Fiction Book Review for ‘Doctor Dead: A Percy and Quincey Adventure’ by Tyler Tork, Published by Rampant Loon Press
ABOUT THE BOOK: San Francisco, 1904: Thirteen-year-old Percival Drew expected to spend the summer doing little more than tinkering with those new-fangled gasoline-powered motorcars. But that was before an insane scientist took an unhealthy interest in his cousin Quincey's very rare blood type... Before people began vanishing from the streets, to reappear as the mad doctor's undead minions... Before the villain's infernal devices gave him the ability to strike at will, destroying all who opposed him!
With chaos descending on San Francisco, only two boys know the secret to defeating the undead doctor. But can they act in time?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: The victim of a dark destiny, I whirl through life with a set of shaky assumptions and a mug of rapidly-cooling java. Bewildered, scattered, querulous, I nonetheless strive to entertain and inform.
Someday, my alien masters will return for me; meanwhile, I polish my irony skills and sustain myself on squirrels, carrots, and coffee.
On my blog, I answer your questions. I don't feel any actual knowledge is necessary for this, so the answers aren't guaranteed to be useful.
A resident of Minneapolis, yet I am hardly frozen.
MY REVIEW: 5 stars. I’ve never read a Percy and Quincey Adventure, so when I picked up this book, I didn’t know what to expect. I always mention the cover in my reviews. I do, in fact, often judge a book by its cover. If the cover looks unprofessional and has mistakes, the interior usually does, too. I really like the cover on this book. The design is professional and very nicely done. Good first impression? Check!
Tyler expertly weaves backstory into the narrative in a way that helps place the reader into the setting and know what’s going on without being an awkward info dump. The story is fast paced in a good way and I didn’t feel bogged down or bored while reading. It kept my attention, which is getting harder to do these days. Dialogue of the characters flows naturally, and the characterization as a whole is well done. Tyler uses nice imagery and descriptions that helped the scenes and settings come alive to me without being too wordy. For instance, on the first page the characters are watching men flense whales and “ribs arched against the twilight sky” stuck out at me. It might seem like a small thing, but I was impressed with the way, in one short sentence, the scene and time of day was set. Other writers might have dragged this on through several sentences. (I’ve seen it happen).
It took me a while to read this book and get a review posted, but this is a good thing! I commit to a lot of book reviews and often rush through them just to get the job done, if I’m honest. I wanted to savor Doctor Dead. I enjoyed reading it, and therefore I took my time with it and didn’t let myself worry about deadlines. I simply allowed myself to enjoy a well-told story, which is what reading is supposed to be for, right?
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for a review. I was not required to post a positive review, and all opinions are my own.
ABOUT THE BOOK: San Francisco, 1904: Thirteen-year-old Percival Drew expected to spend the summer doing little more than tinkering with those new-fangled gasoline-powered motorcars. But that was before an insane scientist took an unhealthy interest in his cousin Quincey's very rare blood type... Before people began vanishing from the streets, to reappear as the mad doctor's undead minions... Before the villain's infernal devices gave him the ability to strike at will, destroying all who opposed him!
With chaos descending on San Francisco, only two boys know the secret to defeating the undead doctor. But can they act in time?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: The victim of a dark destiny, I whirl through life with a set of shaky assumptions and a mug of rapidly-cooling java. Bewildered, scattered, querulous, I nonetheless strive to entertain and inform.
Someday, my alien masters will return for me; meanwhile, I polish my irony skills and sustain myself on squirrels, carrots, and coffee.
On my blog, I answer your questions. I don't feel any actual knowledge is necessary for this, so the answers aren't guaranteed to be useful.
A resident of Minneapolis, yet I am hardly frozen.
MY REVIEW: 5 stars. I’ve never read a Percy and Quincey Adventure, so when I picked up this book, I didn’t know what to expect. I always mention the cover in my reviews. I do, in fact, often judge a book by its cover. If the cover looks unprofessional and has mistakes, the interior usually does, too. I really like the cover on this book. The design is professional and very nicely done. Good first impression? Check!
Tyler expertly weaves backstory into the narrative in a way that helps place the reader into the setting and know what’s going on without being an awkward info dump. The story is fast paced in a good way and I didn’t feel bogged down or bored while reading. It kept my attention, which is getting harder to do these days. Dialogue of the characters flows naturally, and the characterization as a whole is well done. Tyler uses nice imagery and descriptions that helped the scenes and settings come alive to me without being too wordy. For instance, on the first page the characters are watching men flense whales and “ribs arched against the twilight sky” stuck out at me. It might seem like a small thing, but I was impressed with the way, in one short sentence, the scene and time of day was set. Other writers might have dragged this on through several sentences. (I’ve seen it happen).
It took me a while to read this book and get a review posted, but this is a good thing! I commit to a lot of book reviews and often rush through them just to get the job done, if I’m honest. I wanted to savor Doctor Dead. I enjoyed reading it, and therefore I took my time with it and didn’t let myself worry about deadlines. I simply allowed myself to enjoy a well-told story, which is what reading is supposed to be for, right?
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for a review. I was not required to post a positive review, and all opinions are my own.
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