The two things
I have the most difficulty reviewing are Romance novels – because I really
don’t much care for the genre, even when it’s carefully couched in the well
draped blanket of historical fiction, and work by writers I know personally –
because whether I like them or not, and I DO this author, it’s just difficult
to be objective when you know the writer.
You either want to dislike their work because you know but dislike them,
or, as in this particular case, you want to write a rave review because you
know and like the writer irrespective of his or her work. It’s double jeopardy when it’s a writer you
know and like writing in a genre you don’t particularly care for, and you try
to be as objective and brutally honest as possible, which I do.
The writer in
question is fellow
Examiner Jesse V. Coffee, the Lexington
Writing and Literature
Examiner, CEO of Edin Road Publications, A.K.A. Red Haired Celt, my editor
and publisher and my friend. So I guess
that makes all of this that rare triple play, and writing this review isn’t
going to be easy. And if 312 words can
be taken as ‘long story short’, there you have it, and here I go.
I first read
Jesse Coffey in a completely different setting for historical fiction, a
delightful horror piece called A Wager of Blood. Originally published in paperback by LBF Books
and soon to be released E-book edition under her own banner of Edin Road Press, the author used the
soon to be retired pseudonym of J.W. Coffey.
This was a pulse pounding read worthy of the pen of Stephen King when’s
not busy covering Wooly Bully with his garage band and attending Red Sox games.
But this is not about A Wager of Blood. I’ll return to that when the e-book is
released.
Let me tell you
now about The Brothers Cameron – An
Opportunity for Resentment. The
place and time are Edin-on-Norwich, England, 1567 A.D. Stephan , the elder of Sir Douglas Cameron’s sons
has been brought before Lord Joseph Turnbull, Baron of the shire, accused of
the theft of silver from the shire’s church.
His accuser is Sarah Miller, with whom young Stephan is in love. Lord Joseph is an evil megalomaniac with eyes
set on wealth and power no matter how it is to be attained. He has bribed young Sarah to falsely accuse
Stephan. As Baron of the Shire, Lord
Joseph is jury, judge, and executioner by law.
One other thing. He hates the
Cameron family. Stephan is stripped,
whipped within an inch of his life by the soul-less Irish assassin known as
Cieran, and left to die, or be found on the road to the Cameron estate.
Fast forward
ten years. William Cameron has returned
from a lengthy tour of Europe, where he has seen the best and the worst
civilization has to offer. He returns to
an Edin –on-Norwich which has changed little in his absence. Lord Joseph is still the Baron, and if
anything is even more evil and determined in his hatred of the Cameron
family. Here we meet the rest of our
cast. Mary, the young woman known by the
Cameron family since she and William were wee ones. The Lady Jessica is the recent ward of Lord
Joseph, who has his eyes on her titles, lands, fortune, and, dare I say it, her
innocence. And through his willing
henchman, Cieran, Joseph is not beneath murdering anyone who gets in his way.
The Brothers Cameron – An Opportunity for
Resentment by J. V. Coffey is a rip snorting, swashbuckling whale of an
adventure that far exceeds is intent of being a good romance. It’s just plain a darn good read. A splendid story, well told. The only distraction I had was occasionally
when Coffey, who tells her story as
third person narrative but from individual characters perspectives, loses me
momentarily when she, with little more than an extra space between paragraphs,
jumps back and forth in the linear setting of the tale. Once you figure out where she is, it’s a
smooth, if fast paced ride.
5 stars for The Brothers Cameron – An Opportunity for Resentment by J. V.
Coffey, and Edin Road Press at Smashwords. Second edition © 2011 by Jesse V.
Coffey Originally published as The Brothers Campbell First edition
copyright 2002 by J. W. Coffey First edition ISBN 978-0595261772
Tampa readers,
and readers everywhere can find The
Brothers Cameron – An Opportunity for Resentment by J. V. Coffey online at Smashwords.com in most
popular e-book formats, and for their Kindle at Amazon.com
The Brothers Cameron – An Opportunity for
Resentment is book one of the Brothers Cameron Trilogy. Cover art ©2011 by Lorrieann Russell.
Interested
Tampa readers can learn more about J. V. Coffey and
her writing at Facebook and
at the author’s web site.
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