Review: Tales from the Longcroft Estate

I took some time to read the first two installments of Darren Sant's "Tales from the Longcroft Estate" available from Trestle Press. Individually, they are called "A Good Day" and "Community Spirit".

I wanted to familiarize myself with him, since we (the collective "we", not the royal "we") are putting a little something together for you gruesome fans out there. What I found was touching and sentimental, and quite satisfying.

Darren delivered two stories with all the outlook of a rainy day. In his first piece, we are introduced to a jobless drug addict. The next story tells us of a single mother in deep with a loan shark. Darren does an excellent job of setting the stage and revealing these characters to us. As I read, I quickly moved passed preconceived notions of "life in the projects". These were real people and I really felt for them.

Then Mr. Sant throws us for a loop. I like surprises, so I am not going to be the one to spoil the ending. These sad tales have a twist. No, not an "M. Night Twist". Still, I did not expect it in the first story, but would have been disappointed if he did not deliver in the second.

In the short story genre, it takes a deft hand to satisfy in such a small space. Darren manages to pull it off like a child playing in his parent's closet. What I mean by that is that to the child, the closet is much bigger and full of amazing things. He has all the room he needs in that short stretch of white space to give us something worth well more than its $0.99 price tag.

I suggest you add both of these to your Kindle today (and you wouldn't want to disappoint me, would you?).

Review: The Two Johns

Once again, Mr. Gelati is rather generous with his words about my words. Today he reviews The Two Johns. This is my first entry for Trestle Press's Author's Lab series. I had an excellent time working with Giovanni and he had some things to say about my work.

"Reading the work is like watching a skilled mechanic go about his business..." from Gelati's Scoop.

You can read the full review HERE: http://gelatisscoop.blogspot.com/2011/09/sam-lang-two-johns-authors.html

You can get the story for $0.99 on Kindle by clicking HERE, or for Nook HERE.

As always, I look forward to your responses.

When You Least Expect It...

...I'm right behind you. As is the case with my latest release, The Two Johns.

Now available from Trestle Press, the latest installment of the Author's Lab Collaboration Series, comes The Two Johns by Giovanni Gelati and Sam Lang.

I have been quite pleased with Trestle's handling of my story Reprisal. This is my first turn in the Author's Lab. I took some pleasure in working with Giovanni. He injected some humor into my darkness. What we ended up with was a gruesome case of mistaken identity.

The Two Johns are characters that make a brief appearance in Reprisal in Chapter 1: Making Plans, Making Memories. I took the opportunity to drop them into Giovanni's covert world and apply some pressure. I think we came out with quite a fun result, with a little surprise at the end.

Please, let me know what you think.....

The G-Man Reviews Shadow Boxing

Maybe this is out of character for me, but I am grateful to read these kinds of reviews about my writing.

Giovani Gelati says, "I know as a reader, sooner or later he is going to drop the anvil on my head."

Please read his full review HERE: http://gelatisscoop.blogspot.com/2011/09/sam-lang-shadow-boxing-volume-3-of.html

And you can get the stories by scanning the codes below:

3 - Shadow Boxing

2 - The Impeccant

1 - Making Plans, Making Memories

Chapter 3 is here for the taking

Have you been behaving yourself?

In case you have, here's a fresh opportunity to misbehave.

The newest chapter of Reprisal is available now from Trestle Press. In Shadow Boxing, the story takes a little turn...for the worse. Travelling that lonely stretch of road out of Reprisal to the west will lead you to the Edgar King penitentiary. This is where Chapter 3 begins. This is your chance to meet some truly nasty people.

Or are they really that bad?

Over the next several chapters, dear readers, you will get to know five convicted killers and something of their lives that led them to this point.

Decide for yourself what makes someone good or bad. Do the lives we lead and the lies we live define us?

For you technically adept people, here is your QR code: