Reviews

Lying in Wait was a finalist in the YouWriteOn Book of the Year Awards 2010

Lying in Wait

'Engrossing start - I liked the strong characters, the well paced narrative and the clear sense of structure in your writing. It has a well-honed quality and really feels like the start of a carefully thought out (and complete) novel. '

'A great tale - Malachy Flynn is a well-written character and I can’t wait to see what happens to him. All of the characters are realistic and well drawn.'

'I liked - the intercutting of the two stories. I liked the contrast of the different landscapes, I liked the peaks of tension.'

'I liked - the ideas in this book, the struggle for survival by people who are at the bottom of the pile. I think the author has done some homework on the settings with good detail about the run-down places her characters inhabit.'

Lying in Wait is available for download from Amazon Kindle on Amazon co.uk and Amazon.com. Click on the link to see more reviews:

Lying in Wait - Kindle Version

Meggie Blackthorn is a finalist in the YouWriteOn Book of the Year Awards 2011

Meggie Blackthorn

'I did enjoy reading this. An original idea, beautifully written. The narrative voice was perfect - Meggie so came across as an intelligent eleven year old. And her behaviour and her brother Jack's was believable throughout. So, I might add, was that of her parents and the younger siblings ... ... ... Can't wait to read it. This is clearly a book that can be enjoyed by adults and children alike. The settings by the way were brilliant...'

Wow, Elizabeth - stumbled across this, started reading and couldn't stop. This is incredibly powerful - you take us to that northern pit village, and the family too full already of children, and the world of a young, determined girl.

Visually stunning, a lovely balance of landscape and details, (e.g. the outlines of the old houses in the valley) without the details bogging the pace.

This felt right. With one or two observations which I will make shortly. The vista of a community in transition from grinding poverty and exploitation to a better future with education and some benefits, but the spectre of another unwanted pregnancy looming. Expertly crafted, skilfully written.

A Bed of Knives

A Bed of Knives

'I enjoyed this. It's well written, with interesting, distinctive characters, credible dialogue and a nice balance of narration with it, and a good set-up to carry the story. I thought you did the segues well, shifting from one character to another without back-tracking too much or making the action jerky and confusing, as happens too often with multiple-POV stories. That takes enviable skill.'

'It has real atmosphere. The characters are drawn in an easy and slightly understated way that allows us to fill in the gaps ourselves without objecting to the work. They do real things in a real sort of way.'