Steve Roach

Steve writes in many genres but I like his take on horror.

The Farda

Amazon.com  The Farda

My review -

This is a little gem of a book. The story concerns a grossly obsese man who is confined to his home because of his size. He has no friends and effectively no life. His predicament is sensitively described. He is about to trench his way through a crate of bananas when he find a huge spider (which can talk!) The growing relationship between the man and the spider is a delight as we watch it unfold. Steve Roach has a dark side to his humour though. Things go downhill!

This is a short story but as there's a small cast there is time for character development and the plot has a slight inevitability although I didn't see the final page coming. The author's writing style is skilful and accessible without being in any way simple. Short but sweet, this one, and well worth a read.

Filthy Shades of Gray

Amazon.com  Filthy Shades of Gray

My review -

It's difficult to review a book in terms of parody when you haven't read the book being parodied (there are still a few of us). However, the author states that it stands alone and I agree, it does. It's rude, crude and raunchy and in places downright gross but the purpose of parody is to exaggerate as well as to amuse. I downloaded the sample of the original book but found it very dry. I evidently didn't persist as far as the juicy bits! This short novel starts rather similarly to the book itself but is very funny. I have probably missed a good number of 'in' jokes which will mean more if you have read 'Grey'. As the book progresses though, it becomes darker and takes on a more thougtful tone. I feel that it actually became something else, something of its own. Instead of simply telling us 'what' it began to ask 'why' - and to tell us.

I'm sure this book will offend a few people but if you are up for it, it will amuse and amaze you. I read it in a single evening - I'm not sure if that tells you more about me than the book!