Stephen Jared

Print Length:127 pages
Publisher:Solstice Publishing (February 2, 2014)
Sold by:Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language:English
ASIN:B00I805JB4


Brief Synopsis

In Stephen Jared’s book “A Brutal Illusion,” the reader becomes drawn into a classic plot. Allyson is a 23 – year – old girl from a farm in Indiana. She moves across the country to Hollywood to pursue her dreams of stardom as an actress. A star.

However, she finds a bit of stardom with much promise; only it came with a price. Being naive Allyson found herself in the clutches of a mobster named Lenny Carsen. He was a gorilla of a man in stature towering over her by eight inches. Swept in by what she thought was an oddly coy nature she lived with him, and he pulled strings to get her a contract with a major studio.

Life was good. She enjoyed her new job, met some kind people at the studio and even a sweet, gentle writer named Jimmy. The pieces of her dreams were falling into place. However, there was a tangle of morals and mayhem coming as sure as a dark cloud hovers over the sea queuing an approaching storm. Would Allyson survive the storm, or be pulled beneath the pounding waves?

My Thoughts



Author Stephen Jared has a good grasp on his characters. They are woven through the tangles of the steadily progressing plot like a well-defined tapestry. While I read about Allyson, she felt real. I could feel her drive to succeed and her enormous joy upon her landing her first contract. The reader is taken on a tour through old Hollywood through Allyson’s eyes. We get to see the background of movie making with an old Hollywood feel of what goes on behind the scenes. This book moves well. There are mobsters, intrigue, there is building suspense and the horror of being pushed beyond one’s limits. How far is too far when faced with imminent death? What would you do in the hast of the moment?

This is a great ride of a crime drama. I found myself lost in the pages and enjoyed the way the writing played with emotions and led me into each character’s world. It allowed me to define whether I liked them or hated them. I like that about good writing. Would I recommend “The Brutal Illusion”? I absolutely would, and I would follow that with five stars! If you like fast-paced crime dramas with believable characters that pop from the pages, read: “The Brutal Illusion” by author; Stephen Jared.

Thank you for reading this review written by, Arwin Blue

May you have happy dreams through the pages of many dusty tomes!… (more)

The Brutal Illusion is Stephen Jared’s fourth Home Run. Like his previous novels, the story uses Hollywood as its starting point. Jared is also an actor and his abiding interest and knowledge of Hollywood history is evident in The Brutal Illusion as well as Jack and the Jungle Lion, The Elephants of Shanghai, and The Ten a Week Steale. I recommend all of Stephen’s books for fans of both classic Hollywood films and golden age pulp adventure fiction. The Brutal Illusion is a short novel, highly entertaining, and loaded with mood, history and suspense. Allyson Rockwell is a shapely young woman with a dream, and Hollywood beckons. But Tinsel Town is only part illusion, the rest of it is real, and often quite brutal. Hollywood is brutal, and when she’s on the verge of giving up and leaving Los Angeles when she meets Lenny Carsen, This Carsen fellow is in “management” which might mean he has connections – of the crooked kind. But no matter, Rockwell is soon under contract to Carl Laemmle Jr., and she starts getting small parts in pictures. Eventually she meets Jimmy Sneed, a young screenwriter. Things start to look up for Rockwell, who has been staying with Carsten. Naturally, Carsten is not all that he seems, and slowly things being to spiral into an entirely different direction. The Brutal Illusion is a drama, and as I read it I realized that it would make a good film. That’s not unusual considering that Jared himself is an actor. All of Jared’ stories would make good films. He knows what makes for an interesting character, his dialogue is spot on, and the pacing is right. I love the historical tidbits that he sprinkled into The Brutal Illusion. Jared is highly imaginative, imminently creative, and always worth reading. I also just realized something that would be really interesting – I’d like to see Jared himself in a film adaptation of one of his books, like Mickey Spillane did with The Girl Hunters. Now that would be really cool. The Brutal Illusion is published by Solstice Publishing and is available now on Amazon.com.… (more)

The Elephants of Shanghai by Stephen Jared is a 2013 publication and published by Solstice Publishing. I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
This wonderful trade size paperback novel is two stories in one book.
The first story is our introduction to Jack Hunter entitled "Jack and the Jungle Lion".
Set in the late 1930's, Jack Hunter is an actor, famous for his roles as the 'hero' in romantic action adventure movies.
He is married to an actress in the traditional Hollywood business arrangement sort of way. His wife's career is on a down slide and so when Jack takes off to shoot another movie, she stays home hoping to revive her career.
However, Jack never makes it to his movie set. Instead of an imaginary adventure, Jack finds himself on a real life adventure when his plane crashes in the Amazon.
Also surviving the crash was the lovely Maxine Daniels and her niece and nephew as well as the co-pilot. While managing to survive the natives and various other threats, Jack and Max fall in love.
Will they make it home? Will Jack and Max have a chance at love ?

In the second half of the book- "The Elephants of Shanghai", Jack and Max have moved on from the Hollywood lifestyle and settled in Texas. Max's niece and nephew are old enough now to start living their own lives. With a war raging, Jack feels restless and needs to be involved, to do some good.
When Max realizes Jack is in China and in some real trouble, she heads that way herself with their trusty co-pilot from their previous adventure, Clancy.
Upon arrival, Max learns Jack has uncovered an underworld connection that implicated a United States Senator. Max is furious with Jack and his need to have more in his life than marriage to her and raising the children. When she gets into a little trouble herself, Jack tries to convince Max to join up with him to make other's lives better. But, first they have to escape from a few harry situations.

These books are wonderful. Action, Romance, and Adventure set in the 30's and 40's. If you ever watched some of the older movies similar to those our Jack Hunter starred in, you will find yourself feeling like you have tripped back in time. The stories left me with a feeling of nostalgia. Both these books were absolutely a blast.
I loved the banter between Max and Jack. Jack had a really laid back personality, but still liked to be the center of attention, and although Max out did him a few times, he was still a man's man.
The harrowing escapes the two lived through in the Amazon had Max feeling rather content in her life with Jack and she couldn't understand his need for adventure. But, these two really love each other, even when they really like each other that much at the time. They stick together through thick and thin. After you finish reading the book I promise you will feel as though you lived through the adventure right along side these two wonderful people.

The author's style of writing worked perfectly for this type of book. Adventure novels don't need a lot of unnecessary dialogue. The action carries the story along and too many words will slow that down. So, an author writing action scenes needs to be able to put the reader inside the pages so they envision the scenes in their minds. There were several sweaty palm and heart thumping moments, more so I think in the second book.
I thought this was wonderful tribute to a style of books and movies that we don't see anymore. The characters were funny, charming and real.
I had a great time reading this book. The language, violence and adult situations were written in such a way as to make this a book everyone could enjoy. If it were a movie it would get a PG rating. I recommend this book to anyone that likes adventure and romance, but this book could appeal to just about anyone that likes to read.
Over all a resounding A+.… (more)