Tag: Premise

Agatha Christie – Parker Pine Investigates | Review

March 12, 2020
Authors A-E (By Surname)Fiction

Title: Parker Pine Investigates

Author: Agatha Christie

Type: Fiction

Page Count: 192

Rating: 5/5

I wasn’t expecting great things going into this one, mainly because Parker Pine isn’t as well-known as Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. This is also a short story collection, although that worked in its favour for me because I actually think that Agatha Christie is at her best when she’s writing short fiction.

I also loved the premise of this one, which was that Parker Pine placed an advert in the paper saying, “ARE YOU HAPPY? IF NOT, CONSULT MR. PARKER PINE.” The stories then follow the different people who respond to the advertisement, and it’s fun to see how Pine deals with each of them in a different way.

All in all then, I was super impressed by this book and ended up enjoying it a lot more than I expected to. I’d 100% recommend it, even if you’re new to Agatha Christie. If you’re a seasoned fan then that makes it even more important for you to get to it. It was just what the doctor ordered, lots of fun.

Learn more about Parker Pine Investigates.

Oli Jacobs – The Station 17 Chronicles | Review

April 2, 2019
Authors F-J (By Surname)Fiction

Title: The Station 17 Chronicles

Author: Oli Jacobs

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 228

Rating 2.5/5

 

 

This is basically three short stories in one collection, all of which are about the mysterious Station 17, a research station with a dark past. The premise was pretty good and it’s always good to support indies, and I’ve been a fan of Oli’s work in the past, but this one just didn’t hit the mark for me.

I think the main problem for me was that it was riddled with spelling and grammar mistakes, which isn’t necessarily unusual for an indie book but which was particularly pronounced here. And while there were some pretty cool concepts behind the stories, I couldn’t help feeling as though they were dragging on a little too much.

On the plus side, I think this book has the potential to be a decent movie, and I particularly liked the idea of the Rot and its ultimate explanation. Because of that, the second story was by far my favourite of the three, although the third made for a pretty satisfying ending. I just don’t think that this was quite on the level of Oli’s other books, which is a shame. I’ll still keep reading him, though. And you should probably give him a read sometime, too. Go ahead.

 

 

Click here to buy The Station 17 Chronicles.