Thursday, July 11, 2013

Grime, Punishment and Love Hypothetically

I'm not sure why Z. A. Maxfield felt compelled to begin a new series since her St. Nacho series, especially the first one St. Nacho's and the last one The Book of Daniel, is so good.  But she has with Grime and Punishment which has an interesting premise in a former firefighter sidelined by a serious injury starting a crime clean-up business.

I can see where the adventure of fleshing out a new environment is enticing for a writer, but still, I'll miss the ambiance of the St. Nacho crowd, particularly the older guy who owns the motel and the odd collection of people at the gym.

Still, Maxfield is the kind of quirky, readable author who will pull me in no matter what she writes, so I guess in the end, all is good.  Maxfield will keep writing and I'll keep reading her writing.

On another note, my review of Love Hypothetically ran at AAR, and I didn't make note of it.  Love's a really quirky book, speaking of quirkiness.  It's a sequel to Frat Boy and Toppy, my nominee for good book with the worst title.  Frat Boy bled into my interest as a former college instructor because the frat boy of the title plagiarizes a paper in order to get the teaching assistant's notice.  As a person who's dealt with her share of plagiarized essays, I loved to see this novel and nearly sympathetic excuse for cheating.

Like Maxfield, Tenino, the author of Frat Boy and Love, is a writer I'm watching.  And also like Maxfield, I expect Tenino will do really well when she finds her niche.

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