Jack Benton

An Exquisite Short Story

Everything is ready for Mike's birthday picnic, but the forks have disappeared! Naturally, Mike blames his little brother, Kenny. In turn Kenny blames 'The Woman'. Mother thinks he's making it up, but Mike knows who it is – the ghost of Mrs Gregory next door. Using his little brother as a shield, he decides to storm the haunted house and get his mother's forks back.

Once again, Chris Ward has excelled. He really is a master of the short story. This has to be a five show more star review because there is absolutely nothing to fault. The plot is original and compelling, the characterisation superb, the language fluent and free of grammatical error. The story is perfectly paced, full of humour, yet very creepy.

This is the second of Chris Ward's stories I have read and I am not disappointed. I have several more in my TBR pile. I am saving them to reward myself in between the books I review professionally.
I cannot recommend this author too highly. show less

When I first came upon The Tube Riders, it caught my attention with the originality of the premise. Here is a world that is cut off, harshly governed, and mysterious as all get out. Add in a set of characters who are willing to put their lives at risk for a little bit of a rush, and you have my attention. I don't think I would have ever thought of riding on trains as a way to unwind. For these characters though? That's reality. It's fabulous!

More than anything else, I instantly fell in love show more with the characters in this book. Marta, Paul, Switch and Simon are all intriguing in their own right. They are all the family that each other have, even when things get crazy. If I had to choose some favorites, I'd go with Marta and Switch. Marta is a no-nonsense kind of girl who does whatever it takes to keep her family safe. Switch is a little off sometimes, but loyal as they come and deadly to his enemies. This group is so diverse that you'd think they'd argue, and sometimes they do, but they play off one another wonderfully. Above everything, I loved seeing how they survived.

The world that Chris Ward builds here is fantastic in its own right though. Mega Britain is an insane world that uses militant rule to keep people down. There is poverty, violence in the form of daily riots, and so many secrets that it'll make your head spin. When the Tube Riders uncover a sinister plot by accident, it sets in motion a series of events that will have you holding on for dear life as you read. These poor characters never really have a moment to rest. Running from the authorities, being hunted by half animal, half human creatures, and trying to just stay alive. It kind of puts the high that they used to get from riding trains in perspective.

If there was one thing that was tough for me, it was just the length of the book overall. That's not to say that it doesn't maintain a pretty steady stream of action. More that I felt there were some descriptions, and some events, that probably could have been left out and still made for a intriguing story line. Parts of the story just felt a little over written. Totally my opinion! It might be different for other readers. It obviously didn't stop me from reading all 500 pages of this book. Rightfully so, because the ending was awesome!

Let's just say that if you're looking for something original and exciting to read, this is for you! Chris Ward once again proves that self-published works can be just as amazing (if not more so) than traditionally published ones. I am extremely glad that I picked up The Tube Riders and I so hope that there is more. Now that I've been immersed in the world of the the Tube Riders, I'm not willing to leave yet. show less

Walking on Bodmin Moor, Slim Hardy stumbles over a half-buried handmade clock. He discovers it was made by a local clockmaker who mysteriously disappeared twenty years ago. But what happened to him?

I didn't find the first two-thirds very engaging and came close in DNF-ing several times but the last third made up for it with some intriguing and exciting reveals and even some rather sad moments.

Thrilling and Surreal

Michael Cassidy is a haunted man – haunted by a past so dreadful that he has never told anyone about it. His relationships are being destroyed by his latent violence, his career is in chaos and spiralling out of control, his wife is on the verge of leaving him …..
And then he gets the phone call. His sister has died and he must return to his childhood home and confront whatever awaits him there.

This is a gripping story. The plot is convoluted and so surreal that it is show more not easy to tell how much is happening in real life and how much in the tortured mind of Michael Cassidy. Certainly some of the people of Tamerton are not what they appear to be. There is a feeling of undefined menace throughout which keeps the reader in thrall.

Mr Ward is a superb writer, his novels are well-structured, with well-developed (if not always likeable) characters and excellent pacing. This novel is no exception. I was never sure I properly understood what was going on but this ambiguity kept the tension high and I became more and more eager to find out what had really happened in Tamerton all those years ago.

Do we find out? I’m not telling you. You don’t want to know. Believe me. show less