How to write a review

Every published writer writes about reviews. That is, their own reviews of their own works. I do that occasionally, too. In fact, my last blog was about a review I was very pleased with. I don’t like to hit people over the head with my reviews, though, so I don’t trumpet about each one. I guess this is because I dislike seeing all the notices of reviews in my networking streams. They’re not informative and there’s no reason for me to read them.

If I were casting about for something to read, I’m sure I’d feel differently. I would avidly read notices about reviews. If my To Be Read pile were less than 100 books, that is. (Those are physical books. There are more unread books and stories languishing on my e-reader.)

Every published writer who gets reviews also laments about the ones that aren’t favorable. Some of those bad reviews are legitimate complaints from the reader about confusing plot or character, or about an unsatisfactory ending, or about expecting one type of story and getting another. Some, on the other hand, are just sour grapes rants that have nothing to do with the quality of the book or story being reviewed. Let’s all discount that latter type! I’m sure most readers do.

I write reviews. Very seldom on Amazon or Goodreads, though I have a few there and hope to have a lot more in the future. My reviews appear in “Suspense Magazine” almost every month. I give my reviews a lot of thought. One thing I pride myself on is being able to read a book outside my comfort zone, or even in a genre I’m not interested in, and still be able to give it a competent review.

What are my goals for each of my reviews? They are to hook up the right readers to this work; to fairly and accurately stress the strong points of the project; to tell my review readers what the book is like so they can determine whether it will be a good read for them or not. If a reader of one of my reviews finds a new series or a new author--or a new stand alone novel--that they enjoy, my work has been done correctly!

Book Review: KILLER KOOL by Marty Ambrose

This review appeared in "Suspense Magazine" earlier this year.

This is Ambrose's fourth in her Mango Bay Mystery series. The others have been called quick reads and chic-lit for the beach. This one fills the bill, too.

Mallie Monroe, part-time reporter and full-time RV island dweller, is burdened with too many, as the story opens. Too many boyfriends: surfer Cole and Nick, the local cop. An over-the-top nasty boss who has just made her the food editor for the Observer, the newspaper for Coral Island. And too many murdered bodies a little later on.

She soon takes cares of the problem of too many boyfriends by ticking off both of them and ending up at dinner with the island geezer, an ancient man with ill-fitting teeth. Mallie tries her best to get to the restaurants and write her reviews, but murder interferes. You'll meet some fun characters. One is Madame Geri, a psychic and mind reader and the mother of Jimmy, who is engaged to Sandy. Madame Geri foresees that the wedding will have to be postponed, that murder will intervene. Sure enough, Carlos Santini, the corpulent ice-cream vendor, succumbs to an apparent heart attack. The manager of the RV park where Mallie lives, Wanda Sue, is another colorful character. After one of the main suspects in Carlos' death expires, Mallie finds herself on the killer's trail so the wedding can go on.

The easy, breezy style whips you through the fun story. If you're not reading this on a beach, you can easily pretend you're right there, on Coral Island