Location: United Kingdom
Member Since:
Jan. 04, 2012
Tony Spencer
Smashwords book reviews by Tony Spencer
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The Darcys of Pemberley
on Jan. 31, 2012
A very enjoyable read, the continued story of established charaters was realistic and the introduction of new characters, although not as well drawn as the originals, was interesting without diverting attention too much from the reader's expectations of further development of our old favourites. I would recommend this book to any avid fan of the original Pride & as a very satisfactory continuation.
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Coulson's Lessons
on Feb. 07, 2012
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the main and subsidiary characters well drawn and interesting. True lives can be quite messy and so this story felt very real. definitely worth taking the time to read the free preview and could be very rewarding if, like me, you are drawn in to read the rest. I will keep an eye out for other works by this author.
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An Unpleasant Walk
on Feb. 29, 2012
This book shows a complete departure from the original plot of Austen's Pride & Prejudice from the point of what started out as one of Elizabeth's pleasant walks in the extensive grounds at Rosings. Here she is attacked by Colonel Fitzwilliam who, in this universe is more a rogue than Wickham could aspire to. From this point the story continues from Darcy's perspective. At first I disliked the portrayal of Elizabeth as ao subdued but once her reaction to this unprovoked act wa accepted I settled down to enjoy a thoroughly good read. Most enjoyable story, well written in period prose, with beautifully drawn new characters was well worth shelving my own prejudices for in the process
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Fall
on March 09, 2012
A very good read, that I will keep on my iPad and reread, I'm sure. Didn't realise this had been written in the 1990s until I finished it and read the author's bio. I immediately reread it and was even more enjoyable. So many ebooks are sloppily written and littered with literals, in dire need of editing; this book was very professional, I can recall only a couple of typos, a pronoun instead of an adverb and a missing quotation mark. The writing was tight, descriptive, setting the cast and scenes beautifully, even the weather. The plot was excellent, the main characters engaging and natural, even humorous. The book was so good I bought Mr Dockway's 2 other books (have just read the Borough which is just as good). Very well worth reading, just bear in mind they are not quite contemporary. I hope the stupid publishers offered these books and turned them down at the time are ashamed of themselves.
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The Borough
on March 09, 2012
(no rating)
The description of the book is accurate, the main characters are amateurs and not quite as honest as one expects our heroes to be but this makes them very human and natural. This was the second of Mr Dockray's books I have read and he is my fast favourite ebook author to date. Very professionally written, hardly an error to be found, a jolly rollicking read set, not in some exotic location that we can only dream about, but in the most parochial of settings. Wonderfully descriptive, warm characters, dark ruthless villains, showing the boring and plodding elements of amateur sleuthing as well as the endorfin-generating excitement of the chase and personal danger to the heroes. A very good read from a very good writer who is deserving of the recognition due.
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Northern Lights
on March 15, 2012
Enjoyable romance story with suspense, adventure and danger in the mix. The story was well written and edited with good strong characterisation. The main characters were complex, in keeping with their respective histories and the standing of their relationship at the start of the adventure. I thought the male lead was a little too 'touchy feely' earlier in the tale than I expected, knowing what he knew about her skittishness, but that may be a cultural thing (they are west-coast Americans, I'm English). A good yarn, though, well worth trying.