Review: Actual grade would be a four-minus.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 18, 2013
Every time I open a book I have a certain demand I'm making. If you think about it, you are likely the same way. The demand varies a bit, but usually has the same foundation. You can boil it down to a simplest word if you like. I guess, "gimee" is as good a choice as any. But each time you read the first sentence of a book your make the demand in one way or another. "Gimee goosebumps!" "Gimee a laugh!" "Gimee a pounding pulse!" "Gimee a vision of love!" "GIMEE GIMEE GIMEEE!"We're a demanding bunch alright. Sometimes I forget that - especially when I'm wearing a critic's hat and reading something by someone that (to me) is a new author. As a critic I tend to be less patient about things like grammatical errors and plot holes. To offset this tendency I start each review with 5 stars and then deduct according to the severity of the problems I have with the story. If I'm reading an indie author I can forgive a mistake here or there. I'm a freelance writer myself and am often amazed when I get a manuscript back from an editor and see the red ink everywhere despite the fact that I checked it over multiple times before faxing it in. The most common sentence spoken by author's prepping a final draft is probably, "How in the he** did I miss THAT?" Although L.T. Ryan has been kicking about for quite a while now, this was my first introduction. I actually purchased a different book, but saw this short story and thought I'd give it a go just to familiarize myself with the style. There are indeed several grammar errors to be found - too many for a short story, but not enough to distract the reader from the pace of the story itself. I knocked off a half-star instead of a full one for grammar.When I reached the final stretch of the story I was a bit let down. Some authors revel in the all-but-lost art of writing short stories. For others, a short story is just an idea that didn't manage to grow enough to develop into a full-length novel. In this case, I felt like the author had more to say but that the character's lives needed to diverge down different paths in order to continue the respective lives of the people. There is a bit of an author's note after the story indicating, "I'm not through with these people yet," but I still felt like I was left hanging. I personally would have liked it better if this had been released as a collection of short stories involving the various people, how they walked through life, and once in a while, how they came back together. As a stand-alone story I felt "Taking Delilah" was a bit incomplete. I deducted a star for that as well.Since Amazon doesn't allow half-stars in their rating system I had to decide whether to go with a 3 or a 4 rating. Well, I thought, the story did meet my demand. I felt I understood a bit about the style of the author and I read it with the demand, "Gimee thrills & chills" based on the plot blurb provided by Amazon. On that end, this story delivered in spades. Although I've read enough of these types of stories to have a rough idea of where it would wind up, I kept wondering what would happen next. I found myself invested in the minds of the characters and wondering about the motivations behind their decisions. I began the tale as I laid down for the night and it kept me awake until the final sentence. Oh yeah, this author knows how to involve a reader and create exciting situations. This is some mighty good reading despite my complaints above. There is a lot to choose from as Ryan is fairly prolific. I can't wait to explore more and when I learn that the promise has been kept and there are new stories involving the characters introduced in this story I'll be eager to dive back in to their lives.This one is worth at least double what it costs, despite its brevity. Grab it today and you can lose a bit of sleep tonight, just as I did last night.