Location: New Zealand
Member Since:
Jan. 21, 2011
Dale Shaw
Dale Shaw's favorite authors on Smashwords
Smashwords book reviews by Dale Shaw
-
The Falling of Shadows
on Feb. 08, 2011
A well written, faced paced story with a variety of characters set in small-town New Zealand. I found it a very easy and enjoyable read ... very "Kiwi" in the way it is written. A little bit raunchy in parts but nothing too offensive in that or any other part of the subject matter. I look forward to many more books from the same author. As a rule I don't normally read works by female authors as they often focus more on being descriptive or romantic rather than action (I am a guy, after all). Wren Harris joins my short list of favourite lady authors ... now 2, along with Janet Evanovich.
-
Chattahoochee
on Feb. 16, 2011
Yuk. My apologies to Mr Cooper for what I am about to say. I have seen other positive reviews for this book elsewhere so this is just my opinion. This book was the worst book I have completed in ages (from some of the previews I have seen there are FAR WORSE books on SmashWords). I had to skip many of the last few chapters just to get it over with. This book is not a "thriller" and I saw no "suspense". It has a detective but no skilled detective work was evident ... just dumb luck. The story is more about salvalation and self-healing than a thriller. The basic storey is wildly un-realistic, in my opinion. Grammatical errors made it very hard to read (at least one major error per page) and the style of some text was horrid and made it very hard to read. Text along the lines of "yous tink dis be solved wit dat ..." In addition the version I have does not read well on my Sony Reader as it switches fonts and size and bold on / off for no apparent reason. (The PDF version does not seem to do this and no other ebook I have read has done it).
-
Gabriel's Rule
on April 27, 2011
This is a great book with a feasible story line (always helps!) and good characters. Even as I neared the end I wasn't sure how things would pan out so a real bonus there. Like many authors on SmashWords, Mr Paris could do with an Editor to help with a few typos but the book is well written, clear and concise. I look forward to more works by this author.
-
Kings of Providence
on April 29, 2011
Well written and polished. Unfortunately, I doubt I will ever finish this book. I like the style but I'm not convinced about the plot. Personal thing. That won't stop me trying some of this authors other works at some point in the future.
-
For Nothing
on Aug. 18, 2011
An excellent read. For some reason I got this book free during a special at Smashwords ... um, you could say "For Nothing". Overall, an enjoyable read with a wide range of plausible characters. And ... excellent value.
-
The Lives of Alice Pothron
on Aug. 04, 2012
I grew up in the 60s so WAY after World War II but it was still fresh enough that society still acknowledged it. Today these things are a distant memory for some and irrelevant to many. Today, war is what happens in Muslim countries that are busy fighting for freedom or fighting the U.S. The authors here provide a rather refreshing and perhaps unique view of a tragic part of human history. The story moves along at a reasonable pace, covers a wide range of material seems very ... real. The story of the Pothron family is quite amazing and helps remind us how lucky we all are today - at least those not caught up in Middle East clashes. The book is well written on the whole, gives the characters life and some depth and carries the story well. I admit that the content is not my usual style (cops, lawyers, sci-fi) but enjoyable anyway. I did find the first few chapters a little ... inconsistent? Disjointed? However, the authors soon find their stride. Stick with it. It is well worth it.