The Indie Scene: Zoe Sharp

In my effort to do more to promote indie authors, I have been scouring the web looking for prospects to include on this blog. You will be pleased with this little gem from Zoe Sharp, Fox Five, which features short stories about a protection expert named Charlie Fox. Zoe is from the UK, which gives her a ton of credibility in my view as I have stated elsewhere that I think thriller writers from across the pond do it better than us Yanks here in the former colonies and U.S. thriller writers should do more to emulate our cousins' careful craftsmanship.

Ms. Sharp does not let one down on the writing or storytelling front; the word smiting is crisp and plots develop nicely.

Zoe brings us a nice set of adventures that cover several periods of Charlie's life, which gives the character a very fleshed-out feel. These are first-person efforts, so you get that inside-the-character's-head intimacy which I always appreciate, and there are plenty of thrills to be had as well. The extra features at the end, promoting Ms. Sharp's other work, are icing on the cake and make you want more.

So check out Zoe Sharp and Charlie Fox out at the Amazon Kindle store. You'll be glad you did!

Wayne D. Dundee Reviews BULLET FOR ONE!

If you haven't had the chance to check out the new book yet, here is a terrific review from fellow mystery writer Wayne D. Dundee whose "Joe Hannibal" stories I have admired for many years. Thank you, Wayne! You totally nailed what I was doing with the main character (in this episode) and I promise we'll see more of him in the future--in fact, I'll let you in on a little secret: the subplot involving John Coburn's father.... wait, I better not give too much away....

Here's Wayne:


"John Coburn is a private eye who won't let the law stand in the way of justice!" So reads one of the tag lines for this new mystery thriller by Brian Drake. Another says: "If he fails, can he live with another ghost? ... If he succeeds, can he live with the consequences?"


These are great come-ons and, for me at least, did exactly what they were supposed to do--make me want to read this book. Tag lines for books, however--like movie trailers --are often the best part of what follows. One always needs to keep this in mind and I have to admit that, as I hit the "Buy it with 1-click" tab on Amazon, I was wondering if this might be another such case.


Well, it wasn't. If anything, the tag lines might actually be guilty of soft-peddling the balls-out, full-throttle reading experience that Bullet For One delivers. Drake writes action sequences about as good as any you'll find, and the book is loaded with them. Chases, gun fights, fist fights, knife fights, beatings, escapes ... it's all here and vengeance-seeking PI John Coburn is right in the thick of every minute of it. This is definitely Spillane territory, and I mean that as a compliment. The character of Coburn himself doesn't have a lot of depth in this particular outing (one hopes there will be more in a series) because his focused so keenly set on solving the murder of his partner and making sure punishment is meted out. But several of the secondary characters are well drawn and the plot has plenty of twists and turns and surprises before Coburn wraps things up--to his own satisfaction and also that of the reader.


If you like your tough guys tough and your action fast and furious, you don't want to miss this one!