BOOK REVIEW - Wrong Crowd - Richard Godwin

Wrong Crowd by Richard Godwin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: I received, at my request, an advance copy of this book from the publisher. This in no manner or form had any bearing on my review. Thank you. vmls

In this slick, fast-paced noir thriller, Richard Godwin brings the same verve and compelling narrative style that is the trademark of all of his writing, crossing genres as effortlessly as one crosses a street. Stories with sharply drawn characterizations, crisp dialogue and action that keep the reader moving as the suspense builds to its inevitable conclusion.

Wrong Crowd is a voyeuristic view of one man’s desires and the passion, if I may use such a mundane word to describe a woman who is anything but ordinary, which drives him back to a life he had thought left behind. But, to paraphrase a character in a popular American movie.... "They keep pulling me back."

That passion is Maxine. A woman who demands little and gives all. A woman whose very existence consumes Claude. Every waking moment. Every second of sleep.

Desire is a powerful force.

Claude is a man with desires... appetites… waking dreams. And neither Russian gangsters nor cheap East End hoods are going to come between Claude and the woman he would possess. Totally. At any cost.

And with each line Claude crosses, there is a little cut to his soul, a blood trail leading back to…

Ahh, but one does not want to reveal too much, does one? I will say this about Claude…

The adage 'the means justify the ends' has never been more apropos than in Wrong Crowd as Claude plumbs the very depths of his soul in his quest.

Wrong Crowd is an erotic tour de force, interwoven with cheap but deadly Russian mobsters, East End low-lifers and one man's erotic desires brought to life as only Richard Godwin can do. Godwin is like a knowing lover, his tales leaves one sated, yet eager for the next encounter.

Memorable characters, fast-paced action and more than a little ‘undercurrent’ of sex, Wrong Crowd delivers and will leave even the most die-hard reader breathless.

I recommend without reservation, Wrong Crowd. Richard Godwin often surprises, but never disappoints.

Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw
1 October 2015
(Writing under a large mushroom somewhere in the Pacific Northwest)

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BOOK REVIEW: The Beautiful Daughters - Nicole Baart

The Beautiful Daughters by Nicole Baart
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

You can run from your past for only so long. For every five steps forward you take, your past takes six, until the distance between tomorrow, today and yesterday is no more than the space between heartbeats.

************
Harper has a secret.

One that only three people in the whole world know. One of those three can't reveal Harper's secret... at least not any longer. Another won't reveal Harper's secret because to do so would reveal his own secret, and he will go to any lengths to prevent that. And the third person...?

She doesn't know yet that the secret she possesses is not the secret she is hiding.

She doesn't know yet that time and distance cannot stop the power of a secret.

She doesn't know yet that no amount of penance can still the power of a secret.

But she is about to find out. And when she does, the carefully-crafted life that she has now will be irrevocably changed.

Harper has a secret.

But she is not the only one.

************

Adri has a secret.

One that only three people in the whole world know. One of those three can't reveal Adri's secret... at least not any longer. Another won't reveal Adri's secret because to do so would reveal her own, something she is determined to prevent the disclosure of. And the third person...?

She doesn't know yet that the secret she possesses is not the secret she is hiding.

She doesn't know yet that time and distance cannot stop the power of a secret.

She doesn't know yet that no amount of penance can still the power of a secret.

She is about to find out. And when she does, the carefully-crafted life that she has painstakingly built will be changed, and there is no turning back.

Adri has a secret.

But she is not the only one.

************
In The Beautiful Daughters, the hugely talented writer Nicole Baart combines her gift for rich, textured prose with her gift of compassion and empathy for the human condition to weave a tale that is both as old as time itself and as new and fresh as this morning's sunrise.

The Beautiful Daughters is the story of two daughters... daughters not by blood, but by a bond as strong as blood. It is a story of secrets. It is a story of penance. Of redemption. And second chances.

The Beautiful Daughters is the poignantly moving and powerful story of two young women and their journey through present and past to find their future.

With her keen understanding of the human condition and a seemingly bottomless well of compassion for humanity in all its shades, Nicole tackles a subject that – sorry, no spoilers here! – will make some people uncomfortable. But, as Nicole knows all too well, fiction is a reflection of reality… one that is sometimes sharper and more defined… and writers are more than just storytellers. We are chroniclers of humanity.

I recommend The Beautiful Daughters without reservation. This is a story that will stay with you long after the last page has been turned.

Thank you,

Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw
16 August 2015
(Writing under a large mushroom somewhere in the Pacific Northwest)




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OUT OF THE CLUTTER OF A WRITER'S MIND - Perspective... It Is What It Is... Or Is It?

© 2015 – Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw

“Nobody sees the world the way you do.” – Nicole Baart

That is probably a writer’s greatest truth.  Or at least right up there near the top of the truth list.  I like what writer and author, Nicole Baart says in her blog about how each of us brings our own perspective to the world - As You See It - Nicole Baart | Author.  We do… we all have stories to tell and each one of us brings with our stories the colorings and shadings of our own unique perspective on and of the world.

So why then are we often hesitant to share?  Why do we think our story isn’t “good enough”? 

This isn’t something that plagues only the debut writer; accomplished and much-published authors suffer the same ‘affliction’ on occasion.  Once we accept our ‘uniqueness’ and what that can bring to a story, we should want, as Nicole wrote, to “shout it from the rooftops!”.

I think it is often more than just a belief that our story isn’t ‘good enough’.  

I believe for many of us, it is the sudden and certain knowledge that we are revealing more of ourselves than we are comfortable with.  Writers, like actors, musicians and other artists, have a fairly healthy, if slightly-inflated, ego and a desire to be seen and heard… to share our craft… our vision of a part of the world that has captured our attention.

But are we ready to share a part of our soul?  A glimpse inside of us that we have, until now, revealed only to a lover?  Are we ready to reveal, even obliquely, a dark part of our past that until now we’ve kept hidden away in an old wooden cigar box way back in the corner of a seldom used closet, up on the top shelf under a pile of out of fashion cardigans?

As adults, there is an intimacy in our writing that is sometimes not as easily shared as when we regaled our fifth grade class with stories of our family camping trip in the Tetons.

And that gives us pause.

As it should. 

Reflection isn’t just what one sees in a mirror or the still water of a cold mountain lake before the sun rises too high and turns the vibrant colors of morning to midday pastels.

It reminds us why we write.  Why we took up this craft that has the potential for fame or infamy… for wealth or penury… for celebrity or solitude.

There are probably as many reasons why we write as there are stars in the sky.  Each of us has our own particular reason or reasons.  For some it is to share the blessings in and of their lives.  For others, writing is a penance… a tether to a past that won’t let go.

Writing is our raison d'etre.

We write to be remembered. 

We write to be remembered for our stories.

 

Our stories may have bits and bits of ourselves, our past and our present, but the stories themselves are not about us.  They are stories of a female police detective with a past… a New York City private eye bringing his own justice to an unjust world…  a young woman who finds her own grace through the ones that love her unconditionally.

Hmm... I seem to have drifted a bit from the topic at hand.  Let me close with this...

We will always see ourselves as less ‘interesting’ than others see us.

And a little humility is not a bad thing for a writer.

It helps keep things in perspective.

~

© 2015 – Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw

(writing under a large mushroom somewhere in the Pacific Northwest)

BOOK REVIEW: Paranoia and the Destiny Programme - Richard Godwin

Paranoia And The Destiny Programme by Richard Godwin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When reality becomes so dark, brittle and confining... so tortured and twisted... and there is no escape... where does one go?

Dale Helix can't wake up. He is caught in a dream ‘cum’ nightmare. A dream that is both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. A nightmare that is freeing and soul-twisting from one breath to the next.

Dale Helix is caught in a dream that has given him purpose... a raison d 'etre. A dream... a portent of the hero the world needs.

But is it?

A dream?

Or is it a waking, walking nightmare?

Is Dale so consumed by his own paranoia... brought on by his own failings as both a man and a husband and father... that his mind has constructed its own reality in which he is alternately the 'everyman hero' who will go to any extreme to save society from itself and the 'fallen' for whom no amount of penance can bring redemption?

Dale's world is the penultimate dystopic society, a 'brave new world' shaped by the apathy of generations past and mankind's surrender of will.
Of self.

Right up to the very end, I still could not decide. Was the only thing 'real' the madness of a man who created an world in his own head... a world he could save... or watch slide into oblivion.

Or... has Richard constructed within these pages a dystopic world beyond anything contemplated by Aldous Huxley, George Orwell or P.D. James?

Richard Godwin brings such a reality to life in Paranoia and the Destiny Programme, a perfect blend of horror / erotica / science fiction / psychological dystopia… in other words…

Signature Godwin… unmistakably Richard.

I recommend Paranoia and the Destiny Programme without reservation.

Godwin at his finest!


Thank you,

Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw
6 July 2015
(writing under a large mushroom somewhere in the Pacific Northwest)


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BOOK REVIEW: CONFESSIONS OF A HIT MAN - by Richard Godwin

Confessions Of A Hit Man by Richard Godwin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

(Reviewer's note - My review does not show as a 'verified purchase' on Amazon because my review copy was a gift from the author. This in no way has any bearing on my review. Those who know me know that I will not review a book I have not read, nor can I be induced to provide a review that is not honest. Thank you. vmls) 

Richard Godwin brings in Confessions of a Hit Man, not a psychopath... the protagonist 'type' that predominates much of his work (The Apostle, Mr. Glamour, Meaningful Conversations, and a good body of his shorter stories)... but a character who is both more human and humane.

A point Richard makes in all of his stories, besides the more obvious ones relevant to a particular tale, is that we... regardless of class or upbringing... all have more than a tinge of sociopathy to our psychological make-up. We are all to some degree 'damaged'. Even the much-written 'everyman', humankind's 'anti-hero hero'.

In Confessions of a Hit Man, Richard's protagonist, Jack is no exception. Ex-Royal Marine commando (someone, I can't recall who now, once said that anyone who serves in the military, for patriotic or other reasons, is a sociopath. To a lesser degree than some, but sociopathic, nonetheless), Jack has a 'skill set' that makes him well-suited for a person whose 'life-view' has been altered by the realities of the world, but who still believes in certain fundamental principles of a civilised and progressive society.

Jack tells himself at first that it - the 'hit' - will be only the once and that the ends justify the means. Jack has, you see, an underlying philosophy. He believes in justice more than he believes in the law. He sees justice as black and white, and the law as having shades of grey. Paedophile, necrophile, murderer, sadists, psychopaths all... may have escaped the long arm of the law, but they'll soon enough meet their maker. Jack, you see, doesn't follow the 'niceties' of the law. And with each hit, Jack's proficiency only grows, adapting to each new situation as needed.

But, unfortunately, Jack and his little 'enterprises' have not escaped the attention of some very corrupt people in very high places. And when a woman, the first in a long, long time that has touched a place in Jack's heart he had thought lost forever... things get more a bit complicated for Jack. Dames will do that.

Confessions of a Hit Man is told in first-person narrative (Richard 'humanizing' a character some would consider a monster), a narrative that is tight and well-written, fast-paced and brilliant. Richard's writing, with its plots and sub-plots running like a fine-tuned engine, pulls the reader in immediately and keeps them there throughout, often at breakneck speed, building the suspense in true Godwin fashion.

With his characteristic wit, turn-of-phrase, and insight to the human condition, Richard brings to his audience another sure 'hit', if you'll pardon the pun. His spot-on psychology of a professional assassin does make one wonder though. When he's not writing, what exactly does Mr. Godwin do with himself? Hmmmm...

Once again, Richard Godwin brings his imprimatur to that dark place known as noir... and the reader is not disappointed!  I recommend this book without reservation!

Thank you,

Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw
(Writing under a large mushroom, somewhere in the Pacific Northwest)


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BOOK REVIEW: DANCING FOR THE DEVIL - by Anny Donewald

Dancing for the Devil: From the Pole to the Pulpit by Anny Donewald
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

(Reviewer's note: I received, upon request, a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher, Howard Books - a division of Simon & Schuster, in exchange for my honest review. vmls)


Fame... one's own or that of a friend or family... and the price that we are willing to pay to protect that fame, coupled with being sexually abused as a young teen set young Anny Donewald on a course... on a journey... of self-destruction that very nearly claimed her soul forever.

Dancing with the Devil tells the heart-wrenching story of a young woman caught up in the world of drugs, sex trafficking, prostitution and trade and her journey to and through that dark, dangerous world that has claimed literally tens of thousands of lives... many to the point of death and many to a life in which death would have been a welcome release from the hell on Earth they found themselves in.

It begins innocently enough... amateur night at a small time strip club. A few bucks... some free drinks are the 'prize'... and 'stories' to tell your friends later ... just another Saturday night, right?

But, wait... that wasn't the beginning of Anny's long dark night - a night that would last for years. No, for Anny the darkness began the first time she was abused by one of the players on her father's college basketball team.

For far, far too many women, their own journey into darkness began - will begin - the same way. Sexually abused at a young age by, not a stranger, but someone known... someone they are close to. Someone they trusted. And like Anny, their guilt and shame over what had been done to them made their own abuse a secret. One, as Anny says, had to be kept at all costs!

For Anny, that night was the beginning of a nightmare that seemed would never end. Guilt and shame overwhelmed her, robbing her of self-esteem, self-worth... robbing her of hope. And just when Anny feels that everything is lost... that she has used up all her chances at life... she has lost everything and everyone... save one... she ever loved or cared about... and she has finally hit rock bottom... and there is nowhere left to go...

A spark inside Anny refuses to die and a tiny voice inside her... a whimper almost lost in her dark despair... "help me... please!"

And God hears that plea... that tiny prayer... and He answers! God picks up Anny and touches her in such a soul-deep way that only our Creator... our Father... our Healer... our Redeemer... can.

Even after all the things Anny has done... after all the times that she turned away from God... all the times she set aside what she had read in the Bible... been told by friends... the messages she heard in church...

Even after all the times Anny turned her back on God... when she finally called out to Him.... He answered. Without hesitation... without condemnation... without any conditions... God answered Anny.

He lifted her up from the darkness and showed her light. He showed Anny his purpose for her.

That moment marked the beginning of Anny's next journey... one of salvation and redemption... one of hope and a message. A journey that would set her on a path of ministry that would come to touch many, many lives... and bring the message of Christ our savior to other lost souls. A message of love... of hope... of grace and mercy to countless 'lost souls', because this was Anny's calling.

It hasn't been an easy journey and I think Anny would be the first one to tell you that her journey is far from over.

At one point in the book, Anny relates something Jesus said to her. "Don't let people tell you who I am; let me show you who I am."

Anny doesn't tell us who Jesus is. She shows us. Her amazing story... from her 'fall from grace' all those years ago to where she is now... her salvation and redemption... the ministry known as Eve's Angels that she began... is an amazing testimony of God's love and of His grace and mercy.

Anny, through God's grace and with the support and encouragement of her cousin Carrie, tells an amazing, riveting and at times heart-stopping story of her journey through darkness and her divine rescue from the sex industry. Anny's open, frank words lay bare a world of depravity... a world no one wants to acknowledge exists... a world that isn't spoken of in polite company and only obliquely referenced in churches. A world that makes us squirm in our seats and change the television channel.

But more than that, it is a testimony of God's amazing grace and healing... and His unconditional, never-ending, never changing love. It is a reminder that we are all His children and there is nothing we can do... no hole so deep or dark or depraved that we find ourselves in... that He can't lift us out of.

Anny Donewald is living proof of that. She is also proof that the 'cycle' can be broken. That is part of the message of Eve's Angels, the ministry that she founded.

It doesn't matter how you got where you are. God will bring you home.

Dancing With The Devil is one of those rare reads that is hard to put down. It is told in such a compelling manner and voice that one could easily finish the book in a single sitting. I recommend this book without reservation.

Dancing For The Devil should be on everyone's 'must-read' list!


Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw
(writing under a large mushroom, somewhere in the Pacific Northwest)


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