Matt McAvoy Book Review

This is the fourth instalment of Glyn Haynie’s Vietnam War novella series, and it might just be the best yet.  No nonsense this time around; The Firebase is just full-on action, as Andy Carter and his squad of brothers find themselves hopelessly outnumbered and under brutal and merciless attack by the Viet Cong.  The format of this episode is a tense siege, which may be the ultimate battle for a group of soldiers we have come to know and love over the series.

No one does reality of war lik...

I’m a big fan of Gary McAvoy as a writer; his style is tremendous: intelligent, articulate, conscientious, hardworking and incredibly knowledgeable – and that is just to start.  He possesses that rare thing which separates a wonderful writer from a wonderful author: a meticulous researcher, whose books are intended for an equally intelligent, discerning reader, who appreciates the better things.

I believe this is the fourth I have read in this series, with its familiar characters, clear...

Totally fun and entertaining, 15-year-old Teddy is a real talent, not just for writing stories, but for spotting a good, creative premise, from something which would probably never occur to most authors.  Clearly written for the dog he adores, Bravery Doesn’t Come From a Copper Coin tells the tale of an anxious labrador who tries to overcome his day-to-day fears with the help of his best friend, a cuddly toy, and inspired by a centuries old penny.  Suddenly one day finding himself caught up...

Even though not at all my cup of tea, this was an utterly engaging book which I read in a few gripped sessions.  There is no denying the quality of Hazel Ward; her writing is articulate, vivid and raw, drawing the reader into the characters’ lives like the script of a soap (a good one, not Eastenders).  All of this, despite the fact that I actually found Netta Wilde to be a particularly irritating personality, like the friend you try to put off meeting, because you pretty much know what the...

The third instalment in Glyn Haynie’s superb Vietnam War novella series is an altogether more action-packed addition.  This time, Carter and the squad are out for full on retribution, hunting their traitorous former brother in the V.C.-infested Quang Ngai Province.  Glyn’s finest creative quality is his authenticity – being a Vietnam veteran, of course, gives him a tremendous insight and credibility, which can’t be fabricated, yet he also has an unusual ability of taking his books dow...

Another short, sharply scripted snippet from Glyn, in the form of a mission-based segment of the Vietnam War.  Whilst a standalone episode on its own right, on this occasion covering themes of bravery and acceptance, in the most testing of conditions, this is additionally a direct sequel to The Tunnel, though set several months later.  Being the middle of the series, this could easily be a filler instalment for its own sake (Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers springs to mind), but it is not; l...

This is not so much a book of three short stories, as some of the reviews might suggest, but rather three parts of the same story of one man’s life, each taking one of the themes of its three major events: birth, marriage and death.  It does get you wondering while reading just how much is fictional and how much biographical or autobiographical.  You hope it is not too much of the latter, to be honest, because in all honesty, generally the unnamed protagonist does not come across a particul...

You always know what you’re going to get with Glyn Haynie: in a nutshell, some of the very best Vietnam War drama, fictionalized with no frills and no gloss, by a veteran and authority in the subject.  And this bite-sized portion – which is ideally read in one dedicated evening – is no different in terms of its quality and impact.  Still the fear, day-to-day uncertainty and routine mundaneness of the war zone – walking, thinking about home, sleeping, eating, fighting and hoping always...

I can totally relate to Kas’s comments in the foreword, that she already felt somewhat cocooned in her life long before coronavirus came along.  Then, lockdown gave her time for reflection, to see the world anew, re-evaluate her future and reprioritize what is important – I can relate to this, too.  What we then see, for the remainder of this book, are Kas’s musings, ponderings and philosophizing as she goes through this process.  Her words are put to poetry, not what I would call verse...

A very smart and funny book, I really enjoyed this one.  Don’t take the metaphor too seriously; in fact, I would say forget about the bizarre story altogether and just enjoy Dickerson’s clever writing and laugh out loud, dry wit.  This is more a book about the author than the characters (if there is any differentiation), and I suspect there is a lot of Marc’s self in all of the ensemble he has presented in Art Farm.  It is fantastical biographical, I am sure, but first and foremost it i...

I wouldn’t necessarily call Nom D. Plume’s mind an odd one, so much as a very high functioning, obscure one, and good luck trying to get on the author’s tangent – though if you do, you’ll be rewarded, for sure.  I like short stories and poetry, and I really like this collection, too.  The tales, I would say, are more like little vignettes or snippets of narrative, as bizarrely offbeat as they are exceptionally intelligent and well written, and as utterly random as they are astutely ...

Another beautifully written book by Ram Daryanani, who is very quickly becoming one of my favourite wordsmiths.  He writes poetically, eloquent and elegant, and so far all I have read from him has been a treat.  In all honesty, the half a star I awarded short of perfect is only really to acknowledge the fact that much of his take on A Christmas Carol is drawn directly from Dickens’s own words.  Obviously, I understand that this rewriting has been done as homage, as have many writers over th...

Amanda Berthault is a good writing professional, and it shows.  Combining a simple, no-frills storyline with a complex and profound narrative, this is high quality fiction, written as a craft, and a masterclass in character development.  Haunted former rock star Shadow is increasingly layered as his story unfolds, and remains a credible and likeable protagonist, despite the incredible chain of events which have brought his life to the point it is now at.  Perhaps I would have liked to see mor...

If I’m honest, the first half of this book was tremendous, and I had really high hopes for where it was going, already starting to prepare an outstanding review in my mind.  In the sometimes disturbing story of a young girl, the daughter of a teenage rape victim, who is abandoned as a child and left to fend for herself, Tina shows immense character and resilience in her determination to overcome all adversity and support herself without the involvement of child social services.   She lives ...

Bouncing Back From Difficult Times is a book which actually improves as it goes on, both in terms of its content and its quality.  This and others in the series are given titles which might suggest to readers a book about religious faith – but thankfully there is no mention of any such thing; the title, you come to learn by the end, invites the reader to relate to the author’s own struggle against her former negativity and damaged motivation, to become a professional in her field.  What i...

This is a strange book to review, mainly I think because I’m not really sure if it can be called a “book”, in a sense.  No offence to Vashti – she’s a real talent, and I’m all for mixing up styles and formats – but the majority the book’s content was songs from her YouTube catalogue, which was a somewhat disproportionate and disappointing ratio.  Vashti is a beautiful soft-folk/classical songwriter, with a soprano voice, but I don’t think I’d buy a book of song lyrics, giv...

If you like James Bond of the 1960s, with a touch of Michael Caine’s thinking spy, you’ll love this well-penned espionage book set at the height of the Cold War’s space race.  With more than a small element of those Adventure Books for Boys, which were so popular in the 60s and 70s, the unnamed secret agent goes from one extreme situation to another, from cliff-scaling to wreck-diving, with nothing more than his own grit and wit as an ally, when sent to investigate a huge explosion in M...

If you like flash fiction with an edge, I think you’ll really like this collection, like I did.  A fun and creative, if at times sardonic play on mainstream and utterly obscure headlines, compiled during the lockdown of the pandemic.  For the most part, as you might expect, there is a lot of left-wing, anti-Trump, anti-Brexit vitriol in some of these 150-word or so vignettes – thankfully, that’s not all the book is about, though.  All in all, the authors are good quality, and the cause ...

This book, perhaps more so than previous titles I have read from these married authors, is a real mixed bag: part dating guide, part travel and large part self-improvement.  It is incredibly comprehensive, and the immense amount of work which has gone into creating it is plainly evident.  Full of fascinating insight into the lives and cultures of the people of Ukraine, this one really opens your eyes to the dynamic between the sexes.  Likewise, the self-improvement, reflection and actualizati...

Even though only a short and somewhat simplified book, it is actually pretty much as important as they come, its premise no less than literally finding one’s very purpose, and turning their life to doing what they feel passionately about, preferably for a living.  It is a sentiment I strongly subscribe to, and have always tried to drive into the mentality of the younger members of my family and other people I care about, who may have struggled in respect of finding their purpose.

The book ...

An intelligent book about intelligence, and David Grantham certainly has the credentials to write it.  When you see this is a book about an agency posting in the war zones of Iraq, against the backdrop of the birth of ISIS, you do start to worry that it is going down a disturbing and brutal path – and, truthfully, this book is at times genuinely quite frightening.  Fortunately, though, the author veers away from the horrors of the Islamic fundamentalists he fights against, in favour of an a...

William Hart is an excellent writer, accomplished and professional; in a way, that makes this otherwise standard coming-of-age memoir a slight cut above.  In point of fact, I call it “coming of age”, but truthfully the characters are much younger than this – for this reason the content of this book didn’t really sit right with me at times, and readers are warned in this respect.  It is pretty vivid in its the sexual content, and I found this a little uncomfortable, because in the main...

I’m sorry to say that I found this book quite a tough read, and that is definitely not because of Megan’s writing ability – far from it; she is intelligent, talented and highly eloquent.  I think perhaps what I struggled with a little was her writing style.  Or, perhaps more accurate it might be to say styles, because, to tell the truth, it did feel at times as if I was reading two different books.  The deep fantasy – surprisingly, for me – was actually fine; Megan crafts a tremendo...

I have to be honest and admit that I find it something of a challenge reviewing faith books like this one, for the simple reason that I’m an atheist, and Peggy’s motivational memoir is for its largest part sermonizing the scriptures and the benefits of dedicating one’s life to God – she is in fact an ordained minister.  Of course I utterly respect her as an author, a person and a believer, though all I can do is present my review of the book objectively as a creative written compositi...

I like a glass or two of wine, but I’m certainly no fanatic and definitely not knowledgeable; I know the reds I like and the whites I don’t.  Yet, surprisingly, this tremendous coffee-table book from Michael Amon seems written for me – as well as for novices, those with significant knowledge, and even genuine authorities on the subject alike.  Simply put, Drinking and Knowing Things is a book which is ideal for everyone, save your average teetotal.  And it is wonderful; I really enjoyed...

I really like short stories – and I really liked the collection of anecdotes in Not Literary.  Combining autobiography with at times some riotous comedy – about such events as young women being coerced into stripping in a bar and liking it a bit too much, and her almost crippling herself to buy her colleagues donuts – Auriane’s are real crackers.  She takes mundane day-to-day events and squeezes out the laughs; I for one found myself in stitches at times, right from pretty early on.  ...

There are crime books, and then there are serious books about crime – major crime; global, world-changing crime, the kind that we know goes on behind the scenes and is responsible for the ills in the world.  This book is about that, and offers an insight that very few books have the confidence, work ethic and subject expertise required to assume.  From a destitute African boy, Kalenga becomes an international arch-criminal – a genius supervillain who would catch even James Bond’s eye.  ...