concrete Angel by Patricia Abbot a review

This book begins with a bang, literally as Eve Moran unloads her gun into a man whose name is either Joey or Jimmy or Jerry--she can't quite remember. And if she did remember, she wouldn't care. Because Eve only cares about herself.

If you know Patricia Abbott’s short stories, you’ve been waiting a long time for her debut as a novelist. If you’re new to her work, you’re in for a treat. This mother/daughter tale is filled with sharp observation and lethal detail that underlines the family dysfunction (with a capital D) with economy and grace. One paragraph, early on, tells us everything we need to know about narcissistic Eve Moran and how little she cares for anyone else in her life, including her daughter: 

She invited him up to her apartment where she served him stuffed figs, cocktail nuts, dates, and several dry martinis before taking him to bed. She’d given up cooking for men after a nasty episode a few years earlier, but kept prepared foods such as these on hand for potential guests— items looking attractive in a cut-glass bowl. We often made a Sunday dinner of the leftovers if they didn’t disappear on Saturday night.

We see all too clearly the damage Mona is wreaking in her daughter’s life, even though Christine is too young to understand just how masterfully and completely she is being manipulated. But even though she’s blind to how her mother operates, Christine sees how the world works, and her point of view is clear-eyed and unsentimental, rather like Mattie Ross in Charles Portis’ novel TRUE GRIT (or Addie Pray in David Brown’s ADDIE PRAY, aka PAPER MOON). And though there’s something her father said to her mother in the heat of the divorce proceedings, something Christine can’t quite wrap her head around, the meaning is clear to us and explains so so much about Eve and why her 12-year-old daughter believes that “Saving Mother” is her special skill-set.

This is a story about lies and deceptions and what happens when all those lies come home to roost. Eve is a fantastic character, a moral chameleon whose capacity for self-delusion is even bigger than her thirst for instant gratification. CONCRETE ANGEL is a hard-boiled delight for people who like character-driven stories.

The Fixer by Joseph Finder A Review

Readers soon realize that the title of this thriller has a double meaning. Rick Hoffman has come back to the house he grew up in, a money pit of a 1903 Queen Anne house that has been on the market for months with only one offer, so lowball that the realtor didn’t even acknowledge it.

Rick, a former investigative reporter who’s just lost his job as editor of a slick metropolitan magazine called BACK BAY, is in need of some fixing up himself. Unemployed, uncoupled (his ex-fiancée has moved on) and basically unmoored, Rick latches on to the idea of fixing the house up with the help of his next-door neighbor and then selling it for seven figures.

And then he finds the money in the wall.

What happens next sends Rick on a journey he never expected and shows him a side of his law-abiding lawyer father he never suspected existed. Leonard (Lenny) Hoffman looms large in the narrative even though as the story opens, he’s lying in a long-term care nursing home, a stroke patient unable to speak. He is able to communicate though, and his message to Rick is clear. Let sleeping Benjamins lie. But Rick used to be a reporter and old habits die hard.

This book is written in a cinematic way that keeps the action moving at a brisk clip. The plot keeps opening out and getting more and more sinister with each revelation that Rick uncovers. And along the way there are old girlfriends, former neighbors, and a whole lot of people who have been keeping a couple of really dirty secrets.

I can’t say it wasn’t a little formulaic and there were elements that were kind of predictable, but honestly—if you read a lot of thrillers, it’s harder and harder for a writer to surprise you. It’s enough that this book entertains.

Just for Precious in Canada about James Patterson's Masterclass

but also fo anyone else who has tried to post a comment here. My comments section seems to be broken. Precious, I read your question about the James Paatterson masterclass and wrote a long reply and that was deleted too. How. Very. Annoying.
For those of you just joining us...
The question was--is it worth it?
I said YES and here's why.

I have supped full wuth horrors

That lines comes form Act 5, Scene 5, Line 13-15 - Macbeth. I know it's upposed to be bad luck to quote "the Scottish play" but I always felt like that was an actor's superstition, not a writer's one. I always thought that if high schools had students read Macbeth instead of Julius Caesar, there would be more Shakespeare enthusiasts in the world. But no one asked my opinion. (It's Julius Caesar and Romeo & Juliet, which has a higher body count than Hamlet and I honestly don't think those are the best plays to start with.)

If you haven't supped on any horror lately but would like to, check out my longish short story Unsanctified, which is free on Kindle this week. I did a lot of spider research for that story--yet another example of getting lost in research.  I so love Google.)

A Quiet Shelter There is coming

Gerri Leen's charity anthology (proceeds go to help homeless animals in Northern Virginia) is now edited and proofed. I just finished reading it and can tell you that it is chock full of strong stories and evocative poetry. And there are stories that will make you cry unless you're made of stone. And some that will make you smile. And a few steampunk stories that will convince you there's hope for the genre.
The anthology is called A Quiet Shelter There. I'll let you know when it's coming out. And in the meantime, a totally gratuitous picture of Orange Cat lounging on the bed in the spare room.

Master classes all around!

I have mentioned my enthusiasm for the James Patterson masterclass video learning experience and now it seems Writer's Digest books has taken note of it as well. They're offering a fantastic deal on 14 of their books and recordings on every aspect of writing. The bundle is currently selling for $50, which is a little more than $4 per item. The item that caught my eye was a recording of this: Thrillers, Killers, and Fanboys: How to Succeed as a Writer by Knowing What Not to Do: Writer's Digest Conference Session Recording

It's really exciting to me to know that I have such great tools available. Add Stephen King's On Writing and you're good to go.