Rosie’s #BookReview Team #RBRT AN UGLY WAY TO GO by Iain Pattison @AuthorIain

Today’s team review is from Georgia, she blogs at http://www.georgiarosebooks.com

Georgia has been reading An Ugly Way to Go by Iain Pattison

#Bookreview for An Ugly Way To Go by Iain Pattison

I have always enjoyed short stories and this collection is no exception. There is something about being able to read a whole tale in that space of time before sleep claims you that is calming, it gives a sense of completion, if you like.

So, firstly the good – it’s tricky to know where to start because I don’t want to give a rundown of each story but there is a wide spread of different tales here so something to suit all. Although I found in my case that was pretty much everything. The writing was excellent throughout with each story being tight and to the point. There were some great twists as well as some re-imaginings of old favourites such as in Once Upon a Crime and Christopher Robin Went Down – With Malice. While there were many stories here that I really liked if I started listing them out then I would never stop so I shall just give you my absolute favourite which was the piraty yarn, Rum Tale.

I should also mention that there is an excellent guest story included written by Chloe Banks, Missing Signs and Wonders, which is such a great idea and very enjoyably written.

And the bad? Well there’s not much of that actually. I’m not saying a loved every tale, there were a couple that didn’t light my candle as it were but that is purely personal taste and I certainly shan’t mark them out as there will be others who will love them.

I have often sung the praises of the short story for those times when you don’t have the capacity to sink into a longer piece and this is a collection that comes highly recommended.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Rosie’s Book Review Team #RBRT An Ugly Way To Go by Iain Pattison @AuthorIain #bookreview

Today’s second team review comes from Terry, she blogs at http://terrytylerbookreviews.blogspot.co.uk/

Terry chose to read and review An Ugly Way To Go by Iain Pattison

An Ugly Way to Go by Iain Pattison

4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed by Terry as part of Rosie Amber’s Book Review Team

Iain Pattison’s ‘quintessentially quirky tales’ is a collection of short stories of varying length, all except one of which are in a broad fantasy/humour genre. The exception is ‘Hampered’, about a couple who take a balloon ride, which is rather touching.

The book is very well presented and all the stories are competently written, with some amusing and well put together turns of phrase. As is usually the case with short story collections, they varied in quality. I very much liked ‘A Rum Tale’, a comic book style story about a pirate; cleverly done and atmospheric, with its over the top characters. Other favourites were ‘Open Sesame’, about an unhappily married couple facing a zombie apocalypse, and ‘Interview With The Vampire’ (clue’s in the name); both of these were excellent, with a funny and unexpected turnaround right at the end. The end of ‘Crowning Glory’ was good, too. Others were less well executed; the ideas were great, but I think the key to writing a good short-story-with-a-twist is that the twist MUST be unexpected (otherwise it’s like guessing the punchline to a joke!), and come at the very end, ie, the last thing you read, not two pages before the end; with a couple of them I knew exactly what was going to happen, and the ‘twist’ went on too long. However, all the stories were highly readable; none of them were boring.

A guest story by Chloe Banks, ‘Missing Signs and Wonders’, provides an enjoyable end to the collection. I spent a pleasant couple of hours reading these, and would recommend the book to any lovers of short stories.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com