The Karen Carter series – review

Series summary:
For any brave soul who has put a short story or novel into the public domain for public scrutiny, they’ll well know that feeling of fear-filled excitement as they wait for the reviews to roll in – will their work be met with universal acclaim or be cursed by voices of condemnation, the dreaded 1-star reviews? Now, most authors when confronted by a scathing 1-star review will, quite sensibly, shrug it off and put it out of their mind. Sometimes of course, the review might be so unjustified the author feels compelled to reply online (this rarely turns out well!). But what if the author truly doesn’t take kindly to public criticism and possesses some dubious means by which to confront their reviewer in the real world? The Karen Carter series by R.E. Sargent tackles this very question in a deliciously dark and novel way, and whilst done so in a highly entertaining way for the reader, I suspect fellow authors will especially identify with where the author’s coming from here.
Three novella-length stories that, together, encompass the extreme lengths successful but sociopathic author Lana Brooks (aka pen name Karen Carter) goes to preserve her literary reputation, and of course the ensuing consequences; whatever those extreme and murderous lengths they might be though, as the series shows, she would have been wise to remember there’s always someone out there who will go further.
With literary success, amid the idolisation and adoring fans, there also comes professional envy and resentment, in this case for Lana Brooks aka Karen Carter, taking the form of an admiring fan turned obsessive stalker, aspiring writer Jessica Nichols. What we have are two darkly diabolical women for whom the civilised norms of behaviour simply don’t apply; Lana and Jessica are almost indistinguishable, the only real difference being the former possesses all the success and literary acclaim the latter still strives for … Jessica wants what Lana has and will stop at nothing to steal it from her – not just the success, fame, and money, but everything! … but will she able to hang onto it if she succeeds?
As in all devilishly entertaining tales of murder, greed, and otherwise despicable behaviour, our principal characters learn, to their cost, what goes around comes around – all in all, three cracking good stories with lots of twists and turns you don’t see coming. Though each instalment is relatively short, that isn’t for want of content, but simply because of the break-neck pace at which the author advances each story without succumbing to the temptation to pad them out just to up the page counts … a devilishly dark and fun to read series – highly recommended!
ps, and definitely got my money’s worth from this month’s KU subscription! 😁
Click on each of the blue headings below for links to my online review for each instalment:
One-Star review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It’s one thing for an author to slice & dice their characters … but their readers too? Loved it!!!
Becoming Karen Carter ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A deliciously diabolical woman who knows and gets what she wants!
A Review to Die For ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Really liking Jessica now – clever, entertaining, and a nice dollop of gore, a smashing read!
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Just a few of the many books by or featuring work by this author
Click HERE for R.E. Sargent webpage … HERE for R.E. Sargent Fb page … HERE for R.E. Sargent on Twitter … and HERE for R.E. Sargent’s US Amazon author page
Treasure of Indian Music – Meet the Author, Jaykishan Hariharbhai Kapdi
It’s very rare for me to reblog a post (lazy i just guess), but I’m happy to make an exception here … An absolutely smashing post from Sarah Stuart, and a fine tribute to one of the most supportive writers/readers among the entire Indie author writing community
Jaykishan, my friend from a country I’ve never visited, but nobody who follows my blog will be surprised; music flows through my writing, and this is a very special time.
An Editor’s Pick! Congratulations my friend.
Jaykishan grew up in a family to which music is a blessing from God. Music is hereditary to him. He has learned music from his grandfather Shri Mohanlal Ramdasji Kapdi and father Shri Hariharbhai. He has an experience, how to teach music. He is “Upantya Visharad” in “Tabla” (rhythm).
His grandfather Shri Mohanlal Ramdasji Kapdi has established a non professional music class “Shree Saurashtra Sangeet Vidyalay” in 1935 in the Bhavnagar city-364001, Gujarat State, India, to spread & serve music.
This book is organized into three parts.
Part one addresses the musical terms generally used in vocal & instrumental Indian music. Topics covered include Understanding Indian and Western musical notation method, Signs of Notes…
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Return to Hiroshima – Book Review on behalf of Blackthorn Book Tours
Bob Van Laerhoven is a 66-year-old Belgian/Flemish author who has published (traditionally) more than 45 books in Holland and Belgium. His cross-over oeuvre between literary and noir/suspense is published in French, English, German, Spanish, Swedish, Slovenian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, and Russian.
My review of:
Return To Hiroshima
A darkly poignant dive into the underbelly of Japanese lore and mystery …
Steeped in intricacy and too many horrors waiting to jump out of the shadows as each element of the story begins to find its place, it would be impossible to do justice to any sort of plot summary here. Suffice to say, the reader is taken on one hell of a dark and often upsetting journey: a seven-foot woman haunted by either real or imaginary memories of childhood horrors and abuse, an investigation into the murder of a newborn child, a secret and clandestine wartime medical experiments, and Japanese suicide cults are just some of the pieces of this internationally flavoured noir thriller.
Despite this being a translation from the original, the writing is fluid and well-crafted, with clearly a great deal of effort having gone into maintaining the tone and feel of the original text. The complexity of the story is cleverly broken up into short, easily digestible chapters, each with their own little prelude as it were. I liked too the way the author alternates the point of view between that of the central and mysterious female character, Mitsuko, and the third-person perspectives of the other characters amid the wider story and sub-plots going on.
This is a book that challenges the reader to step outside their comfort zone in terms of what they might be familiar with culturally, and perhaps their perceptions of Japanese culture and society. Quite apart from the story of Mitsuko, the author skilfully contrasts the western view of Japan (or Nippon as he refers to it in the narrative), managing to incorporate the Japanese fascination with Karaoke bars, manga comics, and the deeper philosophical and religious beliefs that underpin people’s lives in that part of the world, alongside an enduring sense of nationalism even among its younger generation. The reader gets to witness Japanese society from the perspective of its native population, visiting westerners, and, as in the case of police inspector Takeda, who despite being half-Japanese, doesn’t quite fit in with or enjoys the full ‘acceptance’ and respect of his peers. As can probably be guessed from the title, the historical significance of Hiroshima and the aftermath of the nuclear blast are a recurring influence in how the story unfolds, though more as a historical backdrop and vehicle in which it has shaped the current story being told. Set in the mid-1990s, many of the characters still possess first-hand experience of the nuclear attack on Hiroshima while the next generation are equally affected by the resultant and continuing birth defects and associated cancers. Alongside the inevitable darkness such elements bring to the story, there is plenty of equally dark and horrific content emanating from the characters themselves: rape, violence, torture, murder, and a number of grizzly death scenes are described quite graphically at times, ironically almost on a par with how they might be portrayed in a manga comic. Like any good writer, the author doesn’t show his hand too soon in the story, encouraging the reader to reasonably draw their own conclusions and assumptions before allowing the real truth and direction of the story to emerge.
The farther and deeper you progress into this often disturbing and yet captivating tale, the more you will be rewarded as the different and complex strands eventually draw together. Be warned though, this is no easy story to read and one that demands the reader’s full attention and concentration. Nor as I’ve intimated is this a book for the faint-hearted or those who prefer neatly packaged happy endings or a book filled with easily identified characters you’re supposed to either like or hate. Nonetheless, a powerful and multilayered story for those willing to stray from the more conventional thriller style and setting.
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Reduced Kindle price for the duration of the Blackthorn Book Tour promotion, and FREE to read for Amazon KU subscribers
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Bob Van Laerhoven’s social media links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bob.vanlaerhoven
Website: https://bobvanlaerhoven.be/en
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bobvanlaerhoven
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bobvanlaerhoven/
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More about the author …
In Belgium, Laerhoven was a four-time finalist of the ‘Hercule Poirot Prize for Best Mystery Novel of the Year’ with the novels ‘Djinn’, ‘The Finger of God’, ‘Return to Hiroshima’, and ‘The Firehand Files’. In 2007, he became the winner of the coveted Hercule Poirot Prize with ‘Baudelaire’s Revenge’, which, in English translation, also won the USA Best Book Award 2014 in the category ‘mystery/suspense’. His first collection of short stories ‘Dangerous Obsessions’, published in the USA in 2015, was chosen as the ‘best short story collection of 2015’ by the San Diego Book Review. The collection has been translated into Italian, (Brazilian) Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish. ‘Return to Hiroshima’, his second crime novel in English, was published in May 2018 by Crime Wave Press(Hong Kong). The British quality review blog Murder, Mayhem & More has chosen ‘Return to Hiroshima’ as one of the ten best international crime novels of 2018. MMM reviews around 200 novels annually by international authors. Also in 2018, the Anaphora Literary Press published ‘Heart Fever’, his second collection of short stories. ‘Heart Fever’ was one of the five finalists of the American Silver Falchion Award. Laerhoven was the only non-American finalist. The collection has been translated into Italian and Spanish. A German translation is currently in production.
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