Book Review: The Dime

THE DIME—Kathleen Kent’s first crime novel—opens with an explosive, ugly start that will have you page turning from the get go. She also manages to bring a fresh twist to a genre and then ups the ante. Her main protagonist is a feisty narcotics cop who transfers in to Dallas from Brooklyn. Not only is she a third generation cop, she’s Polish, and her roots are showing. Red-head Betty Rhyzyk is tough, flawed, tenacious, and is anything but your typical cop.

Narrated in the first person, Betty lenses the action and characters through her own prism, with both a dry sense of wit, tough talk, and a vulnerability we seldom get to see in a main character. What’s more, Betty has her doubts, which makes her all the more human.

In Betty’s world, we get to grips with the criminal underbelly of life in Dallas, with the drug cartels notching up the body-count. There’s nothing sexy or glamorous about brutal violence. And as various factions vie for turf, Betty has to navigate and juggle the vagaries of her private life, with that of her job, and if that wasn’t enough, she’s being stalked by someone who sends her a decapitated head, as a gift. 

Sharply observant, witty, and, at times, violent, The Dime is the first in a new, exciting series, featuring detective Betty Rhyzyk. And I, for one, cannot wait to read the next instalment.

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Q&A with Kathleen Kent

Moving from a high-powered job in the US Defense dept. to writing historical novels full-time paid off for Kathleen when she decided it was time to call it quits. But not content to write historical fiction, she then turned to (as they say) a life of crime bringing us the Detective Betty Rhyzyk series starting with The Dime.

First of all, would you like to tell us a little about yourself.

I grew up in Texas and attended UT at Austin studying literature and history. What I wanted to be was a writer, but my dad, who was a very practical man, convinced me that being a starving artist was not all it was cracked up to be.  Instead, he argued, I should study business, get a “real” job and write in my spare time.  Which is what I eventually did.  After college I lived and worked in New York for twenty years:  10 years working for the former Chairman of the Commodity Exchange, and then for another 10 years as a civilian contractor to the U.S. Department of Defense in Russia facilitating defense conversion work, converting military plants into civilian use. I wrote a lot during those 10 years, but almost all of it was factual progress reporting to my coordinating CO in Washington.

I did very little creative writing as my job was all consuming, leaving not much time, or energy, to commit to writing a full-length novel.  Finally, in 2000, I decided to take an early retirement and move back to Texas to raise my son and tackle writing creatively.  That’s when I started my first novel, which was published as The Heretic’s Daughter in 2008.  Delightfully, it was successful, which has allowed me to continue writing full time.  I’ve just published my fourth novel, The Dime, which, unlike the first three historical novels, is a contemporary crime novel.

What, if anything, made you switch from writing historical fiction, and turn to a life of crime?

I had just published my third historical novel, The Outcasts, set a few years after the American Civil War, when an editor friend called to ask if I would submit a short story for a crime anthology he was putting together  titled Dallas Noir.  I love crime fiction, but had never tried my hand at writing anything more than a basic outline.  My story “Coincidences Can Kill You” was published in the collection and my agent loved it so much she encouraged me to develop it into a full-length novel.   As I had already started on another work of historical fiction, it took some time to commit to this new genre.  It took half a year to make the mental switch, and change the tone and tempo of my writing.

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Book Review: The Stockholm Octavo

THE STOCKHOLM OCTAVO by Karen Engelmann is a wonderfully written historical thriller full of intrigue, fans—and yes, I mean those kind of fans. Fans women use to use to fan themselves with, and more, with a deft hand, secretly signal to friends and lovers—hinting at mystery, murder, and a dash of romance. A story that is as much about cartomancy as it is about history, is decked out with an unusual cast of characters, ‘The Eight,’ who are lead character, Emil Larsson, must find in order to achieve his destiny.

Set in Stockholm, Sweden, at the end of the eighteenth-century, we find out Emil Larsson’s destiny isn’t his own, it’s tied up with that of the King of Sweden. All of which is the author’s way of opening up the various levels of society represented in the story, from seedy gaming houses and tap rooms, to the lofty levels of the government and royal palace and sumptuous world of Gustav III. Revolution is brewing on many levels, as the world in which Emil finds himself, is undergoing tumultuous change.

Engelmann’s writing is fluid, graceful, and wonderfully nuanced, sucking the reader into the story where the descriptive prose conjure locations, activities, and conversations that evoke this world, perfectly. This is not by any means a fast, action-packed story, but a slowly nuanced complex story told from a number of POV, centred around Emil Larsson. A story that paints a richly detailed world of manners, morals, and a belief a person can rise above the station they’re dealt in life if but given a chance or, dealt the right hand of cards.

An enjoyable, immersive experience. Highly recommended.

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Book Review: Glory Main

GLORY MAIN by Henry V. O’Neil is one of those books, once started, you cannot put down. Classic military science fiction, Glory Main harks back to the likes of Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, Barry B. Longyear Enemy Mine, and David Weber’s Honor Harrington series of novels, and along with well fleshed out characters, clever world-building, is a fast-paced gripping read.

Featuring a small diverse group of enduring characters who are thrown headlong into a life or death survival situation, Glory Main jumps right in at the deep-end. Our cast of struggling survivors include a young, greenhorn lieutenant, a shipboard shrink, a Spartacan Scout, read: special forces commando type, and a map-maker who also happens to be a conscientious objector. This alone should tell you what to expect from four such opposed personalities. Throw in that they’re stranded on a harsh almost barren world amid a bitter and terrible war, were lies from Command are the norm. And fighting not only themselves, the local flora and fauna, and a slow death by starvation, but an enemy who, as it turns out, looks like them—The Sims. The Simulants. The facsimiles—And the stage is set for one hell of a battle of survival, wits, determination and sheer will against the mounting odds.

Plausibly written throughout, the tech and its use in Glory Main is very familiar and yet, still manages to have the futuristic and otherworldly edge to it. As does the setting. Just when we think we understand what’s going on, O’Neil tosses in another roadblock and obstacle for the characters to over come. But far from painting his characters into tight corners, creating either false jeopardy or contriving situations, you feel you are there, on this gritty, unforgiving world suffering through the worst with each and every character. And while written in the first person POV, as seen through the eyes of Mortas, the story still unfolds naturally, and realistically. 

The best part of any story, for me at least, is whether or not the author manages to pull off a plausible blindside, something O’Neil does right near the end, in Glory Main. Not only was I (like many I suspect) happily surprised with a clever plot twist, but I suspect O’Neil has set us up for what we know must come in successive installments. And yes, I can’t wait for the next in the series. The world-building, language, descriptions and info dumps—when they came—never once over shadowed or weighed the story down and the pacing was near on perfect. 

All-in-all, Glory Main is a well-written, fast and compelling read. Henry O’Neil certainly knows the military, and knows how to craft an engrossing story. And whether or not you enjoy reading military science fiction or not, the story, which is character-driven and character-based, is still worth a read!

Glory Main is everything an updated version of Starship Troopers should be, a cracking good read.

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Women in SFF

So, today, I just want to share some of my fav female science fiction and fantasy authors with you. Some you might be familiar with, others less so.

URSULA K. Le GUIN (SFF) — I think just about everybody who reads SFF knows who she is and just maybe, has read at least one book, or series, written by her. To me she will always be the standard by which others are measured. From how well she told a story, to characterisation, world building, and tackling subjects that only a writer of her calibre would dare too. Try her LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS or THE DISPOSSESSED.

C. J. CHERRYH (SFF) — Cherryh has been turning out superb fantasy and SF reads for a few decades now, and I have never been disappointed with anything I have picked up from her. From here THE MORGAINE SAGA to the FADED SUN cycle, to her FOREIGNER series, it seems like she’s written something for everyone.

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