Tag: short story

Book Reviews

Short Story Review: Alfie and The Dead Girls by Jamie Stewart

Books-ahoy book my book people!

I just got finished reading the newest short story by the mighty author Jamie Stewart, and for some reason, and now I can’t get the melody of “Oops!… I Did It Again” out of my head.

Ooops he did it again, wrote a story not so long, I never wanted it to end! Oh baby, baby!

So first ladies and gentlemen and all you people from the jury, let me share with you the synopsis as it is clearly written on amazon!!

Synopsis

41rYBBKmG9L._SY346_Alfie & The Dead Girls

The car continued to keep pace, trailing her.
It was unlike any other car she had ever seen. It was old and well maintained, its coat a brilliant aquamarine that gleamed in the sun’s rays.
‘Do you like my car?’ asked Fred, catching her admiring gaze.
Emma’s cheeks burned.
‘Most people do,’ he said, chuckling, ‘it’s a great ride’.

Emma Woods, a quiet, bookish, eleven-year-old is about to start her first day at secondary, which means new classes, new teachers and new classmates.

Emma is terrified and in her terror-stricken state she reaches out to her new school’s social media page to make friends. That’s where she meets Alfie.

Alfie is joining Radcliff Secondary School as well. Alfie likes the books she likes and most importantly he wants to be Emma’s friend. However, now there’s a strange car driven by a strange man trailing Emma with a promise to take her to Alfie.

What follows next is a story that is every parent’s worst nightmare. Alfie & The Dead Girls is perfect for fans of Stephen King, Joe Hill, John Grisham, Shirley Jackson, and Harlan Coben.

How do you like those beans?

Well, like you already know if you had ventured onto my blog before, that you are going to hear the thoughts about this story.   So, without further ado, I now lay before you, my insights, my feelings, and my most inner curiosities of Alfie and the Dead Girls.

From the Mush in my Head

This is the third short story that Jamie has given me the pleasure to read, and by far, this one is the best.  Now, now! Settle down, I didn’t say that the other two are crappy by any means, but I do say, I see a lot of improvements as Jamie has been developing his skills as an author!

Special blogger note: Don’t’ believe me when I say that the other two stories are also great? Go ahead, check them out for yourself… Insular and Trick or Treat!

There are overall improvements in the mood of the story,  character creation, plot and structure.

The Climate Between the Covers

Mood.

First the mood of the story.  The book was suspenseful.  You find yourself intrigued by the relationships in the book.

The Construction the Plebeians

Character creation.

Let me start with this.  The people in this book were not plebeians.

In fact, they were well created and rich. Maybe not in the money sense, but definitely in their development.  You could see what was going on in each of the characters heads.

Sometimes I find when you read some stories, characters are all blended together and you don’t get a feeling of their age.  This story could have easily had all the characters feeling the same.  It didn’t.  Emma was clearly a teenager with teenager thoughts of being left out,  Adam unquestionably had father concerns, and Fred was a middle-aged creep.

Creepy Green Cars and Little Girls

The plot.

This page was short. I wish it was longer because personally, I think this could be a full-length book.  It sure was a page-turner.

I loved the structure and how it jumped back and forth.  It was done tactfully and smooth and well marked.

The story itself was original, and believable and wasn’t too far out.

Conclusion

So the bottom line of this story.

The story was a short suspenseful and enjoyable read.  It had strong characters who let you into their heads.  It lured you into the turning-pages craving for more.

Do I recommend this story?  Yes, I do.  This is by far the best story by Jamie.

Flash Fiction

Finigan’s Fun House of Fantastic Curiosities, Freaks of Nature, and Traveling Circus!

Closing his eyes and feeling the waves of youthfulness flow through his veins, Finigan stands in the spotlight, savouring every second of what is going on around him. From ever direction waves of energy is emanating from the crowd, who are currently losing their minds like a pack of wild monkeys battling over a banana. He stands there not moving, in fact, welcoming the roar, as he stands in the spotlight with his arms out at his sides looking like some type of weird version of Christ the Redeemer, only this version is attired in a black and red suit. Continue reading “Finigan’s Fun House of Fantastic Curiosities, Freaks of Nature, and Traveling Circus!” →

Book Reviews

Insular – A Short Story
Insular – Written by Jamie Stewart

I got to ask you, what if your name was something amazing like Earl? What if you liked and took pride in your job? What if you worked with a new guy who gave you the creeps?

Unfortunately and unlucky for you, your mother didn’t give you the blessing of calling you Earl, and you probably hate your job like the majority of the population. Although you probably do work with a creep, chances are his name isn’t Julian.

On the other hand, today is your lucky day! Jamie Stewart has given you a tale with all of that! This story is about an impressive kid named Earl who took great pride in his job. Pretty much the best on the block. You know, the type of guy who is the manager’s pet! That’s is until he has to train a new trainee. This new guy, well there’s something wrong with him. What do you ask? Well, that will be giving away the story now, wouldn’t it?

So without getting into the plot of this story let me tell you what I liked and didn’t like about it.

First off I liked it because it was a short read. I usually read novels that are a lot bigger. Make sense seeing that this is a short story. So reading this was a real treat for me. Second, the author did a great job of telling the story. There was a great intro that quickly got down to business.

The most remembered thing, for me at least, is how the description of the job brought back feelings of when I worked in retail. The thankless managers that fed you the lines of how good of a job you were doing just so you would do more work. It made me feel dirty, and not in a good way. It brought back memories of those thankless retail days. The days when you went to work with a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach. That’s what made the feeling of the book so great. Mission accomplished by the author, intentionally or unintentionally.

With that out of the way. Here’s the bad. I didn’t really find anything that stood out as being bad in the story. I did find a few words that I thought were spelling mistakes and it got me flipping out a bit. Realize was written as realise. After Mr. Google explained it, it all depends on your location. I felt a bit stupid about that, but I’m happy that I got it figured out. It makes me feel a lot better about the story.
Now to wrap this all up. I would suggest this story for the reader who wants a quick read that wants to have the feeling of oh no. I found the story pretty suspenseful considering the length of it. If I had to describe the stories style, I would say it would have to be the feeling of Stephen King telling you about the time when he worked in retail.