent book review on Amazon.co.uk (many thanks, jlbwye):

SPANISH EYE

22 cases from Leon Cazador, private eye.: e-book here

By jlbwye

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Stories to keep you wanting more ... and more. Tales of reminiscence by a sleuth in sunny Spain which ensure you keep your eyes open until you've reached the end of one in time to let your head fall on the pillow - until morning. Thank you Nik, for making my nights unbroken and worth waiting for.

*** 

A book of short stories does that. You can indulge your reading bug and leave off after one story. Come back for more helpings another time. The flow isn’t interrupted by life or sleep. And, hopefully, there's that anticipation of another to read...

Blood of the Dragon Trees - Book Review

I'm posting this here as the review doesn't appear on the Amazon and Goodreads sites. It's always wonderful to get a printed book review, especially when the reviewer has enjoyed it!

The local English language weekly newspaper The Coastrider has published a review of my book Blood of the Dragon Trees.  I sent an e-book version to the reviewer, Paul Mutter, one of the paper’s busy journalists, and this is his review, printed on the best, facing right-hand page.

I like some of his phrasing: ‘fast paced thriller and a book that is difficult to put down.’ And ‘… but it is the characters rather than the crime that stand out…’

Thank you, Paul Mutter.

Blood of the Dragon Trees review – The Coastrider newspaper #509, 3 December 2013 – page 13.

You can see the online page of the newspaper here [and manipulate by clicking and grabbing as appropriate]...

or read it here...

Paperback post-free worldwide from here

UK Kindle here

Amazon.com Kindle here

Other e-reader versions are available...

Book of the film: Psycho

Thanks to the Alfred Hitchcock film, the character Norman Bates has entered that dubious pantheon of modern myth. Of course reading this book after being aware of the movie destroys some of Robert Bloch’s well-constructed suspense. Even so, it is still an intriguing and page-turning crime noir study of reader misdirection and dark psychology. And it’s also possible to appreciate the cunning structure of the novel and the subtle hints beneath the veneer presented by Bates.

Bates is fat and bespectacled and quite unprepossessing and dominated by his mother. He resents her but cannot seem to function without her in his life. He hides in his books but to no avail. He evokes some sympathy but is also somewhat unprepossessing. A memorable creation.

Mary Crane absconds from her job with a large sum of cash and heads for the home of her fiancé, Sam, intent on using the stolen money to help him get out of debt. She stops overnight off the beaten track at the Bates’ motel. The shower scene occurs on page 30, so she isn’t in the book much, but her presence is felt throughout as first Sam then her sister Lila start to wonder where she has gone. They are aided by the insurance private detective Arbogast.

Bloch masterfully weaves the individual stories of Bates, his mother, Mary Crane, Sam, Lila and Arbogast. His story is unsettling since it seems that the main protagonists are not destined to survive. Then those who do remain are brought to the creepy storm-laden denouement.

This is a short book, with hardly any words wasted in deceptively simple prose. Usually, Bloch enjoys peppering his stories with wordplay but here the narrative doesn’t seem to need it – though he can’t resist one final foray in the last sentence.

Inevitably, a film script is going to differ from its source: Psycho was in fact a difficult book to film as there was a great deal of internal monologue to create character, move the story forward and to misdirect. Some of this was achieved by voice-over for thoughts. Apparently, as there was a real Mary Crane in Phoenix at the time of the film, it was decided to rename this character Marion (played by Janet Leigh). Her boyfriend Sam and the detective Arbogast kept their names, as did Bates. The Marion character didn’t succumb in the shower scene until the film was 40 minutes into the story, with just over an hour to go. Neither in stature nor appearance did Anthony Perkins resemble the Bates character in the book, but he certainly claimed the role as his own with creepily nuanced under-acting.

If you have only seen the film but not read the book, I’d recommend finding a copy; it’s worthwhile. The entry for the film in Wikipedia is quite comprehensive and fascinating.

Hale Book Review: The Fate of Women

As I'm a Robert Hale author, I thought it's about time I reviewed some of that esteemed publisher's books here. Naturally, I've been doing this for the westerns, but now I'm branching out.

First up, then, The Fate of Women by Lawrence Williams (2007). It's a gripping and well-written crime novel that resonates even after the end. DS Jack Bull is a tough, no-holds-barred copper, a bit of an anachronism in today’s police. But even his superiors acknowledge he gets things done. So he is recruited into SIU, the Serious Incident Unit, a shadowy police group that has UK-wide influence and powers. Jack has a history of womanising and now ironically he is being asked to find and arrest a serial killer who is killing released rapists. Jack is tasked with becoming Jake Corelli, a rapist liable to be next on the killer’s list. He is the bait, no less. Yet his attitude is ambivalent, particularly after he meets some rapist victims, because his sympathies lie entirely with these damaged women.

Authors especially may be interested in the fact that the narrative begins in the present tense, first person, from Jack’s viewpoint. Then it's first person historic, quite normal, and then we perceive his world in the third person as Corelli. Finally, we return to Jack’s perceptions in first person historic. There was the risk that this shifting of point of view could jar, but within a short time it seems to work and the reader inhabits the mind-set of Jack and even his alter ego Jake. Throughout, there is a sense of brooding doom hovering, not helped by the manipulative machinations of Jack’s bosses, Mr Stone with the metal hand and Mr Frimmer.

There are plenty of grim insights into Jack’s past and why he has no illusions about his unmarried place in the world he inhabits. ‘… the corrupting effect of being a police officer…; the poison of it wrecking marriages, breaking those apparently well-ordered homes to which colleagues returned drained and contaminated.’

Williams’s wry observations of characters raise a smile too. ‘… lost the salesman’s consolation of believing his own sales talk. He knows himself a hewer of wood in a plastic age.’ Succinct but illuminating. A number of characters are drawn with great wit and sympathy, notably the landlady and her small clientele. The light and ironic touches are welcome because, of course, the subject matter is grim. As Jack observes, ‘the murder victim knows no consequences; the rape victim lives them for ever.’

Sadly, even in this so-called enlightened age, some men believe it is the fate of women to be forced into becoming unwilling vessels of pleasure. This tale, a strong and deeply felt indictment against such primitive attitudes, concludes on a note of compassion amidst the violence. Strong stuff.

Book of the film: The Searchers

THE SEARCHERS
Alan Le May

(Leisure Books)

Some fifty years after first seeing the movie, I’ve finally read the book that inspired the iconic Ford western film. Apparently, the book has been out of print for decades. Well, it was worth the wait. LeMay is an excellent storyteller, building his characters with deft touches. He employs what is now regarded as the old-fashioned style, the omniscient point of view so we get inside the feelings of more than one character within a particular scene; it works because he never loses control.

Interestingly, the John Wayne character Ethan Edwards is called Amos in the book, and is not the lead. The story is told mainly through the eyes of orphan Martin Pauley, whose father was called Ethan. Surprisingly, perhaps, the film stayed true to the story even though Wayne dominates.

Inevitably, there are grim scenes in the book, but no gratuitous gore. There’s humour too. Amos says he had no book learning. ‘To us, grammar is nothing but grampaw’s wife.’ The old ones are the best. And later, the observation is made about tequila that ‘There is a great independence, and a confident immunity to risk, in all drinks made out of cactus.’

Possibly some people haven’t seen the film. Put simply, the book concerns the Edwards family who are massacred by a Commanche raiding party; the two young daughters are abducted. Amos and Martin set out on a quest to rescue the girls and also avenge the deaths of Amos’s brother and sister-in-law, the woman he loved and lost. They track the Indians until the snows obliterate all trace. Finally, when the snows have gone, Amos and Martin resume their search, persisting for over five years. And all this time Martin fears that Amos is intent on killing his nieces because they were bound to be ‘spoiled’. The book’s ending only slightly differs from the film; both versions are moving and memorable.

The striking cover is not merely a colourful generic image – the silhouette of the tree is significant to Martin’s recurring nightmares.

As a bonus, the book has a special introduction by Andrew J Fenady, who wrote several Wayne westerns and was the actor’s pal; as he says, ‘No man was more a part of the American landscape… He was a man to match the mountains.’

Justifiably, a modern classic western: 5 stars. (Leisure books are bringing out other classic westerns later this year)

Nik

'Local author Nik psychs his way to a gripping thriller'

‘Nik Morton has been a writer virtually all his working life. Even having now ‘retired’ to the Costa Blanca he still contributes to periodicals in both England and Spain… when I received a reviewing copy of his book The Prague Manuscript, I had no idea what to expect. I was in for something of a surprise.

‘After what I felt was a raher bland introduction I found myself in a world of double-dealing and intrigue at a level which made James Bond and Modesty Blaise look like rank amateurs; I’m sure that John Le Carré enthusiasts would agree with me. Nik’s Cold War espionage tale was fast moving and had more than one sting in it. Action turns me on, I am addicted to this kind of thriller so when I discovered that a local author could get me on the edge of my seat and still add a few exotic touches to the spymaster genre I reckon I’d landed a unique bonus.

‘I’ve been weaned on highly trained agents with all kinds of fancy offensive gear at their fingertips; masters of such disciplines as kung fu and jiu-jitsu, constantly hpped in and out of bed. Nik goes one better with his mind-blowing characters. Through the medium of his super spy, Tana Standish – an Amazon of Polish/English extraction – he adds more than a touch of paprika to the machinations of the cloak and dagger world and weaves a really cleverly contrived plot – explosive from start to finish. Get this – Tana is not just a superwoman but a psychic too. Yet confusing the issue, the opposition are also training psychic agents, one of whom is able to influence Tana’s movements yet appeas to be sympatico… (plot revelations omitted)

‘This tale is a lively, well written espionage adventure with plenty of twists. And it seems there is to be a sequel – or do I mean sequels?’
– The New Coastal Press, March 2009 – reviewer unknown, but it wasn't me!

That was a nice surprise and totally unexpected. The introduction may appear ‘bland’ to an action addict, but its purpose was to set the scene for the series, whereby I, the author, come into possession of highly classified manuscripts about Tana Standish and her fellow agents; this pseudo-factual conceit is maintained for the sequels too. And reviewer Danny Collins thought that it was even more effective than the similar ploys of Jack Higgins, praise indeed.
Nik