Review: Bell entertains with four fun stories, a different direction for the author
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 23, 2011
I don't know what to make of James Scott Bell's e-book release of the novella WATCH YOUR BACK and three short stories. I love the ease it was to obtain and the cheap price. I enjoyed the comments by the author where he explains his inspiration for the collection. Bell is writing in the style of some of his favorite authors. Nothing wrong with that. However, I think fans of Bell who consider him to be a writer for the Christian market will be disappointed, surprised, or both that these are not Christian stories. In fact, some of them are quite dark. In spite of the darkness, they are entertaining and fun to read.WATCH YOUR BACK, is a novella featuring Cameron Cates. Cates works at a large company in the IT department. He's engaged to Ann, who is trying to get him to go to church with her and her family. Cates doesn't believe he needs God. Meanwhile, co-worker Laine is showing him attention. She's beautiful and tempting to Cates. Soon, Cates falls under her spell and his life falls out from underneath him. I had a problem with how easy Cates succumbed to Laine and the other wrong things he did. His character wasn't developed enough for me to truly believe he'd throw everything away for Laine.The three short stories are quite effective on giving a twist to a predictable setup. In Foreplay, a rich married PGA golfer meets his match in a ravishing beauty. In Rage Road , the tables are turned on a man who commits an act of violence. In Heed the Wife, a man is forced by a controlling wife to commit a crime.Regardless of what you think of Bell 's stories here, I think we're seeing a future of publishing where well known authors release books electronically, and get to keep the money all for themselves. Bell has quite a following in the Christian market, and these stories won't be for all of them. These stories are meant to entertain, nothing more, and nothing less.