The Review Broads Bros + Paws

The Taint of Midas Author: Anne ZouroudiSpellbinding.  And I do not use the word lightly.  Anne Zouroudi’s “The Taint of Midas – A Seven Deadly Sins Mystery” overcomes her excellent plot and delightful characters with an elegance of prose that undulates and mesmerizes like a spot on sunset.  Simply spellbinding!This is an author commanding language and plot, very much like Susan Howatch in “The High Flyer.”  Zouroudi spears us into characters that dwell on in our minds and trap us into their ... continue reading...

The End of EverythingAuthor: Megan AbbottMegan Abbott does not walk quiet as the doe.  She treads with the fierce paw of the tiger, claws extended.  The End of Everything delves into the psychological realm underlying the Verver family.  Evie Verver, 12, and her 17 year old sister Dusty, reside enthralled in their father’s narcissistic web.  Dusty is the golden princess, whose existence sustains Mr. Verver’s huge ego.  Evie tries to avoid her father’s emotional incest and her sister’s brutal ... continue reading...

Bloodlineauthor: Mark BillinghamBloodline by Mark Billingham provides the best serial killer punch since “The Silence of the Lambs.”  Tight fisted, with characters that lunge in and out of pages packed with plot, sub-plot, and sub-sub-plot, Billingham’s Bloodline reticulates with intelligent characters that take retortion onto a new level!This thriller spins like a top, revs like a 358, then crashes and mushrooms like a nuclear blast.  Intelligent and searching crime writing at its ... continue reading...

Centuries of June: A NovelAuthor: Keith DonohueAfter Kate Atkinson’s “Started Early Walked The Dog,” I recognized the title of Keith Donohue’s Centuries of June as another Emily Dickinson line.  I wish I had the enthusiasm for Centuries as I did for Started Early.  I love Flann O’Brien, and absurdist and post modernism Irish fiction and plays.  By producing a play of mime, with only a description of the visual action, and no dialogue, Beckett denies Joycean language and reiterates O’Brien’s ... continue reading...