| | Humour / Speculative | SELECT PAGE: 1 2 | | | Tiffany and Chip are sent to Central Florida . Demon Chaser II "One Foot in Hell, But Still with Great Shoes" David Berardelli Click For Book Page and Excerpt Click Here For All Books In This Series Genres: Dark Fantasy, Humour / Speculative, Supernatural Available Formats to Download: MOBI EPUB MS Word PDF MS Reader RTF Also available as a paperback After successfully sending Gutrillus Canus back to Hell, Tiffany LeBouf and her sidekick Chip, the mischievous inferior demon, are sent to Central Florida on a brand-new assignment—to find a delinquent inferior brought up by Braithwaite, the super demon who has come up from Hell to replace Balberith. Along the way they meet Ashley, a young girl innocently caught up in one of Braithwaite’s evil schemes. Words: 84942 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $5.99 
Paperback Pages: 428 Paperback price: $17.15 
| Purchase elsewhere 
| | | 
More By This Author | Tiffany and Chip are sent to Central Florida . Demon Chaser II "One Foot in Hell, But Still with Great Shoes" David Berardelli Click For Book Page and Excerpt Click Here For All Books In This Series Genres: Dark Fantasy, Humour / Speculative, Supernatural After successfully sending Gutrillus Canus back to Hell, Tiffany LeBouf and her sidekick Chip, the mischievous inferior demon, are sent to Central Florida on a brand-new assignment—to find a delinquent inferior brought up by Braithwaite, the super demon who has come up from Hell to replace Balberith. Along the way they meet Ashley, a young girl innocently caught up in one of Braithwaite’s evil schemes. Words: 84942 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $5.99
Paperback Pages: 428 Paperback price: $17.15
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| |
| Beautiful, young starlet Tiffany LeBouf dies and is wrongly sent to Hell. Demon Chaser "Death is Hell, but the shoes are great!" David Berardelli Click For Book Page and Excerpt Click Here For All Books In This Series Genres: Supernatural, Humour / Speculative Available Formats to Download: MOBI EPUB MS Word PDF MS Reader RTF Also available as a paperback Sexy, sassy and dead, Tiffany LeBouf is pulled into Hell by the incompetent demon Gutril. Paired with the demon Chip, she is sent to find Gutril after he is summoned to Ohio by a teenage girl goofing off with a spell she'd found online. They are given three days to find Gutril and bring him back before he can select a mortal host and remain here. As a spirit, Tiffany finds that she has the ability to change her appearance at will and conjure up any outfits she desires. She also realizes that her new powers can keep her from being forced to return to Hell. Words: 90148 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $5.99
Paperback Pages: 440 Paperback price: $17.15
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| | | 
More By This Author | Beautiful, young starlet Tiffany LeBouf dies and is wrongly sent to Hell. Demon Chaser "Death is Hell, but the shoes are great!" David Berardelli Click For Book Page and Excerpt Click Here For All Books In This Series Genres: Supernatural, Humour / Speculative Sexy, sassy and dead, Tiffany LeBouf is pulled into Hell by the incompetent demon Gutril. Paired with the demon Chip, she is sent to find Gutril after he is summoned to Ohio by a teenage girl goofing off with a spell she'd found online. They are given three days to find Gutril and bring him back before he can select a mortal host and remain here. As a spirit, Tiffany finds that she has the ability to change her appearance at will and conjure up any outfits she desires. She also realizes that her new powers can keep her from being forced to return to Hell. Words: 90148 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $5.99
Paperback Pages: 440 Paperback price: $17.15
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| |
| Biff Mitchell Team Player Biff Mitchell Click For Book Page and Excerpt Genres: Science Fiction, Humour / Speculative Available Formats to Download: MOBI EPUB MS Word PDF MS Reader RTF Also available as a paperback New Book Spoofs Work in the New Millennium
Based on his 25-year roller coaster ride in the Information Technology (IT) industry, Biff Mitchell’s latest novel, Team Player, explores the world of work in the 21st Century. The story is set in an uncomfortably close future where the world is run by homicidal marketing managers who kill for love, company, and the almighty promotion.
Aside from the talking brain cells and the rampaging neutrinos, says Mr. Words: 58000 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $5.99
Paperback Pages: 412 Paperback price: $17.15
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| | | 
More By This Author | Biff Mitchell Team Player Biff Mitchell Click For Book Page and Excerpt Genres: Science Fiction, Humour / Speculative New Book Spoofs Work in the New Millennium
Based on his 25-year roller coaster ride in the Information Technology (IT) industry, Biff Mitchell’s latest novel, Team Player, explores the world of work in the 21st Century. The story is set in an uncomfortably close future where the world is run by homicidal marketing managers who kill for love, company, and the almighty promotion.
Aside from the talking brain cells and the rampaging neutrinos, says Mr. Words: 58000 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $5.99
Paperback Pages: 412 Paperback price: $17.15
| Purchase elsewhere
| |
| Biff Mitchell The War Bug Biff Mitchell Click For Book Page and Excerpt Genres: Science Fiction, Humour / Speculative Available Formats to Download: MOBI EPUB MS Word PDF MS Reader RTF Also available as a paperback In just a few hours, Abner Hayes' wife and daughter are going to die, and the only way he can save their lives is to team up with a deadly computer virus and travel through time and space in a virtual universe that itself has only hours to live. Through suicidal game worlds, virtual landscapes that threaten to devour the unwary, and a series of insidious cyber traps, Abner and the virus must stay one step ahead of sinister forces that will stop at nothing to destroy his family in order to steal their incredible secret. Words: 57400 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $5.99
Paperback Pages: 300 Paperback price: $14.29
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| | | 
More By This Author | Biff Mitchell The War Bug Biff Mitchell Click For Book Page and Excerpt Genres: Science Fiction, Humour / Speculative In just a few hours, Abner Hayes' wife and daughter are going to die, and the only way he can save their lives is to team up with a deadly computer virus and travel through time and space in a virtual universe that itself has only hours to live. Through suicidal game worlds, virtual landscapes that threaten to devour the unwary, and a series of insidious cyber traps, Abner and the virus must stay one step ahead of sinister forces that will stop at nothing to destroy his family in order to steal their incredible secret. Words: 57400 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $5.99
Paperback Pages: 300 Paperback price: $14.29
| Purchase elsewhere
| |
| Politically Erect Paddy Kelly Click For Book Page and Excerpt Genres: Mainstream, Humour / Speculative Available Formats to Download: MOBI EPUB PDF Also available as a paperback In 1971 there were only three ways out of the soul-crushing, abject poverty of the Jersey City shithole of a slum they called the Duncan Avenue Federal Housing Project; prison, the military or the likely end to both – death.
In the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Billy Chance had a dream: to become a doctor.
All he’d have to do is finish high school, (something no one else in his family had ever done before), find a shit load of money, (something else no one else in his family had ever done), and get accepted to college, something no one . . . Words: 101600 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $5.99
Paperback Pages: 412 Paperback price: $21.36
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More By This Author | Politically Erect Paddy Kelly Click For Book Page and Excerpt Genres: Mainstream, Humour / Speculative In 1971 there were only three ways out of the soul-crushing, abject poverty of the Jersey City shithole of a slum they called the Duncan Avenue Federal Housing Project; prison, the military or the likely end to both – death.
In the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Billy Chance had a dream: to become a doctor.
All he’d have to do is finish high school, (something no one else in his family had ever done before), find a shit load of money, (something else no one else in his family had ever done), and get accepted to college, something no one . . . Words: 101600 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $5.99
Paperback Pages: 412 Paperback price: $21.36
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| |
| Kelly's Full House Paddy Kelly Click For Book Page and Excerpt Genres: Humour / Speculative, Historical Fiction Available Formats to Download: MOBI EPUB PDF Also available as a paperback They say everything comes in threes. Here’s three rib tickling tales featuring three characters in three very different time periods and situations.
Kelly’s Full House is a great short story collection that will lift your spirits and help get you through your day by dealing with some of the most taboo subjects – The Press, death and politics.
1. 127 Alden Road
It’s July 1st, 2017 in Provincetown Massachusetts, original landing place of the Pilgrims. Words: 43400 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $5.99
Paperback Pages: 180 Paperback price: $17.13
| | | | 
 - Average 5.0 from 1 ratings
More By This Author | Kelly's Full House Paddy Kelly Click For Book Page and Excerpt Genres: Humour / Speculative, Historical Fiction They say everything comes in threes. Here’s three rib tickling tales featuring three characters in three very different time periods and situations.
Kelly’s Full House is a great short story collection that will lift your spirits and help get you through your day by dealing with some of the most taboo subjects – The Press, death and politics.
1. 127 Alden Road
It’s July 1st, 2017 in Provincetown Massachusetts, original landing place of the Pilgrims. Words: 43400 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $5.99
Paperback Pages: 180 Paperback price: $17.13
| | |
| There's An App For That Combined Edition Paddy Kelly Click For Book Page and Excerpt Genres: Historical Fiction, Humour Available Formats to Download: MOBI EPUB PDF From the author of the political, historical novels Operation Underworld, The American Way and The Wolves of Calabria comes a tongue-in-cheek look, punctuated with serious overtones, at some of the main events of the past which have strained, shaped and directed the course of Western culture of the Sixties and Seventies.
This collection of short stories and essays takes a private and personal POV at various events which, although experienced by the author, have affected tens of thousands. Words: 34700 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $5.95
| | | | 
More By This Author | There's An App For That Combined Edition Paddy Kelly Click For Book Page and Excerpt Genres: Historical Fiction, Humour From the author of the political, historical novels Operation Underworld, The American Way and The Wolves of Calabria comes a tongue-in-cheek look, punctuated with serious overtones, at some of the main events of the past which have strained, shaped and directed the course of Western culture of the Sixties and Seventies.
This collection of short stories and essays takes a private and personal POV at various events which, although experienced by the author, have affected tens of thousands. Words: 34700 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $5.95
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| Paddy's back with more of his inimitable style of wit and charm! American Rhetoric Paddy Kelly Click For Book Page and Excerpt Genres: Mainstream, Humour / Speculative Available Formats to Download: MOBI EPUB PDF Also available as a paperback Through shear dint of effort, Ronald Lump the third, now in his fourth and last term as president, had with tireless campaigning and unprecedented cooperation in both the House and the Senate, been able to whittle away at the 3% who controlled 97% of the wealth. He got it down to 1%. Worse yet, of the 47 candidates who intend to run for office to replace him none are qualified.
America was in trouble. Again.
However it is in Central Middleville, Ohio, a place where everyday life is abnormally normal, there resides a real hero. Words: 101300 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $5.99
Paperback Pages: 380 Paperback price: $18.56
| Purchase elsewhere
| | | 
More By This Author | Paddy's back with more of his inimitable style of wit and charm! American Rhetoric Paddy Kelly Click For Book Page and Excerpt Genres: Mainstream, Humour / Speculative Through shear dint of effort, Ronald Lump the third, now in his fourth and last term as president, had with tireless campaigning and unprecedented cooperation in both the House and the Senate, been able to whittle away at the 3% who controlled 97% of the wealth. He got it down to 1%. Worse yet, of the 47 candidates who intend to run for office to replace him none are qualified.
America was in trouble. Again.
However it is in Central Middleville, Ohio, a place where everyday life is abnormally normal, there resides a real hero. Words: 101300 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $5.99
Paperback Pages: 380 Paperback price: $18.56
| Purchase elsewhere
| |
| Check Mate The Audio Book Michelle Knight Click For Book Page and Sample Genres: Science Fiction, Humour / Speculative This is an audio book. Run time is approx. 05 Hrs 05 Mins 51 Secs . There are 18, parts to download and the total download size is approx. 109.2 Mb Life is a game of chess and we have been programming our computers to play it for generations; each time honing the programs to work smarter, faster, with more efficiency and higher accuracy than ever before.
A stroke of fate saw two memory cards being swapped. In a military laboratory, the most powerful game of chess ever written was accidentally loaded in to an experimental, highly agile, weaponised robot. From the moment they hit the run command, that robot had only one purpose ... to win the game... Purchase from our site Audiobook Price: $5.95 
| | | | AUDIOBOOK
More By This Author | Check Mate The Audio Book Michelle Knight Click For Book Page and Sample Genres: Science Fiction, Humour / Speculative Life is a game of chess and we have been programming our computers to play it for generations; each time honing the programs to work smarter, faster, with more efficiency and higher accuracy than ever before.
A stroke of fate saw two memory cards being swapped. In a military laboratory, the most powerful game of chess ever written was accidentally loaded in to an experimental, highly agile, weaponised robot. From the moment they hit the run command, that robot had only one purpose ... to win the game... Purchase from our site Audiobook Price: $5.95
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| Luck & Fame Are Four Letter Words Paddy Kelly Click For Book Page and Excerpt Genres: Humour / Speculative, Mainstream Available Formats to Download: MOBI EPUB PDF A new president has taken the reins, the Space Race is in full swing and the economy is at its peak since the end of WWII. It’s 1961 and the future looks bright. However, the entire country is not running on greased groves. Rank Publishing Ltd., in New York City, is hanging on by a thread.
With the advent of electronic printing, a television in nearly every house, and newspaper circulation up almost tenfold since the end of the war, news stories are cheaper and more readily available. Magazine circulation is plummeting and the new sensation is supermarket tabloids. Words: 18900 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $2.99
| Purchase elsewhere
| | | 
More By This Author | Luck & Fame Are Four Letter Words Paddy Kelly Click For Book Page and Excerpt Genres: Humour / Speculative, Mainstream A new president has taken the reins, the Space Race is in full swing and the economy is at its peak since the end of WWII. It’s 1961 and the future looks bright. However, the entire country is not running on greased groves. Rank Publishing Ltd., in New York City, is hanging on by a thread.
With the advent of electronic printing, a television in nearly every house, and newspaper circulation up almost tenfold since the end of the war, news stories are cheaper and more readily available. Magazine circulation is plummeting and the new sensation is supermarket tabloids. Words: 18900 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $2.99
| Purchase elsewhere
| |
| Sauchiehall Street Sugar 'Tis a Pity That She's a Whore Biff Grant Click For Book Page and Excerpt Genres: Womens Fiction, Humour Available Formats to Download: Palm MOBI EPUB Sony Reader (LRF) ;MS Word PDF MS Reader Text RTF Born in the dockside slum of Kinning Park in Glasgow three fifteen year old girls are working in Grey Dunn’s Biscuit Factory, they have been inseparable since their first day at school. Each one approaches life in an entirely different way and manage to rise. Words: 73000 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $6.95
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| Celebrity gossip tabloid trash The Jerk The Visitors 2 Paul Kruk Click For Book Page and Excerpt Genres: General Fiction, Humour Available Formats to Download: Palm MOBI EPUB Sony Reader (LRF) ;MS Word PDF MS Reader Text RTF The Supreme Court of the World was established in The Visitors by Paul Kruk but now in this new story it is closed ... but ready to be reopened with the help of the original Jerk Steve Martin, who dons a King Tut outfit and hopes to be the chief justice of this new, hilarious court. Along the way our guide Frank moves from scandal to scandal. Words: 10883 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $2.99
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More By This Author | Celebrity gossip tabloid trash The Jerk The Visitors 2 Paul Kruk Click For Book Page and Excerpt Genres: General Fiction, Humour The Supreme Court of the World was established in The Visitors by Paul Kruk but now in this new story it is closed ... but ready to be reopened with the help of the original Jerk Steve Martin, who dons a King Tut outfit and hopes to be the chief justice of this new, hilarious court. Along the way our guide Frank moves from scandal to scandal. Words: 10883 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $2.99
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| NEVER TRY AND CON A CON MAN The Art of The Con Milton Cust Click For Book Page and Excerpt Genres: Crime Fiction, Humour Available Formats to Download: Palm MOBI EPUB Sony Reader (LRF) ;MS Word PDF MS Reader Text RTF A greedy private eye thinks he can pull one over on an elderly man who is near death. Read about his antics as he attempts to collect a bundle for finding his long, lost family. Words: 19587 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $3.99
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More By This Author | NEVER TRY AND CON A CON MAN The Art of The Con Milton Cust Click For Book Page and Excerpt Genres: Crime Fiction, Humour A greedy private eye thinks he can pull one over on an elderly man who is near death. Read about his antics as he attempts to collect a bundle for finding his long, lost family. Words: 19587 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $3.99
| | |
 - Average 4.0 from 1 ratings
 -
From jbgarner58.wordpress.com:
Happy coincidence has brought a recently-released dish onto this
reviewer’s plate today. The chef, Michelle Knight (interviewed here),
was already in my review queue for some time now with an older recipe
but, as her newest book came up for sale, I decided to take up this
newest dish instead. So is this near-future military sci-fi with a
side of wit and comedy make for a fabulous meal or some bland tinned
biscuits?
Before we cut open the MRE package, let us recite the Starving Review
creed:
I attempt to rate every book from the perspective of a fan of the
genre
I attempt to make every review as spoiler-free as possible.
Here’s the rub, my literary foodies, there’s a fine line between using
humor to flavor a serious dish and overseasoning with humor to ruin a
dish. Comedy, especially dark comedy, is hard. Good comedy is even
harder. So, let me put this particular dog to bed and say that the
sugary sprinkles of comedy are properly used in this piece. There is
a certain Doctor Strangelove sort of feel to the comedic elements, as
well as that dry British wit to the whole affair, and it sits well in
this Reviewer’s stomach.
With that clear, let’s attack the rest of the components of this meal.
Check Mate presents a diverse cast of characters and handles those
characters quite well. Even the occasional stock minor characters is
gifted with a particular spark of flavor that makes them just a bit
more three-dimensional. There was obviously care taken by the chef to
make the characters more than the title of their jobs, no matter how
stereotypical they may seem at first blush, and that defiance of
stereotype is appreciated.
The plot takes some interesting turns in the classic recipe of
‘military-killer-robot-goes-haywire’ (and yes, that IS a classic by
this point!) while keeping its feet grounded in the realm of
near-future technology. The initial start is a bit more mellow than I
expected it would be. In fact, it veers dangerously close to an
extended info-dump, yet it wasn’t to the point of off-putting. It was
a thick crust of necessary exposition but, past that initial bit, the
pacing turns into a even and consistent flow of action and events,
leading to a rather enjoyable final course.
Stylistically, Check Mate is solid. Once it hits its stride, the
courses come along well, properly seasoned, with dutiful wordsmithing.
If I have any stylistic complaints, it’s the occasional slip of
British turns-of-phrase in a distinctly American setting. Naturally,
most readers probably won’t catch these, as I barely did and I’m a bit
of an Anglophile, so I don’t see this detracting from most people’s
meals.
My one real quibble with this particular meal is I wish there was a
bit more done from the haywire military robot’s point-of-view. Not
much, but there were a few bits early on that gives the reader some
flashes of what is going on and I found those particularly brilliant
while not giving away the overarching plot. Some more scenes like
that I think would have added a bit of needed spice at points during
the last half of the book (into which I can delve no deeper because
SPOILERS!).
To bring it all together, Check Mate is a tasty near-future military
romp mixing some dark comedy with killer robots! It’s not *quite*
perfect, but it’s really quite good and I can gladly recommend this
meal to any lover of science-fiction or enjoys a splash of distinctly
British dark humor with their meals! Remember, again, to check out
the Starving Interview to get a glimpse into the mind behind the
book.
FINAL VERDICT: **** (A tasty near-future military romp mixing some
dark comedy with killer robots!) 4 out of 5 (visitor) More By This Author | | Check Mate Michelle Knight Click For Book Page and Excerpt Genres: Science Fiction, Humour / Speculative Available Formats to Download: Palm MOBI EPUB Sony Reader (LRF) ;MS Word PDF MS Reader Text RTF Also available as a paperback Life is a game of chess and we have been programming our computers to play it for generations; each time honing the programs to work smarter, faster, with more efficiency and higher accuracy than ever before.
A stroke of fate saw two memory cards being swapped. In a military laboratory, the most powerful game of chess ever written was accidentally loaded in to an experimental, highly agile, weaponised robot. From the moment they hit the run command, that robot had only one purpose ... to win the game... Words: 52000 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $5.95
Paperback Pages: 178 Paperback price: $11.43
| Purchase elsewhere
| | |
-
- Average 4.0 from 1 ratings
-
-
From jbgarner58.wordpress.com:
Happy coincidence has brought a recently-released dish onto this
reviewer’s plate today. The chef, Michelle Knight (interviewed here),
was already in my review queue for some time now with an older recipe
but, as her newest book came up for sale, I decided to take up this
newest dish instead. So is this near-future military sci-fi with a
side of wit and comedy make for a fabulous meal or some bland tinned
biscuits?
Before we cut open the MRE package, let us recite the Starving Review
creed:
I attempt to rate every book from the perspective of a fan of the
genre
I attempt to make every review as spoiler-free as possible.
Here’s the rub, my literary foodies, there’s a fine line between using
humor to flavor a serious dish and overseasoning with humor to ruin a
dish. Comedy, especially dark comedy, is hard. Good comedy is even
harder. So, let me put this particular dog to bed and say that the
sugary sprinkles of comedy are properly used in this piece. There is
a certain Doctor Strangelove sort of feel to the comedic elements, as
well as that dry British wit to the whole affair, and it sits well in
this Reviewer’s stomach.
With that clear, let’s attack the rest of the components of this meal.
Check Mate presents a diverse cast of characters and handles those
characters quite well. Even the occasional stock minor characters is
gifted with a particular spark of flavor that makes them just a bit
more three-dimensional. There was obviously care taken by the chef to
make the characters more than the title of their jobs, no matter how
stereotypical they may seem at first blush, and that defiance of
stereotype is appreciated.
The plot takes some interesting turns in the classic recipe of
‘military-killer-robot-goes-haywire’ (and yes, that IS a classic by
this point!) while keeping its feet grounded in the realm of
near-future technology. The initial start is a bit more mellow than I
expected it would be. In fact, it veers dangerously close to an
extended info-dump, yet it wasn’t to the point of off-putting. It was
a thick crust of necessary exposition but, past that initial bit, the
pacing turns into a even and consistent flow of action and events,
leading to a rather enjoyable final course.
Stylistically, Check Mate is solid. Once it hits its stride, the
courses come along well, properly seasoned, with dutiful wordsmithing.
If I have any stylistic complaints, it’s the occasional slip of
British turns-of-phrase in a distinctly American setting. Naturally,
most readers probably won’t catch these, as I barely did and I’m a bit
of an Anglophile, so I don’t see this detracting from most people’s
meals.
My one real quibble with this particular meal is I wish there was a
bit more done from the haywire military robot’s point-of-view. Not
much, but there were a few bits early on that gives the reader some
flashes of what is going on and I found those particularly brilliant
while not giving away the overarching plot. Some more scenes like
that I think would have added a bit of needed spice at points during
the last half of the book (into which I can delve no deeper because
SPOILERS!).
To bring it all together, Check Mate is a tasty near-future military
romp mixing some dark comedy with killer robots! It’s not *quite*
perfect, but it’s really quite good and I can gladly recommend this
meal to any lover of science-fiction or enjoys a splash of distinctly
British dark humor with their meals! Remember, again, to check out
the Starving Interview to get a glimpse into the mind behind the
book.
FINAL VERDICT: **** (A tasty near-future military romp mixing some
dark comedy with killer robots!) 4 out of 5 (visitor) More By This Author | Check Mate Michelle Knight Click For Book Page and Excerpt Genres: Science Fiction, Humour / Speculative Life is a game of chess and we have been programming our computers to play it for generations; each time honing the programs to work smarter, faster, with more efficiency and higher accuracy than ever before.
A stroke of fate saw two memory cards being swapped. In a military laboratory, the most powerful game of chess ever written was accidentally loaded in to an experimental, highly agile, weaponised robot. From the moment they hit the run command, that robot had only one purpose ... to win the game... Words: 52000 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $5.95
Paperback Pages: 178 Paperback price: $11.43
| Purchase elsewhere
| |
-
- Average 4.0 from 1 ratings
-
-
From jbgarner58.wordpress.com:
Happy coincidence has brought a recently-released dish onto
this reviewer’s plate today. The chef, Michelle Knight
(interviewed here), was already in my review queue for some
time now with an older recipe but, as her newest book came
up for sale, I decided to take up this newest dish instead.
So is this near-future military sci-fi with a side of wit
and comedy make for a fabulous meal or some bland tinned
biscuits?
Before we cut open the MRE package, let us recite the
Starving Review creed:
I attempt to rate every book from the perspective of a fan
of the genre
I attempt to make every review as spoiler-free as possible.
Here’s the rub, my literary foodies, there’s a fine line
between using humor to flavor a serious dish and
overseasoning with humor to ruin a dish. Comedy, especially
dark comedy, is hard. Good comedy is even harder. So, let
me put this particular dog to bed and say that the sugary
sprinkles of comedy are properly used in this piece. There
is a certain Doctor Strangelove sort of feel to the comedic
elements, as well as that dry British wit to the whole
affair, and it sits well in this Reviewer’s stomach.
With that clear, let’s attack the rest of the components of
this meal. Check Mate presents a diverse cast of characters
and handles those characters quite well. Even the
occasional stock minor characters is gifted with a
particular spark of flavor that makes them just a bit more
three-dimensional. There was obviously care taken by the
chef to make the characters more than the title of their
jobs, no matter how stereotypical they may seem at first
blush, and that defiance of stereotype is appreciated.
The plot takes some interesting turns in the classic recipe
of ‘military-killer-robot-goes-haywire’ (and yes, that IS a
classic by this point!) while keeping its feet grounded in
the realm of near-future technology. The initial start is a
bit more mellow than I expected it would be. In fact, it
veers dangerously close to an extended info-dump, yet it
wasn’t to the point of off-putting. It was a thick crust of
necessary exposition but, past that initial bit, the pacing
turns into a even and consistent flow of action and events,
leading to a rather enjoyable final course.
Stylistically, Check Mate is solid. Once it hits its
stride, the courses come along well, properly seasoned, with
dutiful wordsmithing. If I have any stylistic complaints,
it’s the occasional slip of British turns-of-phrase in a
distinctly American setting. Naturally, most readers
probably won’t catch these, as I barely did and I’m a bit of
an Anglophile, so I don’t see this detracting from most
people’s meals.
My one real quibble with this particular meal is I wish
there was a bit more done from the haywire military robot’s
point-of-view. Not much, but there were a few bits early on
that gives the reader some flashes of what is going on and I
found those particularly brilliant while not giving away the
overarching plot. Some more scenes like that I think would
have added a bit of needed spice at points during the last
half of the book (into which I can delve no deeper because
SPOILERS!).
To bring it all together, Check Mate is a tasty near-future
military romp mixing some dark comedy with killer robots!
It’s not *quite* perfect, but it’s really quite good and I
can gladly recommend this meal to any lover of
science-fiction or enjoys a splash of distinctly British
dark humor with their meals! Remember, again, to check out
the Starving Interview to get a glimpse into the mind behind
the book.
FINAL VERDICT: **** (A tasty near-future military romp
mixing some dark comedy with killer robots!) 4 out of 5
(visitor) More By This Author Check Mate Michelle Knight Click For Book Page and Excerpt Genres: Science Fiction, Humour / Speculative Words: 52000 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $5.95
Paperback Pages: 178 Paperback price: $11.43
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| Sudden Light Biff Grant Click For Book Page and Excerpt Genres: General Fiction, Humour Available Formats to Download: Palm MOBI EPUB Sony Reader (LRF) ;MS Word PDF MS Reader Text RTF A few quotes from the novel to indicate where we’re going:
I sometimes think that God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his abilities.
It serves me right for putting all my eggs in one bastard.
Two things are infinite; the universe and human stupidity: and I’m not sure about the universe. Words: 73000 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $5.99
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More By This Author | Sudden Light Biff Grant Click For Book Page and Excerpt Genres: General Fiction, Humour A few quotes from the novel to indicate where we’re going:
I sometimes think that God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his abilities.
It serves me right for putting all my eggs in one bastard.
Two things are infinite; the universe and human stupidity: and I’m not sure about the universe. Words: 73000 Purchase from our site Ebook Price: $5.99
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| | | Humour / Speculative | SELECT PAGE: 1 2 | | | |
