Ten Tense Tales – to make your spine tingle
Five novellas and five short stories, all gripping tales that twist and turn, each dripping with horror, shocks and grizzly surprises; stories about a dance that can summon up the dead, a mask with voodoo powers, an old phone that suddenly springs into life, and two tales of the sea, one of man-made horror and the other of aliens that eat human flesh.
Whistleblower Series – Book 2
It’s the end of an easy shift for Jake Redwood, a lowly Detective in Polk County.
When he receives a mysterious phone call while having a drink with his buddies, it starts a fast and furious train of events, as he runs for his life to escape retribution for heinous crimes he doesn’t even know he’s committed.
Jake Redwood is once again running for his life… but from whom?
Whistleblower Series – Book 1
Earth is suddenly blighted by kids that kill. Jake Redwood is a lowly cop whose job it is to catch them. When he meets a beautiful stranger, who tells him why they’re really here, it’s the start of a very bad week for Jake.
He discovers that a race of humanlike aliens, intent on exploiting the Earth’s resources, are planning to wipe out the human species. Some have worked their way into positions of power across the globe. When their leader, Krillik, discovers what Jake knows, it’s a white-knuckle race to stay alive and save mankind from a very nasty end.
A near future Science Fiction story packed full of action, when it starts, Whistleblower by David Smith has all the punch of a Hollywood blockbuster.
Jake Redwood is part of a special police task force ordered to apprehend suspect alien children and subject them to a set of rigorous tests before they break cover and commit mass murder. The whys and wherefores of this burgeoning worldwide crisis are only to be guessed at, but when one particular child is captured and begins telling a slightly different story, Jake is drawn into the depths of the alien conspiracy.
Whistleblower grabs hold of you as you join Jake on his frenetic adventure. Smith can clearly write action oriented scenes without obsessing about the details as some make the mistake of doing, but instead concentrating on sensation. The first person narrative creates a clear connection between us and Redwood. His attempts to make sense of everything that is going on around him are just as confused as ours at times. Questions and abeyance are made use of extensively in the scenes. Violence occurs frequently, quickly and decisively, making way for speculative reflection and plot summary.
There is one particular set piece that stands out, the confrontation at a log cabin by a lake. Whilst this scene is something of an interlude to the plot, the staging and execution of it are excellent.
It is in the latter where Whistleblower seems to acknowledge its own complexity. As a narrator, Jake is continually summarising is situation and speculating on what may come next. Some of his views are repetitive, just as the attitudes of his supporting cast can at times be condescending. The continual action obstacles in his path are well handled in terms of their execution, but there is something trivial about the way in which Jake describes his world. This is perhaps intentional, as a later reveal demonstrates how he may have arrived at this cartoonlike way of labelling people, groups and objects. Finding a way to communicate this as intention to the reader might be something to think about.
At times it is hard follow the twists and turns of Whistleblower’s plot. When the reader is invited to consider the specifics of any one situation from the same limited viewpoint as Redwood, more often than not, questions remain These are continually pushed away whilst our main character engages in more survival gymnastics, only to return when another moment of respite occurs.
Towards the end of the book, there is an interesting exploration of dual identity which is entirely appropriate to story. This draws together many of the mysterious interrogation scenes that are littered through the previous chapters. Smith has created a flawed narrator in Jake Redwood, but it is intriguing to note the many layers of flaw and damage that are finally revealed. By the ending, we are unsure of how much Jake really knows about what happened and interestingly, the reader emerges as the only person with a complete understanding of what actually happened. This is particularly unique for a book that is told exclusively in first person from one individual’s perspective.
David Smith has built an interesting science fiction action story here, which is well worth the read. At the end, there is an instinct to applaud much of the hidden intention and artifice, when you realise that many of the elements you thought were problems are actually part of the story intent.
Written on Thursday 11th August 2016.
Whistleblower, a book by David Smith | Book review
A near future Science Fiction story packed full of action, when it starts, Whistleblower by David Smith has all the punch of a Hollywood blockbuster.
‘The Seed Cloud’ is the sequel to ‘Seeds of Freedom’. This is another gripping thriller, set amid the chaotic new world which has emerged as a result of the sinister events at the closing of ‘Seeds of Freedom’.
Wales is under the tyranny of two opposing forces, the terrorist organisation, the Liberation Army of Wales, and the corrupt Special Branch force, SO55.
DC Jane Cassidy has recovered from near death at the hands of the L.A.W. and is back on the force walking a tightrope between the two embattled forces. She is assigned her first murder enquiry, an innocent man killed by terrorists.
In her efforts to bring his killers to justice she is caught up in a fast moving, complex and terrifying series of events as the battle for
control of Wales unfolds at breathtaking pace around her.
‘Seeds of Freedom’ is a fast paced political thriller set in a sleepy seaside town with dark secrets.
An incident on a lonely beach in Wales leads to multiple murders.
DC Jane Tetlow, young, bright and beautiful, is seconded to the counter-terrorism team that investigates the murders. She uncovers an assassination plot that goes right to the heart of Whitehall. If successful it could change Britain forever.
Will she prevent the killing or will forces within Whitehall get to her first?
This action packed thriller grips from the first page to the very last. It is a combination of police procedural detective work, political conspiracy, terrorism and fast paced drama that keeps you spellbound to the very end.
‘One Bad Penny’ is a thriller, about the events leading up to, and the aftermath of, an industrial disaster and it’s impact on the town and it’s inhabitants.
This pacy thriller set in summer 2009, with flash backs to three crucial days in May 2003, interweaves two compelling tales regarding the events leading up to, and the aftermath, of a major disaster when a chemical plant explodes in the sleepy coastal town of Wightport.
Gary David is an overworked Environmental Agency officer. One of his cases is the chemical factory – old, run down and in dire need of investment, but recently bought by a large corporate conglomerate. Far from being knights in shining armour, they threaten to shut the plant down and move production abroad unless productivity and profits improve. The workforce has no choice but to cut corners on safety.
Gary David discovers the plant has been compromised and battles against the company and his employers, amid the stresses of his own troubled family, to try and avert a catastrophe at the factory. Despite his frantic efforts, he fails, and the tragic result is a huge loss of life and countless injuries.
The subsequent enquiries by the police, coroner and various Government bodies including his employer, the Environmental Agency, all produce evidence naming Gary as the man responsible.
Six years later, Gary’s son Sam, tired of being the son of the most hated man in the country, and convinced of his father’s innocence, comes into an inheritance and starts his own investigation.
With a private detective in tow, he hires an old family friend, a specialist technical investigator, to seek out the truth. Together they track down the key players involved in the disaster, and try to discover what really happened in Wightport in May 2003.
But will what they discover change anything, and what lengths will Sam go to in order to clear his father’s name?
