BOOK REVIEW - KAREN BERGREEN: FOLLOWING POLLY

Following Polly: A Novel by Karen Bergreen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I laughed... I cried... I fell in love with Alice Teakle!

~~**~~

In her debut novel, Karen Bergreen has created a wonderfully plucky heroine one can't help but fall in love with, Alice Teakle.   Alice is a little bit everywoman.  I mean that in the sense that there is much in Alice that we can all identify with.  Alice isn't perfect... she has her flaws... doesn't always show good judgment and sometimes needs pointed out to her when her moral courage is lacking.  Sound like anyone we know?  Really?  Stand in front of a mirror and ask yourself that question.

Following Polly is delightful romp (ewww, I hate that word!) through the world of a girl and her obsessions.  A world this reviewer can identify with to a degree.   I am a writer and a people watcher... okay, sometimes, I follow people too.  Not quite to the degree of Alice to be sure, but...

Karen has written an original, brilliant and totally believable story in which she has drawn characters that are well defined and absolutely believable (am I the only one who squirmed in discomfort at some of the things her characters did, only because I recognized my own behavior?).  And Karen has done it with a humor and verve that make Following Polly one of the most compelling reads I have come across in quite a while.

Sometimes curiosity doesn't kill the cat... but it will get her 25 to life behind bars and the privilege of being some bull dyke's plaything.  Unfortunately, Alice doesn't really consider this when she begins stalking Polly Dawson... a woman who snubbed and took advantage of people like Alice probably from her early days in preschool... Polly is just that kind of person.

Alice first meets Polly in college, where Polly does what Polly does best... and Alice doesn't forget.   Years later, having just been sacked from a job she didn't particularly like and a boss she liked even less, Alice's neuroses and obsession come full bloom when Polly comes back into her life.   And, before her best friend Jean can say "... umm... sweetie, that's a really bad idea!"... Alice is off!

Unfortunately, for Alice anyway - Polly was a bitch and bitches get their just desserts (I'm paraphrasing the author here... *wink*)- things quickly go pear-shaped (it's a UK idiom... Google it) in Alice's stalking... err, I mean, following and Polly Dawson turns up dead.   Alice has the extreme bad luck of being the first one to discover the still-warm, but no longer breathing, body.

With all evidence pointing to our plucky heroine, Alice decides that a strategic exit stage right is in order and quickly throws on her invisibility cloak.  Or, would if she had one.  Oh, and something else...

Someone else comes back into Alice's life as well... will this person turn out to be her savior... or her downfall?

I hate spoilers and I don't much care for reviews that are little more than chapter and verse synopses of the book, so I will stop here.  I don't think I've revealed anymore than the back cover of the book does.  Anyone who has read my reviews knows I don't simply write down the plot points.  My goal is to get you to read the book, so I will give you a few little teasers and my take on the story, but if you want to know whodunit or do the ill-fated lovers finally overcome all odds and live happily ever after or is justice truly served... you will have to read the book.

In closing, Karen Bergreen's wicked sense of humor truly shines in Following Polly.  This is definitely a must-read and I can recommend it without hesitation.

Thank you, Karen, for a wonderful read. Even though I bawled through the last twenty pages.   I can't help it... I'm just a hopeless romantic, I guess.

"I love you, Alice Teakle!"


Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw

Cannon Beach, Oregon
12 August 2012





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BOOK REVIEW - LILY CHILDS: CABARET OF DREAD, VOLUME I

Cabaret of Dread; a Horror Compendium by Lily Childs
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Have I said before that Lily’s writing is breathtaking, dark, delicious, grippingly horrific, gutsy, brilliant, compelling, driving, visceral, lusty, erotic and…oh, back ‘round to breathtaking, are we?


Horror mistress Lily Childs brings us a stunning collection of contemporary and neo-period horror, with a tantalizing dash of crime fiction, in Cabaret of Dread, Volume I – demons, murderers, ghosts, wraiths, psychopaths and piteously lost souls abound in the pages of Cabaret, bringing their horrifying agendas to fruition.

From the moment I first saw the cover art for Cabaret of Dread, I knew that I was in for a literary treat I would not soon forget.  I believe I even mentioned to Lily that I was off to the market to buy another night light in preparation for her latest masterpiece.

When one hears the word ‘cabaret’, they think of fun… joyous abandon… loosening of one’s inhibitions… glee and good cheer, right?   Life is a cabaret, as the saying goes.

In Cabaret of Dread, Volume I, the first tome of Lily’s vast collection of penned horror and urban fantasy, the word cabaret in the title is a bit of a misnomer as the only joyous abandon in these pages is that of the lustful and horrifyingly visceral cravings and desires of beings, some considerably less than human, lost in their wanton frenzies.

Lily’s vibrant, violent and oft ‘dripping’ narrative style fires the imagination, taking one to those dark places where her characters dwell and satisfy their hungers, surrendering to their dark ‘masters’, be they another being entirely or just another facet of an already tortured soul clawing and clutching for a peace that eludes.

Every piece in this collection is brilliantly done… a rich tapestry of words that conjure dark and bloody, melancholy (sometimes poignant), horrific images and a maelstrom of emotions… and in my case, leave one scrambling for the night light.  I intend no slight toward any of these exquisitely crafted slices of horror in remarking here on only a handful of the tales that seem to flow effortlessly from Lily’s pen.

Right from the very first, our senses are alit with the bloodily gruesome and visceral imagery presented in “Dressing-Up Box”.  The ballerina here bears no resemblance at all to my pink and grey tutu-ed adolescence… or that of my pre-pubescent classmates from my days of ballet.  I wonder what Madame would say to this?

“If I take my eye out and put it in a pickle jar whilst I mould a pair of sockets, I’ll only be able to see at an angle.”

Now, there is a tasty little morsel, isn’t it? Ooohh…. Gave me a right little shiver!

And, as Lily says… “The dance begins.”

“Cold September Call” leaves a chill… and one wondering what could possibly have transpired to warrant such a fate for a young girl.

In “Smiling Cyrus” there’s a line that tears at my heart –

“’Cyrus isn’t coming back.’  She’s practiced the line until it no longer shakes in her mouth.”

From “Hidden Beast”, this little ‘gem’ put me off the evening’s meal; Tina’s usually wonderful Liver and Portobello in red wine reduction –

“Drawing the lobe to his lips Mifkin began to chew, tasting the blood before it cooled and congealed.”

“Carpaccio” is both funny and horrifying in its murderous matter-of-factness. I thoroughly enjoyed this tale!

“In Adoration” will leave the squeamish running from the room…. “ha-ha… soft basta…”  Oops!  I have to be careful here…. Amazon doesn’t like sweary words.

I must say that “In Adoration” is one of my favorites.  I probably should not take such rapacious delight in the demonic seduction of the holy and [self] righteous (it’s okay, though... I confessed when I next went to church), but hey… it’s fiction!

Right, Lily?  Right….?  Lily……?

Besides, with lines like this, how can one not enjoy the tale –?

“Orgasm plays between her legs in satisfaction at being such a good Samaritan.”

“Staring At The Pink” - this one was especially chilling... sleep was a long time coming after reading Lily’s tale of the clash between corporeal and spirit world and what happens when a person’s spirit breaks upon the death of the corporeal being; the ‘dark half’ biding its time, then returning with a sinister need… a soul that is not hers to own.

There is a line - "Pink Nana dies, for the second time, in the safety of my arms."

Well, I may have let my imagination get the best of me… as I said; sleep would not come for a long time.

“The Infanta Triptych” is the closing tale in this collection… and the crown jewel out of these forty-three dark and wickedly delicious tales.  Vampire horror at its very best!

At times shockingly raw, to the point of catching one’s heart in their throat… often melancholy… Lily’s prose is filled with a power and determination that truly will leave one breathless… that is, if they have a beating heart inside their chest.

Not for the faint of heart… there is nothing mundane, mediocre, ordinary or trifling… Cabaret of Dread more than delivers on the promise the name Lily Childs brings to aficionados of horror and dark urban fantasy.  Whether it is one of the delicious little slices of flash fiction or a mini-novelette piece, Lily’s writing will leave your senses both shaken and stirred!

I had only one complaint whilst reading Cabaret of Dread… but my complaint is directed at the weather, not Lily.  The weather gods did not see fit to bring me a little thunder and lightning… Cabaret is a book that begs to be on a dark and stormy night!

I’m almost afraid to ask Lily what she has in store for us in Volume II… not that her answer would keep me away.  This girl does like to scare herself!

And now I must go and replace the lamp in my night light… it is flickering rather alarmingly.

I raise my glass to you, Lily… Saude!


Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw
Silverdale, Washington
Cannon Beach, Oregon
19 May 2012


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BOOK REVIEW- VICTORIA WATSON: LETTING GO

Letting Go by Victoria Watson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

(Reviewer's note - I posted my review over on Amazon US and Amazon UK some weeks back, but neglected to post here.

 LETTING GO is a collection of short fiction that I recommend without reservation.  I would also mention that I received no compensation for this review... it is based solely on the merits of the book.   Thank you. vmls)

Someone once said that “fear and regret are the cruelest prison… a prison of our own construct… one we put ourselves in.”

Regret is just that… a cruel prison… one we build from our own shattered dreams and lost hopes, where ‘why’ is replaced with an endless litany of ‘should haves’ and ‘wished I’d done the other’ and ‘if only’.  But, life doesn’t always give one a second chance, as we find out in Letting Go… a collection of short stories from Victoria Watson.

Victoria Watson is an impressive writer… a great talent who uses her keen insight and observations of the human condition to draw with words… sad, dark, sometimes horrific, and heart-breakingly poignant pictures of humanity… troubled souls lost in despair… their hopes and dreams washed away in the rain of their own tears.

Victoria brings a depth to her characters and a level of emotion… completely un-contrived and so real that the reader feels almost as if they were in the same room, that they were reliving the very experience on the pages before them… which, in the words of another writer I admire, rivals that of Anita Shreve.

In Letting Go, Victoria writes with a strong voice and uses a stunning descriptive narrative style that draws the reader in from word one and carries them through, completely captivated and totally absorbed in her tale.  More than once, I had to pause while reading her stories and catch my breath… this is some serious writing here, people… wow!  And, more than once I had to set aside the book… a bit over-whelmed at the emotional response Victoria’s writing brought out in me.

Not to take anything away from the other stories, but there were a couple that really stood out to me… touched something…

"Bye, Bye Baby" is a heart-wrenching story of loss… one I wished I’d skipped when I was through (this is a testament to your writing, Victoria; it is by no means a critique)… written with such raw emotion, the reader can’t put down even if they wanted to.  Tina and I are ‘working on’ our first child and I should probably leave stories like this alone.  Make no mistake though… "Bye, Bye Baby" may just well be the best written of all eight stories.

In "I Should Have Seen It Coming", Victoria tells a remarkable tale of deceit and what happens when fate ‘deals the cards’… the just rewards received only a part of the regret visited upon a woman who dared to tempt powers she had no comprehension of.  In spite of the protagonist’s deceit, the reader finds empathy for her… due in large part to the strong voice in Victoria’s writing.

"Inside" is a reflective, metaphorical tale where the reader is drawn into the emotional past of the protagonist and lulled into a sense of nostalgia… until past regrets catch up and life’s tragedy is unveiled before us.

I highly recommend Letting Go.  This is truly a ‘must-read’ collection of stories of the human condition.  The ‘twists’ in each tale are perfectly executed.

Each and every story is wonderfully written… evocative and a reminder to the reader not to judge others too severely, but to stop and reflect back on our own lives at how easily things might have turned out different.  A life could turn on something as innocuous and innocent as not looking in the back seat before stepping in one’s car.

And remember… one can’t rebuild a life if they spend their days kicking through the rubble of regrets.

Thank you, Victoria, for a truly memorable collection of prose.  These stories will stay with me long after I have read them.  That is a good mark of how well-written a story is and the caliber of the writer.

In closing, I wish you much success in all your endeavors.


Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw
Portland, Oregon
Silverdale, Washington
5 May 2012


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BOOK REVIEW - NANCY MOSER: MOZART'S SISTER

Mozart's Sister by Nancy Moser
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The question is asked...

"Is the recognition she (Nannerl Mozart) so longs for the truest measure of her gifts?"

This is a question that I believe we all need to ask of ourselves... is fleeting fame or our name in the footnotes of history the truest measure of what God has given us?

Extremely well-written, Mozart's Sister is more than a story of a sibling living in the shadow of her very talented brother... it is a sharp glimpse into a world where a woman's choices - regardless of her talents and abilities - are extremely limited, and her hope for dreams realized is slim, if not non-existent.

It is also a story of faith and believing that God has a plan and a purpose for each of us and His wisdom and and love and our faith will guide us to that purpose, where we will ultimately find our true 'life' and purpose... our fulfillment... our true gift.

I am looking forward to reading more from this very talented writer.  I suspect that were I able to travel back in time, I would find that Nancy Moser has captured perfectly the 'atmosphere' and circumstances of the period.

The back cover of the book has the comment that "Nancy Moser unveils one of history's hidden heroines."  I could not agree more!

Thank you,


Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw
Cannon Beach, Oregon
15 May 2012


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BOOK REVIEW - KEVIN O'KEEFE: THE AVERAGE AMERICAN

The Average American: The Extraordinary Search for the Nation's Most Ordinary Citizen by Kevin O'Keefe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"The average American takes a 10.4 minute shower... 86% of those pee in the shower and 67% do not sing in the shower..."



A great little conversation starter for my next party.

It is nice to see some 'myths' exploded and I appreciated the insight into how the media and marketing businesses twist statistics around to suit their own narrow agendas... "you mean JIF really ISN'T the number one peanut butter in America?"

I think where Kevin has stumbled a bit is in trying to make this some kind of spiritual quest. Stick to the task at hand... find the Average American.

I am pleased, although not in the least surprised to find that I am not an 'average American'. For starters... my showers run more than 10 minutes... I don't pee in the shower, although I... but, I digress...

All in all... an interesting read; one which shouldn't be taken too seriously, but with the 'tongue-in-cheek' spirit in which it should be.

After all... is there really an 'average' American... or any other nationality, for that matter?  Like snowflakes, we humans are 'no two alike'... unique and special in our own ways.

We are not average or ordinary!

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BOOK REVIEW - NICOLE BAART: FAR FROM HERE

Far From Here by Nicole Baart

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Reviewer’s note – I am an independent writer.  I am also a freelance reviewer for Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster.  What this basically means is that I am on an email list, and the publisher notifies me of new releases.  If I see a book that I like, they will send me a copy. In other words, I choose the book that I wish to read and I write a review and post it on my websites.  My reviews are based solely on the merits of the book, and I receive no remuneration from the publisher or author, other than a copy of the book, in exchange for posting a review on my blogs.  I also post my reviews on GoodReads.  The following is my review of Nicole Baart’s Far From Here.  Thank you – vmls)

~~**~~

Nicole Baart has written an inspiring story of hope and human frailty, weaving a rich tapestry with the finely crafted, beautiful prose we have come to expect from this immensely talented writer, and the all too realistically drawn characters that can only come from someone with the unique and compassionate understanding of the human condition that Nicole has.   If we at times are made to feel a bit uncomfortable at something one of her characters says or does, it is only a tribute to Nicole’s incredible skill as both writer and storyteller.

No spoilers here… I promise (well, maybe just a tiny bit.).  Far From Here is more than just a book of roughly 340 pages… it is an experience one cannot fully appreciate through the eyes or words of another.   I do not use the phrase ‘must-read’ lightly, but never has it been more apt than with Far From Here.  Nicole Baart’s latest novel will take you on a journey of joy, pain, happiness and sorrow… a journey of discovery… of revelation… that will leave you healed and renewed… with new hope and promise.

Okay, maybe I will ‘spoil’ it a little… this story is going to make you cry, so grab a big box of Kleenex!

~~**~~

What do you do when your whole world turns on one person, and one day that person is gone?

What do you do when your happy little, perfect world is tilted on its axis… and the life that you knew shatters into a thousand pieces… and you watch helplessly as all those pieces slide away.

Far From Here is a story of love and loss… the journey between the two and the journey through the aftermath… a search for truth… for redemption… a search for ‘self’, not the person we thought we were or the person [we let] someone else define us as.

Redemption is a journey for which the only road map is our heart. It is not always an easy journey, navigating around and through the scars and fissures the life lost has left behind.  And as Danica will come to realize… you can’t find redemption in an ‘echo’ of the past.

But… I’m getting ahead of the story…

~~**~~

Danica Reese meets the ‘boy of her dreams’, the one who makes her soul take flight, when she is sixteen.   Etsell Greene is a young man with an imperfect, through no fault of his own, past… not unlike Danica’s in some respects.  But, broken families don’t always leave broken children… just imperfect children.  Ell and Dani aren’t perfect, but in each other they come as close as two people can.  Or, so Danica comes to believe.

The two seem oddly suited for each other, given Ell’s deep love for flying and Dani’s almost pathological hatred of flying.  But… as some of us know all too well… the heart wants what the heart wants, and it won’t be denied.

Danica and Etsell are married three years later and for the next seven years build a life for themselves, settling into the ‘routine’ of married life. It’s not a perfect life, but love smoothes over the little bumps and detours.

Love is also at times, painfully blind.

One of those ‘bumps’ the two must work through is Ell’s decision to go to Alaska for a period of weeks to help out a pilot friend.  The decision is a unilateral one, but not the first one in their relationship, and the two find a way to work through it.

Little do either realize that their little ‘Xanadu’ is about to be turned inside out.

Ell’s last flight turns into one of ‘no return’ and Danica’s life suddenly stalls, falling into a tailspin.

Over the next several weeks, Dani is forced to re-examine her marriage and try to come to terms with the almost unbearable questions her husband’s disappearance has raised.  And when she learns that Ell was not alone on that last flight, Dani’s carefully crafted life is revealed to be little more than a house of sand, and the ‘wind’ of Ell’s disappearance scatters it… possibly irrevocably.

Out of the wreckage and all the emotions that come with loss – the loss of trust, fidelity, companionship, self - Danica slowly begins to rebuild her life, and in doing so reconnects with her mother and sisters, gaining new insight into herself and her family.  Nicole narrates this in an incredibly profound and moving telling… the resilience of mother and daughters… sisters… the love that was always there and is now made stronger through their shared adversities.

One evening, with [almost] all of the women in Danica’s life gathered around her, a knock comes at the front door…

Who is at the door? Do they bring news… good or bad, it doesn’t matter… do they bring new hope, or only fresh pain?

~~**~~

You’re going to hate me, but I am stopping here.   As I mentioned earlier, Far From Here is a ‘must-read’.   Go buy the book, borrow it from a friend… write me and I will loan you my copy…

But… read this book!

Far From Here is about more than just the relationship between two people… much, much more.

I will close with this…

I met my [now] wife, Christina, on my 21st birthday… five and a half years ago.  When we first met, my life was in tatters… I had no expectation of celebrating a 22nd birthday.   But Tina didn’t see it that way. She was the gravity that pulled the torn pieces of my life back together and made me whole again.

Will Danica find her gravity?



Thank you.

Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw
11 February 2012
Cannon Beach, Oregon
veronicathepajamathief@hotmail.com


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