The Errant Ricochet: Max Raeburn’s Legacy by Paul Mark Tag
Posted on July 3rd, 2008
by Simon Barrett in Book Reviews, Reviews
I first came across Paul Mark Tag when I was invited to review Prophecy, I can honestly say from page one, I was hooked. I think high adrenalin thriller is how I would sum it up. I suspect Paul liked my review, as he kindly sent me a copy of his first novel Category 5. This was another amazing read, high tech, high suspense, high speed, and fabulously constructed. This guy is running two for two!
It was nice to hear from Paul a few weeks ago. He contacted me and ask if I would be interested in checking out his latest creation The Errant Ricochet: Max Raeburn’s Legacy. My reply was a resounding “You Betcha!” Paul was brutally honest with me “It is not like my other books” he explained. Well I don’t scare easily, and so I told him to ship a copy over.
He was right, this book is nothing like the first two! In some ways it is even better. The only criticism I have about The Errant Ricochet is that it is too short! I read it in only a couple of hours.
The Errant Ricochet is a collection of Paul Mark Tag’s short stories, the stories that he wrote before diving into the world of the full length novels. Some of the stories have been published before in some literary magazines, and others are meeting the reading public for the first time. All of them are very intricately constucted. Some people think that short stories are easy, they are not. You have to pack a lot of information into a short space.
Paul saves the title track for last The Errant Ricochet: Max Raeburn’s Legacy and this is a must read story. It is engaging, it has mystery, and a finish worthy of any seasoned author.
The style of writing reminds me so much of the late Roald Dahl, he may be best known for his children’s books, but he also created several compilations of stories aimed at the adult population, Tales Of The Unexpected, and Kiss Kiss, are probably the best known, and formed the basis of a BBC series. The writing style is very similar, particularly the sting in the tail at the end of each story.
From teen angst, short thrillers, maybe even a little romance, to humor and fantasy, Paul Mark Tag explores them all. It is high time that some large publisher picks up the budding author. This guy is way too good to be in the Print On Demand World, he needs tome shelf space in the book store, and I will bet my bottom dollar that if that happens, you will be seeing the name Paul Mark Tag on the NYT best seller list. So, all you big league publishers that are reading this article, I recommend that you give Paul a call.
You can pick up your copy from Amazon, Paul also has a web site that is worth exploring.
Simon Barrett