Beyond the Sea — Part 2

Beyond the Sea: Stories from the Underground is a project of the Underground Authors. We are a group of writers who place a high value on quality fiction. We seek to write it and promote it.

Beyond the Sea was an exercise in creativity. Take one picture and see what stories a dozen writers could find in it. And we found a dozen gems.

Three weeks ago, I blogged about my own contribution, and the three stories that impressed me the most.

Today, and next week, I want to share with you the remaining stories — because all the stories are good.  And what’s more, maybe your favorite is one of these eight imaginative tales.

So let’s dive in!

The Diving Bits Breakfield & Burkey

Xiamara has spent her and Judith’s savings to buy a boat. Judith is furious. The money was for their tuition to learn computers.

However, Xiamara convinces her friend they can make the money back by taking tourists out snorkeling.

But when their best laid plans meet reality, the two women end up in a heap of trouble.

A fun backstory romp in Breakfield & Burkey’s Enigma Universe.

Stranded — NE Brown

This story starts out innocently enough, but gradually you become aware that something isn’t right. And the ending? You have to read it — no spoilers here.

This is a suspense shocker that will have you trusting no one. A story I very much liked.

I’d Rather Drown — James R Callan

What would you do if you suddenly found yourself a prisoner? That’s the situation Darcy finds herself in. Prisoner of a control freak and possible psychopath. All because she accepted a drink and agreed to a game of tennis.

But she has a life, and it isn’t with her jailer! How is she going to escape Donald’s clutches?

James Callan gives us a tense thriller, brilliantly executed. A tale of escape that will have you biting your nails. I know I did!

Regi Vitam — Michael Scott Clifton

Ever wonder if anything you do ever has a good impact on someone else?

Frankie Scott was old and in poor health. He’d found a lot of talent for the Major Leagues in his day, but now he was all washed up. Just existing until his heart, lungs, or liver gave out. Just existing, that is, until Devin Ramos’ baseball breaks his window.

A heartwarming story that brought tears to my eyes.

Beyond the Sea: Stories from the Underground is a labor of love. All profits go to Team Rubicon to help their efforts to provide humanitarian relief when disaster strikes.

So do yourself and a lot of others a favor and pick up a copy today. You can be a good Samaritan and have fun at the same time!

Buy Beyond the Sea at Amazon

Comments are always welcome. And until next time, happy reading!

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Mystery vs Thriller

These days the term “thriller” is pretty much used indiscriminately. Indie writers are especially guilty of this abuse, but traditional publishers are in nowise innocent.

I suppose, in order to get us readers to buy books, the term “thriller” is plastered all over the book, used throughout the description, and liberally sprinkled in the advertising. The idea being that the book will “thrill” us. And who doesn’t want a few thrills in life?

But that isn’t at all what a thriller is. At least technically speaking. And if we readers don’t want to read thrillers, it would be very helpful if writers and publishers stopped calling everything a thriller when it isn’t.

Let’s take a look at what constitutes a mystery, a suspense novel, and a thriller.

What Is a Mystery?

A mystery is essentially a puzzle. The form we are most familiar with is the detective novel, which was invented by Edgar Allan Poe and popularized by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

In a typical mystery, there is minimal action. The sleuth goes about sleuthing to find the solution to the puzzle, which is some type of crime, usually murder. The detective is not often in danger, although other characters often are.

The suspense is usually minimal — although the author may crank it up near the end of the story.

The mystery novel is more or less an intellectual read. It’s appeal is the solving of the puzzle by the reader before the detective, or enjoying the detective’s process in solving the case. The traditional mystery is definitely not an action-packed read.

Recently I re-read Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout. It’s the first Nero Wolfe mystery.

I was surprised at how little action there was in the book, which was published in 1934. Wolfe, who in some books weighs a seventh of a ton, sits, drinks beer, questions people, tends his orchids, eats, and thinks. That’s it.

Archie Goodwin, Wolfe’s assistant who tells the story, drives from NYC to White Plains numerous times. He questions people for Wolfe, makes wisecrack remarks, gives us his observations, and also thinks about the case.

The only “action” occurs towards the end of the book when Wolfe stages a robbery to get a person to talk. Wolfe’s life is threatened once, also near the end of the book. And Archie punches a cop. That’s it. Definitely not action-packed, although the suspense does ramp up a bit at the end; yet the book is a thoroughly delightful read. Stout achieves this by the use of plenty of humor, interesting characters, and the laying out clues for our consideration.

What Is A Suspense Story?

A story of suspense may be a mystery, but the difference is that the reader knows more than the protagonist. Frequently, the reader knows who the bad guy is long before the good guy does. And because we, the reader, know things the hero doesn’t — suspense is created.

Will the hero realize there is a viper in the basket? Will he or someone else open the basket and get bit? That’s the creation of suspense.

The suspense novel also has a limited scope. The protagonist, the hero or heroine, is the one who’s primarily in danger.

A classic example of the suspense story is Hitchcock’s film North by Northwest. The story is about a man who is mistaken for someone else: a man trying to foil a plot to steal government secrets. Plenty of suspense is generated as the good guy tries to escape the bad guys. Especially because he has no idea who is after him and why.

What Is A Thriller?

At the risk of oversimplification, a thriller is a suspense tale on steroids.

Whereas a suspense novel is generally focused on the protagonist and if he or she will beat the villain, the thriller has much higher stakes. The villain is going to destroy the city, or country, or world. The protagonist must not only stop the villain, but must stop the series of  events the villain’s set in motion that will take down the world’s economy, for example.

Thrillers are usually villain-driven. The villain shares the stage with the hero.

A classic example of the thriller is the film Die Hard. We have the villain seize control of a corporation’s headquarters and hold hostage those inside the building, who are at the company Christmas party, in order to steal a fortune in bearer bonds. There is only one man in the building who can stop the villain and save the hostages.

There is plenty of suspense; some mystery, because we don’t know at first what the real goal of the terrorists is; and loads of action. That’s the thriller: suspense, action, and high stakes.

Novels such as The DaVinci Code and The Hunt for Red October raise the stakes even higher.

Mixing It Up

People being who they are, like to mix things up. There may be elements of mystery in both suspense and thriller tales, as noted above, but it isn’t the main element.

There may be plenty of suspense in a thriller, but the nature of what is at stake is different from that in a pure suspense story.

Lee Child, for example, writes what are essentially action novels, even though they are labelled thrillers. The stakes in a Reacher novel are small, at least the ones I’ve read. Either Reacher has to get himself out of a predicament or decides to get someone else out. There is nothing big, like the destruction of the world’s economy, at stake. Which means, technically, the books aren’t thrillers. But in the process of getting out of trouble, there is loads of action. Bodies litter the ground before we close the book. Which makes the books in actuality action novels.

So even though the word “thriller” is applied to Child’s novels by his publisher, they don’t conform to the thriller formula. It is this blurring of distinctions, for the sake of marketing, that in my opinion does a disservice to readers. I guess action novels just don’t sell as well as thrillers.

Popular Tastes

Today the “thriller” — whether the book actually is one or not — is hot. A book labelled a thriller is sure to sell.

Even many writers of detective novels are trying to jump on the thriller bandwagon by ramping up the action and claiming that the “pages turn themselves”, which is of course utter nonsense. And action alone is not the sole hallmark of a thriller anyway.

To my mind, this is a shame. When the thriller reader picks up a mis-identified book, he or she ends up disappointed and may even negatively review it. And the mystery reader will shy away from such books thinking they’re thrillers, when in fact they aren’t.

The quest for the almighty dollar is no excuse, in my mind, to mislead us readers.

I read mysteries because I like the more sedate pace and the intellectual aspects of the story. I don’t particularly like thriller novels because they are often too long and have the inevitable slow spots, which make for boring reading and thus ruins the whole thriller aspect. I’d rather watch a thriller movie, if I’m in the mood for a thriller.

The best part of the indie revolution is that there are far more published authors now then there were pre-Kindle. And while many writers have jumped on the thriller bandwagon, there are also many, who, like me, write the traditional mystery. Some are:

JP Choquette

Lee Strauss

PF Ford

JA Menzies

J New

It’s a great day for readers. Many writers — good writers — who would never have been tapped for membership in the hallowed halls of traditional publishing, can now share their gems with us. Writer and reader are all the richer for this new age.

As usual, comments are always welcome, and, until next time, happy reading!

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Jack Reacher, Lydia Chin, and U-Boats

Today I thought I’d share with you some of the books I’ve been reading. Specifically a couple of traditionally published authors whose books I’ve been exploring, as well as a return to an old interest.

Jack Reacher

In the thriller world, Lee Child’s creation, Jack Reacher, is all the rage. Sometime ago I picked up Number 15 in the series in a used bookstore. I’d never heard of Lee Child or Jack Reacher at that point and since the book was the fifteenth in the series and because I have a penchant to read series books in order, I set it aside until I could get the earlier books.

Then I learned of the Jack Reacher craze and bought the first two books just to see what all the fuss was about. I bought them used because I have a policy not to buy any new books published by the Big Five. Mostly because the Big Five charges way too much for books, especially e-books.

And without a doubt I’m glad to say I didn’t pay anymore then the two cents plus shipping that I paid for the books, because I’m not at all impressed with Jack Reacher.

What I actually found most helpful was Mr. Child’s introduction to the first book in the series in which he explained how he created Jack Reacher and a bit about his philosophy of writing. That was valuable information and should be read by all writers.

So what didn’t I like about Mr Child’s writing?

  • Mediocre writing. The books are over 500 pages long in the paperback versions and that’s about 200 pages too much. They are wordy and Mr Child continually defuses the suspense with lengthy descriptions and explanations. Which seems odd that one would want to kill suspense in a suspense novel.
  • Technical inaccuracy. The first two books are riddled with inaccurate terms and information regarding firearms. Mr Child clearly knows nothing about guns — and he apparently didn’t bother to do sufficient research.
  • An unbelievable main character. Jack Reacher clearly fulfills Mr Child’s intentions as to what he wanted to achieve in a main character. Child wanted someone who never loses. A wish fulfillment for everyone who’s suffered at the hands of a schoolyard bully. The problem is, Reacher is boring. He is never in any real trouble. He’s always in control and the few times he isn’t he always knows he’ll get the upper hand eventually. He has a few quirks which come off as more stupid than interesting. And Reacher’s personality is about as interesting as a cold fish.

Personally, I think the only reason Lee Child got a publishing contract is because he was a TV writer before he turned to fiction. It’s all about who you know.

Needless to say, I won’t be buying anymore Jack Reacher novels. I might read more if I were to get the books for free. But even then that would be iffy. Just too many better books out there.

Lydia Chin/Bill Smith

S J Rozan was an architect who decided to try her hand at novel writing. She’s garnered numerous awards and nominations for her mystery detective series featuring Lydia Chin and Bill Smith.

The series currently numbers 11 novels and since the last one was published in 2011 it may be at an end, as her two latest books our paranormal thrillers which she co-authored.

The series is somewhat unique in that the odd numbered novels are told from Lydia’s point of view and the even numbered ones from Bill’s.

I’ve read the first 3 and number 4 is in the queue.

Ms Rozan’s style is exquisite. Very polished. No extraneous anything. Lydia and Bill are well-drawn. They end up winning, but aren’t infallible. They come across as real people. By way of contrast, I’d say Jack Reacher is about as complex as a comic book character.

Lydia’s and Bill’s world is New York City. And Ms Rozan makes their world come alive for us. Her word painting is superb.

Of the two characters, I prefer Lydia Chin. She is more colorful and her Chinatown world is fascinating. Even Bill Smith is more interesting in the books where Lydia is the point of view character.

When Bill tells the story, everything is duller and somewhat darker. At least in the one Bill Smith point of view novel I read. We’ll see if that changes in the next one I read.

As of right now, I plan to get all of the Lydia Chin/Bill Smith mysteries. They are pretty much as good as it gets.

U-Boats

U-Boats? Why U-Boats, you might be thinking. I’ve studied history all my life. Majored in it for my B.A. and continued with courses in grad school. There are many aspects of history one can study and technological development is a very intriguing aspect.

Most know I’m crazy about airships. What most don’t know is that I’m also fascinated by submarines. The two are very much the opposites of each other. What it takes to fly a rigid airship is the same skills it takes to navigate a submarine. The one is in air, the other water.

I’m also fascinated by the losers in history. It isn’t always the good guys who win, unfortunately. They do, however, get to write the history books.

Recently, I watched a World War II movie about an Allied force that captures a German U-Boat in a stealth operation. Complete fiction. And complete propaganda. All the typical war movie tropes: all the Germans get killed and only one American does; the Germans can’t fix their diesel engine but the Americans can; the Americans in the middle of a tense situation with only one person able to speak German, figure out all the German instructions on how to run the boat; the German sub trying to recapture the U-Boat has all its torpedoes miss, but the Americans with only one torpedo left are able to sink the pursuing German sub; and on it goes.

What the movie did do was spark a renewal of my interest in submarines. Currently I’m reading two books from the German’s perspective on the Battle of the Atlantic. One from World War I and the other from World War II.

To me, the most interesting thing is if you were to simply change the perspective the books could have been written by the victors. In other words, the motivation behind the Allied and Axis troops to fight was the same. A vague sense of patriotism mainly. Rarely a devotion to ideology

To achieve balance in one’s understanding of history, one needs to read both sides.

We, as individuals, are the sum total of not only our past, but the past of our people. The more we understand the past, the more we understand ourselves. Our past defines who we are at this very moment. It may or may not define the future. That usually depends on how well we understand past drivers.

To read the exploits of the U-Boat commanders and their crews is giving me an appreciation for those men who have been so brutally demonized by Allied propaganda, but who in reality were no different than those men they were fighting.

A study of history quickly shows the historian people are people, no matter where they are found.

 

That’s some of what I’ve been reading of late. I’ve, of course, been reading other books and reviews of some of those will be forthcoming.

As always, comments are welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

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Crime Fiction

My wife and I have been watching the ABC TV show Quantico on Netflix. I would have stopped watching after about the eighth episode, but my wife wanted to continue and so we did. IMO, the show continued its downward spiral into angst, bad acting, and impossibly stupid storylines right through to the season finale. How ABC could renew such a travesty on the concept of entertainment and cancel Agent Carter is beyond me. Well, actually it isn’t. A hot babe, a hunky guy, and sex (lots of sex) — and you get commercial sponsors. No wonder ABC’s line up sucks.

At the same time, I’ve been watching the Canadian TV series Murdoch Mysteries and CBS’s Elementary. Those are superb productions with good acting, well-drawn characters, and engaging storylines. Of which, Quantico has none. The main character in Quantico is a narcissistic slut (not just my opinion, even the characters in the story think so), the supporting characters are pathetic, and the storyline… Well, when taken all together, if the FBI is really like this — then God help America.

In watching the three shows, I got thinking about crime fiction and drama in general and which types do I prefer. Broadly speaking, there are three categories of crime stories: mystery, suspense, and thriller. Let’s take a look at each and see what defines them.

MYSTERY

Crime fiction mysteries more or less got their start with Edgar Allan Poe’s C. Auguste Dupin and were perfected by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in Sherlock Holmes. Every detective since Holmes’s debut owe’s something to the Great Detective. Doyle permanently shaped the mystery. There have been many variations on the theme, but there have been no new themes.

What are the characteristics of the mystery story? At base it’s a puzzle, a riddle, to be solved. The hero or heroine must find the solution and discover who committed the crime.

The mystery is something of a cerebral form. It appeals to our wish for order and our desire to find solutions to problems. Action is often minimal. There is the sleuth, professional or amateur, interacting with the other characters in order to gain pieces of information which will hopefully lead to the solution of the problem.

Generally speaking, the sleuth is in little physical danger. Although he or she may encounter some risk as he or she gets closer to the solution and the bad guy is about to be revealed.

Examples of this category abound. Perhaps my favorite mysteries are those which feature Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe. On TV there are many great series. Favorites of mine are Inspector Morse, Inspector Lewis, Inspector George Gently, Grantchester, Elementary, Murdoch Mysteries, and Midsomer Murders.

My own Justinia Wright, PI fits neatly into this category.

SUSPENSE

The suspense novel or drama differs from the mystery in that the hero is in some kind of personal danger, often right from the beginning of the story — although he or she may not be aware of the danger, at least at the start of the story.

However, the reader (or viewer) is very much aware and that starts the suspense dynamic.

The focus in the suspense story is not on the crime, but rather on the danger the hero has inadvertently gotten himself into.

The acknowledged master of the suspense story was Cornell Woolrich. Novels such as The Bride Wore Black, Night has a Thousand Eyes, and Fright are classics of the genre.

Alfred Hitchcock was the cinematic master of the suspense story, with such classics as Rear Window (based on a Woolrich short story), North by Northwest, and Vertigo.

A good suspense story often has many elements of the “whodunit”, although very often the reader or viewer knows who the villain is. The hero very often doesn’t however and that creates the suspense.

THRILLER

The thriller is the relative newcomer on the block. Although, one could argue the thriller concept got its start in such novels as the Fu Manchu series by Sax Rohmer, where the evil genius, Fu Manchu threatens the world with his evil schemes.

In a very real sense the thriller is a suspense story that is simply set on a very grand scale. The stakes are much higher, often on a huge scale. Something is going to affect hundreds, if not thousands or millions, of people — and the hero, of course, must stop the bad guy before the disaster happens. He may or may not know who the culprit is he must stop, but stop him he must. If the villain is unknown to both hero and reader/viewer, then we have elements of the mystery in our thriller.

And right from the start it’s very obvious the hero, along with those hundreds, thousands, or millions, is in danger. Mortal danger, which only gets worse as the story progresses.

The above mentioned blight on the thriller genre, Quantico, exemplifies all of the thriller tropes. The heroine, Alex Parrish, is in danger right from the start. The stakes are high, as well: buildings are blowing up and then we get the ultimate disaster threat. The villain is only revealed at the end, so we also have a healthy dash of mystery to our plot. The suspense story on steroids.

A much better example of the thriller is the movie Die Hard. Intense action. High stakes. One man against many, with scores of hostages at risk. A classic.

In the literary field, Tom Clancy was a master of the technical thriller and the stakes in his books are huge. There’s also Robin Cook’s medical thrillers.

POPULARITY

Crime fiction is the second largest genre after romance. According to Author Earnings’ May 2016 report, mysteries and thrillers/suspense account for around 230,000 sales per day on Amazon, with authors earning in the neighborhood of $375,000 per day. Apparently crime (writing) does pay!

Thrillers/suspense (and probably more the thriller) is the hot genre now. Straight mysteries less so. Lee Child and Clive Cussler are big names. Indies such as Mark Dawson and A G Riddle are pulling in big bucks selling thrillers. Apparently crime readers lean towards lots of action and big risks these days.

However, I have to say I prefer the mystery and secondarily the traditional suspense story. There’s nothing wrong with the thriller, it’s just that most thriller storylines seem a bit too fantastic for my tastes. I also tend to prefer the more sedate pace of the mystery. If I want action and adventure, I prefer the traditional action/adventure yarn. Such as those written by H. Rider Haggard or Robert E Howard.

It is, though, admittedly, a matter of personal taste. However, I find myself wondering if in another 130 years Jack Reacher will be around. I’m pretty certain Sherlock Holmes will be.

Feel free to comment on your crime fiction preferences. And until next time, happy reading!

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Agent Carter

I love Agent Carter. Plain and simple. The show is Dieselpunk suspense and intrigue with a noir touch. And very well done, IMO.

We have the heroine, who is not unlike a hardboiled detective. She is gritty and not afraid to get dirty. And with her broken heart, she is not interested in love. We have the mysterious mastermind of evil and his or her minions. We have fantastic secret weapons and the perpetually dark atmosphere and surroundings. What is not to like?

Hayley Atwell does a superb job, IMO, playing Agent Carter. Her facial nuances convey so much of what Carter is thinking and doesn’t necessarily say. She brings Carter to life in a dynamic way, showing her intelligence and her ability to be long suffering when faced with the resurgent male chauvinism after the war. Peggy Carter now has to do even more what women have always done: think smarter and get the job done.

I love the scene where Carter is being patronized and when asked her name, says, “Agent.” That reply sums it up. She may be relegated to the position of office girl at the moment, but when she was needed she responded and did what the men did. She’s an Agent. As good as any of her peers, who are now getting the important jobs.

Agent Carter has fulfilled my expectations, at least thus far. I’m seriously thinking of buying the DVDs when available and of checking out the other Marvel shows. I do hope, though, we have not seen the last of Agent Peggy Carter. She is the woman.

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