Sharon Maria Bidwell

‘A Stranger’s Touch’ by Anne Brooke has a haunting, unsettling quality. My one negative feeling is that maybe it’s a little too short to achieve what it sets out to portray. Although a strong emotional ‘pull’ is attained in very few words, I would have liked this drawn out and heightened still more, so that [...]

I’ve just finished reading ‘The Book of Lost Things’ by John Connolly. Probably better known for his crime novels, this may seem a peculiar departure for the writer but if so it is one he more than adequately explains in the last quarter of the book, which is dedicated to discussing many of the underlying [...]

I’ve just finished reading “The Owl Service” by Alan Garner owing to a recommendation. I cannot say I found the writing charming and yet it has a haunting surreal quality that made for a memorable read. It’s supposed to be a child’s book but I really can’t think of a reason why apart from the [...]

“The Equation of Murder” by J.L.Seed isn’t exactly a book one can recommend and yet it’s one that surprised me. Written by a friend of a friend, I received this as a Christmas present and blinked a few times, mostly because it’s not truly the type of book I usually read. In fact, I don’t [...]

“Maloney’s Law” by Anne Brooke excels on an emotional level, tugging the reader in as many directions as the investigation pushes private investigator Paul Maloney. However, I can’t help feeling that the book is ineffectively or insufficiently categorised and may well suffer for it, which would be a pity. The underlying crime is a decent [...]

It’s incredibly difficult to come up with something someone else hasn’t said before in praise of these pages nestling between the glossy pink covers. It’s noticeable at any rate! It’s also an insight into a part of London I knew nothing about, and into the lives of the people who live there or pass by.
I [...]

It’s very seldom I buy something too beautiful to use. I’m one of those who believes if you’re too frightened to use it then it’s a waste to buy. Don’t buy things you can’t use or aren’t beautiful. Things you buy you should need or they should enhance your life. I haven’t always adhered well [...]

There are some books that as a writer you stumble across and just hate. This is one of those books. As a writer, you hate such a novel because it makes you feel inadequate, a charlatan. This is misdirection, of course. I know I can write. Reader response tells me that. That’s not to say [...]

Note: Alan Moore is best known for his work in Graphic Novels. I never expected to read something like this from the man who wrote The Extraordinary Gentlemen and V for Vendetta. Also note that this review is just my opinion of the book. Poetry either speaks to you or it doesn’t. It’s a very [...]

Recuperating from the traumatic events of a bomb blast and therefore, his physical and emotional injuries, Nat Brooke is sent to stay at Partington Towers, which in the character’s own words looks more like a Victorian lunatic asylum than a place to rest and heal. This is supposed to be a quiet place in the [...]