A Job From Hell
Jayde Scott
I was interested in the premise of this book, and admittedly
was attracted to the cover. Even the
video trailer is well made though there are some overdone themes apparent right
away. I’d read really mixed reviews
about it but decided to try it.
I made it halfway through the book. A Job From Hell is substantially dialogue;
relentless, trendy, teenage chat.
Young Amber amazingly gets a summer job as a
housekeeper up at an old manor house in Scotland despite not having
qualifications, and promptly gets into trouble with vampires and demons on
account of following her brother’s plans to steal hidden jewels. The manor’s owner is the very attractive and
secretive Aidan that Amber falls for despite having a boyfriend that she is
hoping to marry.
About a quarter of the way in, the author
introduces another POV; that of Aidan.
This immediately lets us into what he’s thinking and feeling, and
advances the story quickly. Ultimately, I
kind of liked the alternating POV, perhaps just to get away from some of the
dialogue.
By page 140 of 360, Amber is prepared to sacrifice
her life for Aiden. Yes, she may have caused the problem being a mortal who won
the underworld race, but this is on very slight acquaintance of Aiden who she
has also recently discovered is a vampire and is in somewhat of a horror about
it. Yet she is prepared to sacrifice her
life?
The author gives Amber a quick, self-deprecating
humour, so I think this is what some readers find appealing in this book.
I was hoping for lots of moody, Scottish
scenery/images in the mix but there was next to none in the first half.
The plot moves, and I think Jayde Scott can plan
out a book with a mix of characters, but I won’t be reading more of her novels
for the next 10 years or so until she matures.
I have also come to have a strong aversion to the word ‘smirk’ which is
much overused in current YA/NA books to bad effect.
If you're 16-20, or a valley girl, you might really like this book. I would have been annoyed if I hadn't downloaded this book for free.
In addition to all the
other work authors do, such as maintain writer blogs/pages, tweet on twitter,
interact on Goodreads, and keep an eye on trends and what’s selling, we also
need to advertise ourselves; especially Indie authors! If you’re working with a publisher who is
putting out the word for you, that’s great. Here’s another possible advertising
idea for all authors, though some of you are likely using this already.
I needed to advertise
some kittens we have available to new homes, and I thought I should put up an
ad for my short story, The Everlasting Spell while I was at it.
I’ve started with Kijiji in my local area here in
Ontario, Canada. I really like Kijiji
because they’re a simple-to-use platform, and it only takes minutes to post.
Best of all, they’re Free! You can post
an image of your book cover, and any other visuals you’d like to put
alongside. For an additional fee ($5.00/month
where I am), you can place a link to your website. Kijiji is available in Canada, Italy, Hong
Kong, and Taiwan according to Wikipedia as of Oct 2014. You can only post in your local home town
area, but it could be worth it to find new readers.
Then I wondered about
other free internet classifieds sites, and found another good one, Locanto. They are also free, and are
available in more than 50 countries. You can pay for upgrades of course to
increase visibility for your ad. One
online classifieds I wouldn’t recommend is adpost.com. They are riddled with continuous ads of their
own and I find the site quite junky. You
can also try Craigslist. I’ve heard good things about them, but lately a lot of
complaints that people steal your emails, etc.
If you have more info or success stories, I'd love to hear about them in comments.
What an interesting new author! In Lindsay Leggett’s second novel in her Flight
series, Wasteland comes as a solid,
well written progression of plot, characters, and action. Here we find ace
harpy hunter, Piper Madden, now jailed by Rupert Elder and subjected to
bio-drug experimentation.
The author uses an interesting scene-switching
technique from this torturous present, intertwined with the story line of Piper’s
past as she became an ace harpy hunter when her brother, David, was still
alive, to advance two plot lines. This technique keeps the reader on their toes
to follow each sequence along intermittently (I admit to being a little
confused at times).
Leggett is a rapidly evolving writer as I find her
style a curious mixture of mature, ambitious themes (corrupted use of war,
issues with human mortality, and even transference of souls), and young-ish, expressions
(‘freaking’, etc.) as well as homey traditions such as her mother baking
homemade bread (in a post-apocalyptic world partly destroyed by radiation, and
at war with mutated beings).
Wasteland
moves Piper’s story from being the Corp’s top harpy hunter along to something much
more frightening as she discovers the Elder Corp has just been feeding her lies.
Now she uncovers unbearable truths, and is beset by betrayals, and is even
biometrically implanted. To top all of this, the Elder Corp has already started
war with the harpy kingdom and Piper’s world is on a collision course. Her love, Asher, the harpy prince, is a
little in the background here but he has enormous obstacles of his own.
I would have liked to see more description of the
characters and some time spent on how the radiation occurred with its
particular effects. However, Lindsay Leggett
is very good with modern tech like simulated reality training games, and her
action sequences.
My very favourite part is that Asher takes a
moment in time to bring Piper to his family’s palace, where she meets his
mother, the Empress. What a scene this
would make! Leggett paints an interesting, magical feel to the harpy world.
Wasteland
has a stunning, catastrophic climax, and I think the series would make a fantastic
film. Now, on to book 3, Valkyrie! Available at Amazon here.
Wasteland at Amazon
