Deep Crossing by E.R. Mason

Deep Crossing

Review of the novel Deep Crossing by E. R. Mason

Published by Kindle on 9^th July 2012.

Cost: £0.00

ISBN  (Kindle Edition – 342 pages)

I enjoy Science Fiction and found this story by E.R. Mason on Kindle. For me a story has got to have pace and be captivating, but this story failed to live up to the promotional blurb. This is the second story in a series of three, so I came into a series that should have developed the characters and possible expectations for the reader. It’s not easy to follow page numbers on the Kindle, instead it lets you know what percentage you are through the story, but when reading I like to finish a chapter and in most instances this was eight Kindle pages, but there were a few chapters with 20 pages.

The main character is Adam Tarn and as much of the story is written in the first person, we see the world through his eyes. However, the style of telling the story is not consistent depending on the involvement with other characters, but it is led by Tarn and his leadership instincts move the story on.

Tarn is given command of a refurbished spaceship called the Griffin; it’s been modified by the Nasebians, an intelligent race of people that also live on Earth, and the mission is to retrieve a Nasebian item far out in space beyond a distance that the Nasebian race can travel. Over a third of the book details how the crew of eight are recruited and their training on a flight simulator. It’s in Chapter 17 on the first test flight of the Griffin that the crew help a stranded ship and we learn of their individual skills in an emergency. Eventually they set off on the planned mission; on route they land on a planet where they lose a crew member to a large flying insect; find themselves disoriented in a void; and finally arrive at a distant planet. The planet is given the name Earth II; not only is it an early version of Earth, but it has the crew’s doubles, which they use to solve a problem they encounter.

This brief insight into the story will quickly have fans of Star Trek and Star Gate thinking I've heard this before, and this was how I felt. When it started to happen I began to lose interest in the story and the skill of Mason and his ability to write a captivating Science Fiction story. Individual characters are well described with their oddities and Tarn questions if all of them should go on the mission; he builds up a great working relationship with the character RJ and Mason manages this well. After achieving the mission objectives the story seems to come to an abrupt end as the spaceship is quickly returned to Earth, but leaves an opening for the next book.

If I was disappointed by the story-line it was added to by the poor spelling and grammar, which got progressively worse as the story progressed. There were also serious faults with text layout on the Kindle – gaps between words and text in the middle of a sentence defaulting to a gap of two or three lines – it detracted from the story and it was difficult to understand how a publisher would ‘print’ a book with such serious errors.

I'm not in a rush to read the other books in the series, and if I had paid a typical price of £7.99 for the paperback book I would have been very disappointed, however, it was a free Kindle book. Rating: 2 stars

Dr James Sheppard

23 February 2015

The Hanging in the Hotel by Simon Brett

The Hanging in the Hotel

Review of the novel The Hanging in the Hotel by Simon Brett

Published by Allison & Busby Ltd in 2004.

Cost: £15.99

ISBN 0-333-90853-8 (Hardback Edition – 374 pages)

Simon Brett is currently the President of the Detection Club that supports and promotes British Crime Writers; taking up the position in 2000. He has written a number of stories and has developed several leading characters that present themselves in his series of books. The Hanging in the Hotel is book three in the Fethering Mysteries series.

This is a crime that is solved by two middle-aged ladies, Jude (whose surname is never disclosed) and Caron Shedden, both divorcees and in their 50’s. The majority of the action takes place at Hopwick Country House Hotel, owned by Suzy Longthorne, a onetime celebrity, that still has her looks and knows how to run an exclusive country hotel. The story focuses on a function held at the hotel for an organisation called ‘The Pillars of Sussex’ – a group of solicitors that raise funds for the local community - when one of the group is found hanging from his four-poster bed the following day. It is Jude that finds the body of Nigel Ackford and has reason to believe he has been murdered, but the police believe the evidence points towards a suicide.

The narrative revolves around that fact that no one takes Jude’s theories seriously and the fact that the local police seem rather incompetent. Brett decides not to present the police investigation to the reader, but we are made aware of some strange aspects to their enquiry, which do to their failure to follow-up, have a serious impact on the murder investigation. Prior to his death the victim gave his mobile phone to his girlfriend as she had lost her own, and planning to get a new one for himself. These days it would be impossible to consider an individual managing their daily routine without a mobile phone, but it was similar in 2004. So, you have to ask why the police make no enquiry as to establishing the whereabouts of Ackford’s mobile phone; this is a serious mistake and has grave consequences on the solution to the murder. It is three-quarters of the way through the book that Jude finds out that someone has been ringing Ackford’s mobile phone and the story immediately takes a serious change of direction.

Although there are lots of twists and turns and red herrings presented by Brett as he proves his skills as an excellent writer, we find the police make another serious error, or Simon Brett makes a writer's error. On page 177 Jude decides to discuss her findings with Inspector Goodchild, providing the name of a guest staying at the hotel on the night of the murder, but the inspector’s comments are:

“Miss Longthorne told me he had been there as soon as I asked her whether any other people had been staying on the premises”

However, on page 191, Suzy is stunned when Jude knows that her husband was at the hotel on the night of the murder; followed up by the husband (Rick) on page 224:

“Jude, just take my word for it – my presence at the hotel must be kept a secret”

It is very clear that no one has told the police that Rick was staying at the hotel.

Apart from these minor errors the story is a good murder mystery read. There is a lot of intrigue and the implied power that senior members of The Pillars of Sussex have over the local community is managed well. I like the way that Brett manages conversation between his characters, doing away with the need to repeat spoken words, opting for the style: ‘Jude confirmed what had just been said’, or ‘Jude agreed with Carol’. In a story that has a lot of dialogue, the inferred conversation moves the reader on to the next aspect of the story.

The story concludes with an unexpected revelation as to the murderer on page 364, a possible but least likely suspect, which the police should have made a suspect very early on in their investigation and one that Jude considered likely early in the narrative.

This story is Simon Brett at his best, it would have to score well with readers and made me want to seek out the other books in The Fethering Mysteries series. Rating: 4 stars

Dr James Sheppard

11th February 2015

Soldier of Fortune by Edward Marston

Soldier of Fortune

Review of the novel Soldier of Fortune by Edward Marston.

Published by Allison & Busby Ltd in 2009.

Cost: £6.99

ISBN 978-0-7490-8088-4 (Paperback Edition - 413 pages)

Edward Marston is the author of numerous books and is former Chairman of the Crime Writers’ Association. Soldier of Fortune is the first in the series of historical novels that introduces his hero Captain Daniel Rawson.

The story leads up to the famous Battle of Blenheim in 1704, but prior to that we learn of the death of Daniel’s father and how this strives him on to take up the career of a soldier in the English army; his skills recognised by the Duke of Monmouth and Lord Churchill. We discover that his skills are that of a spy, linguist and ladies’ man. As he seduces the wife of a French General he stirs the wroth of a man that will stop at nothing to get his revenge and is chased across Europe. But as a ladies’ man Captain Rawson has also attracted the eye of Lady Abigail Piper, who lives in London, and she decides to follow him across Europe with her maid. The book details how the Duke of Marlborough, with a combination of deception and brilliant administration, marched his army of almost 70,000 men 250 miles from the Low Countries to the river Danube in five weeks. It is Captain Rawson’s fearsome leadership taking part in the ‘Forlorn Hope’, first attacks on the enemy that Edward Marston describes so well, giving the reader the feeling that he is there on the front line. The involvement of Abigail lets Marston bring out the gruesome aspects of war that she finds horrific, and she tries to persuade Rawson to return to England. As the story links back to the anger of the French General, Abigail is captured by two of his men, which results in a distraction for Rawson and his exchange for Abigail’s life. However, as with all heroes, Rawson survives and lives to return to fight the French with The Duke of Marlborough.

This is a story that is riveting from start to finish, Marston’s skill at describing the scene, whether it be aspects of the war against the French or the individual skills of his hero. Finishing on page 413, it is a book I found difficult to put down, reading it over three days, it has made me want to search out the next three books in the series. I was never somebody to enjoy history, but it is this type of story that has brought back my love of the subject. I knew it was going to be a great read having read other books by Edward Marston. Rating: 5 stars

Dr James Sheppard

3rd February 2015