Review: Promising  gothic horror idea stretching for a cut n' buff
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 14, 2014
A one-dollar-value novella which takes a pretty cool theme and makes a bit of pig's ear out of it with underdeveloped nuances on most key dimensions.  I enjoyed SB for what it is: an easy read with no impediments to whipping onto the next page wondering what would happen next.  Other than that, SB comes over as a hastily-constructed creative writing exercise developed on a stream-of-consciousness basis.  The beginning and ending are high-points, it sags mostly in the middle as if Author Shaw's calls to his muse went to voice-mail around that time.Pros:1. Promising core idea.2. Sex scenes - not bad.3. Fast read with no claggy bits or anything to over-tax the casual reader's intellect.Cons:1. Execution in most respects.  There's minimalist, then there's SB.2. Repeating verbatim earlier passages is either a deliberate attempt to be too creative for the author's shirt or sloppy editing or merely a cynical way of bulking up to fit a word budget.  Like what the heck?3. Sex scenes got repetitive and didn't push my erotic envelope.Three stars = a Satisfactory/Average read.  Don't over-invest and you'll be fine.