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.

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

The Impeccant Gets 5-Stars

Darren Sant strikes again! He read Chapter 2: The Impeccant and says he is "well and truly hooked now!"

Get Reprisal: The Impeccant for $0.99 on Kindle. The series is available exclusively from Trestle Press.

Read the full review on Daz's Short Book Review to find out why you need to get started on this series. If not, I may come visit you in your dreams....

Review for Making Plans, Making Memories

British author of everything from crime/noir to humor and biography, Darren Sant had some excellent things to say about the first chapter of Reprisal.

After reading Making Plans, Making Memories, Mr. Sant said, "I found Reprisal to be well written and the author’s strength seems to be in creating good characters."

Read the full review on Goodreads.

Great Review for Book Two

Giovanni Gelati of Gelati's Scoop says, "Sam Lang delivers an amazing second installment to his Reprisal series ".

Read the full review HERE.

Get the second chapter of Reprisal for ONLY 99 Cents!