Another excellent Kraychik mystery—read and reviewed
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Another brilliant whodunnit by the late Grant Michaels. Michaels is a master of atmosphere, a writer who manages to create intriguing characters with just a couple of paint strokes and make them three-dimensional. The main character, Stan, remains the same old sharp-tongued, witty observer of his fellows and the same remorseless troublemaker for all those who have something to hide.
Another gem republished by ReQueered Tales; my review can be found on
“Rex vs. Regina”—the fourth book of the “Line of Succession” series
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Twists, turns, schemes, plots, counterplots, palace intrigues abound once again in this fourth installment of Harry F. Rey’s addictive Line of Succession series (one should have read books one, two and three prior to tackling this one). This book is again masterfully written, perfectly paced and neatly cut into those neat little chunks that more often than not end with cliffhangers. Speaking of which: the book itself ends with a huge one…
Read the whole review on
“The Blue Star”, merveilleux roman de Robert Ferro
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Ferro a une manière envoûtante d’utiliser les mots et crée de merveilleuses scènes atmosphériques. Son écriture semble sans effort, savante sans être pédante, parfois ornée, parfois nette et directe, en alternances parfaitement rythmées. Les personnages, même si je ne pouvais pas toujours voir les raisonnements et les raisons de leurs actions (comme s’ils étaient de vraies personnes dans la vraie vie, non ?), étaient attachants et intrigants.
Toute la critique de “The Blue Star” de Robert Ferro sur
I’ve been interviewed for a podcast!
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Super-nice writer Brad Shrive interviewed me for his fabulous Gay Mystery Podcast (check out the previous episodes, too). You can listen to Brad asking intelligent questions and me stammering a bit less intelligently on
“Simple Justice”, a perfect read for mystery lovers
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Masterfully written, with a main character who has edges, weak spots, ghosts that the author explores with great subtlety, and secondary characters who are all just as three-dimensional. The author also created a plot that in itself would have drawn me in, no matter what. For those who like their murder mysteries gay, strong and straightforward, well-written and perfectly paced, with characters one can easily relate to, this is a must-read.
The whole review on
“En aller simple” de Cédric Hermann
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“En aller simple” de Cédric Hermann. C’est un très beau livre, porté par l’écriture sans fioritures, toute en phrases courtes mais bien cisellées et bien senties, de l’auteur, qui surprend à maintes reprises par de jolies petites pépites. À vrai dire, j’ai été conquis dès les premiers paragraphes…
La critique complète sur
Book 6 in the “Lovestrong”-series reviewed
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What didn’t work for me at all in this book were most of the dialogs. Talk about two people oversharing and overexplaining things! I simply cannot believe that real human beings talk to each other the way Gray and Wolf talked; it was partly too sugary, partly too much Psychology 101-babble, but hardly ever a conversation I could have overheard in real life. There were moments were I wanted to slap them and tell them to stop playacting and start behaving like two normal, young Americans.
Still, three stars on Good Reads. Read the whole review on
http://www.rainbow-reviews.com/book-reviews/how-to-forgive-lovestrong-6-by-susan-hawke
“Young King Arthur And The Round Table Knights”
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I was quite excited when I received this book even if I feared it might look pale compared to Marion Zimmer Bradley’s fantasy classic “The Mists of Avalon”, one of my most favorite books ever. Alas, yes, “Young King Arthur and the Round Table Knights”, while having its sweet moments, showed some weaknesses. The worldbuilding, so powerful in Zimmer Bradley’s take on this legend, was almost absent.
Read the entire review on
“The Seven Keys of Hildegard”, book 1, reviewed
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I didn’t like the writing, which in places was outright clumsy, wooden even; a thorough last proof-reading could also have benefitted the book IMO (note to the author: the singular of “brethren” is NOT “brethren” but “brother”—”brethren” is simply an antiquated plural form, the equivalent of “brothers”). […] What annoyed me, however, was the fact that I requested this book in the “History”-section of NetGalley, and as to the historical treatment of the popes, I was sorely disappointed.
“Lot” a gagné le Prix Lambda 2020
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J’ai été happé par ce livre, par la richesse de l’écriture, par la narration qui oscille entre l’intrigue principale et les intrigues secondaires. […] Je comprends parfaitement pourquoi le Prix Lambda a été décerné à ce livre et à cet écrivain. Bryan Washington est une voix forte dans le cosmos de la littérature contemporaine, un jeune homme qui, j’en suis sûr, a encore beaucoup de choses importantes à nous raconter.
Lire toute ma critique en français sur
“Darkwater House”, an underwhelming murder mystery with a nice romantic side-plot
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The suspense was rather wanting as I knew very quickly who was the culprit. Some secondary characters could have been fleshed out in a shadier way perhaps, some scenes driven to more thrilling peaks. As it was, the crime (and ghost) narrative babbled along like a nice brook in high summer. Maybe that’s the thing: the author didn’t seem to be able to make up his mind whether to write a ghost story, a crime story, or a romance. He therefore did an almost slapdash job…
Read the whole review on
http://www.rainbow-reviews.com/book-reviews/darkwater-house-by-samuel-king-at-pride-publishing
Four other reviews on NetGalley
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Yes, from time to time I request (and get) free copies via NetGalley, and not all of them concern novels or short story collections. I’m also fascinated by history books and gladly leave a review whenever a free copy comes my way. You’ll find below four of these reviews (look for a review written by Dieter M, Reviewer):
The Bad Popes by E.R. Chamberlin: https://www.netgalley.com/book/200098/reviews
Freedom, Sex, and a Meat Cleaver by Sherman Miles: https://www.netgalley.com/book/200340/reviews
The Emperor Charlemagne by E.R. Chamberlin: https://www.netgalley.com/book/201126/reviews
The Elder Sons of George III by Catherine Curzon: https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/201347
