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Book Review - "I Cum in Peace" by Brian G. Berry

23/3/2025

This novella was simply so much fun! One look at the title and you know it’s going to be. It’s classic pulp writing expertly blending a glorious mishmash of sci-fi, horror, and crime. The action rolls fast and non-stop, and there’s plenty of lascivious sex, always good to read. The alien has a libido bigger than Texas, and the title announces the lusty intentions. No spoilers, but there’s a very dark side to this randy alien. Fun, fun, fun! Exactly what good pulp should be. And one gets the distinct feel that Berry had a whole lot of fun writing it. This was my first taste of Berry’s work and based on my sheer enjoyment I’ve bought a couple more. We need more tributes to great pulp like this. And this is another superb example of the raw and honest writing that indie authors produce, free from the censorship of trad-publishing houses. Love your work, Mr Berry.
Cheers, ABP

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Book Review - "Death Cult" by Janelle Schiecke

23/3/2025

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With my recent forays into horror writing courtesy of meeting some great indie authors online, I happened upon this novella by Ms Schiecke. It’s well written, well plotted, and boiling with action. For a novella, its cast of characters is impressive, with truly all sorts in the mix. Schiecke does an excellent job at evoking one of those middle of nowhere backwaters with its collection of strange freakish people, to put it mildly. The townsfolk are ominous enough, but soon we meet the titular death cult. Then the horror truly starts. And into the fray come our unsuspecting naïve protagonists, the proverbial lambs. And the torrents of blood start. Schiecke’s tight, descriptive prose is uncensored indie writing at its best, and it had me seeing the scenes clearly in my mind, as if watching the screen. I’ll be seeking out more of her work. Thank you, Ms Schiecke, you have added no end to my new-found enjoyment in reading horror.
Cheers, ABP

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Book Review - "A Hot Dose of Hell" by Steve Stark

16/3/2025

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My first reaction when I finished Mr Stark’s stunning debut novel was that I needed a 6-star rating option, ’cos 5 simply ain’t enough!  Alas, 5 stars it will have to be.
I truly love the indie author scene – it’s a gift that keeps giving as one discovers more and more superb writing, with wonderful and talented authors delivering honest and freely expressed stories, away from the woke and censorious editors at the major publishing houses.
Horror is not my normal reading genre, although of late my forays into the indie author scene have brought me a wider range of reading, and that is a great thing.
I can’t give enough praise to this book.  It’s a hell of a storyline with non-stop action.  In the climactic scene, I was almost as out of breath as the protagonists, although thankfully I wasn’t fighting off drug-addled zombies.  Stark’s descriptive abilities on the page are outstanding, be it characters, action, or places.  The rundown British seaside town, Scarmouth, is perfectly drawn, reminding me of a couple I have seen over the years.  If you enjoy some gore and violence, this novel takes them to a whole new level.  At the same time, there’s no shortage of rich characterisation, and Stark’s obvious compassion for those people who have ended up trodden into the gutter by life is a warm and human aspect to the story.  Many of the characters we can feel something for, as flawed as they are, and there are some despicable ones, too.  Then there are the touches of Establishment and/or corporate manipulation of society, compounding everyone’s misery.  A novel for our times, indeed.  And as if that’s not enough to feed our reading hunger, then there’s the satirical humour.  Stark’s utter demolition of the virtue-signalling, woke, bourgeois middle-class is simply divine to read and laugh out loud at times.  No spoilers, but boy, do they get what they deserve!  There were humorous moments when I was reminded of Tom Sharpe, one of the greatest British comedic authors and a favourite of mine when it comes to satire.  And at risk of this putting me in a depraved light (wouldn’t be the first time!), the scene with one of Scarmouth’s monster seagulls being beaten by one of the main henchmen had me splitting my sides with laughter.
This book is an amazing achievement and, given it’s Stark’s first novel, I can only salivate at what’s to come.  Bravo, Mr Stark, and please keep writing, because, as for the end of any great performance, the crowd is on its feet shouting ENCORE!
Cheers, ABP

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Book Review - "Namaste Mart Confidential" by Andrew Miller

10/3/2025

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Namaste Mart Confidential

Andrew Miller

I’ve previously savoured several shorter pieces of Andrew Miller’s fiction, so I was eager to get hold of his debut novel, knowing what he was capable of on the page.
And Namaste Mart Confidential surpassed expectations.  This is damned fine writing.
The cover blurb calls it a “wild ride” and that is no understatement.  Miller has a wonderfully fertile imagination and we end up with this fantastically fun cast of characters, from the two protagonists, Adam and Richie, who moonlight as unlicenced PIs from their jobs at the Mart, to gangsters, cops, celebrities and their shallow sycophants, religious freaks, and a missing lingerie shop girl.  Some of the cast are likeable, some are certainly not, but all are believable and the interplays between them are finely crafted.
It's got the solid storyline of a good mystery, but it’s so much more.  At times it feels like a classic farce, with wonderful humour, but also truly biting satire of modern L.A. society, and not just L.A. for that matter.  Miller’s satirical skewering of the cult of celebrity and of the religious cults, to name two of the main targets, is simply delicious to read.
Namaste Mart Confidential will make a superb black comedy on the screen, and that day can’t come fast enough.  Meantime, take a read of this riotous romp.  Thank you, Mr Miller, and bring on your next gem.

Cheers, ABP

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Book Review - "Lost Causes" by Richard Nichols

9/3/2025

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I love a good international thriller, having grown up devouring Ian Fleming and Frederick Forsyth, amongst others. Well, now I can add Richard Nichols to the top of that glorious list. I loved this debut novel. For me, it has it all to make it an awesome spy thriller.
Our main man, John Buchan (love the tip of the hat, there!), is an excellently crafted character, with his backstory and motivations established by interspersed flashbacks. We end up with a protagonist who is human, believable, and one we can get right behind. He’s an utterly no-nonsense action man, and the bad guys can lay awake at night in fear, at least until it’s time to die! In keeping with the very best of the spy thriller genre, Nichols lays out a superb plot with intrigue and twists, and there is action pumping relentlessly from start to finish. We have the international locations, we have the guns and the hardware, and we have the smouldering hot femme fatale – all boxes ticked. Nichols delivers the tough male hero, à la Fleming, and he demonstrates the careful research, à la Forsyth. What he gives us on top, and refreshingly so in amongst the mediocrity of much modern genre fiction, is a main character who openly and unapologetically both laments the loss of more honest and more satisfying times and lambasts the wimps and woke brigades who have become the scourge of our modern world. John Buchan’s clear nostalgia for the pre-woke age, those golden days, resonates for many of us. Bravo, Mr Nichols, and please, please, please give us more!
Cheers, ABP

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Book Review - "I Cum in Peace" by Brian G. Berry

Book Review - "Death Cult" by Janelle Schiecke

Book Review - "A Hot Dose of Hell" by Steve Stark

Book Review - "Namaste Mart Confidential" by Andrew Miller

Book Review - "Lost Causes" by Richard Nichols

A.B.Patterson

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