CALLING ALL AUTHORS, PUBLISHERS AND PRESSES!!

Hey everybody (or hey you if no one reads this), as part of me thinking of new ideas for the blog, and how I can help out all my wonderful author friends, publishers and presses, I am thinking of adding a new page to the blog.

It will simply be called Author Profiles. What it will have is a series of authors names with links attached to profiles that will be hosted on the Confessions of a Reviewer blog.

This is where you come in. Would you like me to have a spot on the blog with a profile of yourself or one of your authors attached? Basically what I would do is have an author pic, an author bio, a couple of book covers if you wanted, links to any reviews of books I have done on the blog and also all links on how to find you on Amazon and social media. Depending on the amount of work involved I would also add in some extra stuff for you if you wanted.

GUEST REVIEW: Ken Preston - Joe Coffin: Season One - Reviewed by Kit Power

It gives me great pleasure to host another review from writer, blogger, musician and all round bloody good guy, Kit Power on Confessions of a Reviewer. This is what he thought of Joe Coffin: Season One.

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Ken Preston

Publication Date: 31^st Oct 2014

Pages: 470

KIT’S REVIEW:

I guess we should start with ‘Season 1’, because it’s a concept that can mean different things. In this case, it signifies two things - the first is that you're getting four sequential novel length works in a single package, making this one of the more value for money indie bundles I’ve seen in some time. The second is that, in addition to presenting an overall story arc, this also represents the first part of what is clearly set to be a longer running narrative.

It’s an intriguing concept, and one that Ken Preston goes a long way to selling me on, purely on the strength of this offering. The titular Joe Coffin is a great choice for lead. On the surface, he’s an absolute staple of noir fiction - the huge, hulking muscle, mob enforcer, at home with violence and none too imaginative. What I found clever about this book was that Mr. Preston took the decision to put this character - normally a bit part at best, often played on screen by Henry Rollins - front and centre. In the process, we’re invited behind the eyes of this guy. Preston has a fine line to walk here - after all, Coffin isn’t super bright, nor is he an especially deep thinker - but he does have considerable street smarts and a surprising amount of emotional depth. For me, this was one of the great achievements of this book, and I was quickly taken in by the interiority of the character. To have rendered such a brutal character human enough to care about, without sacrificing any of his propensity for violence or darkness, is a far from easy trick, and I have to commend Mr. Preston for the skill with which he achieves this.

THE MILESTONES KEEP A COMING!!

Would you believe it! Two milestones within a week!

Milestone one:

Confessions of a Reviewer celebrated its half birthday on 4^th August!

Six months since I started my journey into the unknown world of blogging. I was a total virgin. No knowledge of what to do or how to go about doing it. All I knew what to do was pick up a book, read it, then ramble about it.

It appears that some of you out there like to read my ramblings. There is no one more surprised at that than me.

GUEST REVIEW: Federales by Christopher Irvin - Reviewed by Kit Power

I am very pleased to share with you all the first guest review on the blog.

This one comes from author, blogger, musician and all round bloody good guy, Kit Power. If you haven’t already, then you need to check out a couple of Kit’s books, Lifeline and also The Loving Husband and The Faithful Wife.

Kit also has a monthly column he writes for Ginger Nuts of Horror and this is well worth checking out.

I also must publicly pass on a personal thanks to Kit. A few months ago he recognised something in my reviewing and put his neck on the line for me and contacted Jim McCleod who runs GNOH. Jim very graciously gave me a chance and took me on.

If it hadn’t been for Kit taking it upon himself to contact Jim and mention me, and Jim taking me on, I probably wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing today.

Thanks for having faith in what I do Kit. I owe you some beer.

Genre: Noir / Thriller

Publisher: One Eye Press

Publication Date: 4^th March 2014

Pages: 126

KIT’S REVIEW:

‘Federales’ concerns Marcos, a federal police officer working in Mexico City, desperately trying to stay ahead of the corruption and violence. Not a hero. Just a working man trying to make it in an increasingly bleak and desperate situation.

Irvin does a superb job in invoking Mexico. I've never been, so cannot speak to the authenticity of the details, but it certainly felt real to this English gringo – in plain, unfussy prose, the claustrophobic humidity and edge-of-poverty living is vividly evoked. So too the internal desperation and frailty of our protagonist. The alcoholic cop on the edge – wife recently left him, yet – is a staple of noir, of course. Still, it's classic for a reason, and Irvin does a great job presenting the vulnerability of Marcos, the sense of an essentially decent person just worn down beyond the point of no return by brutal circumstance.