While most of the world is talking about the new Dan Brown bestseller, Second Wind Publishing, LLC has quietly released a thriller of its own — Staccato by Deborah J Ledford. You won’t find all the elements that have become Brown’s hallmarks: cartoonish characters, amateurish prose, tin-ear for dialogue, internal inconsistencies. What you will find is a well-written, well-constructed story that will keep you enthralled.
The product description on Amazon says it better than I could: Performed against the backdrop of the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, Staccato transports readers to a behind-the-scenes glimpse of professional musicians, the psychological twists and turns of its characters, and in the end, retribution that crashes in a crescendo of notes played at the literary pace of a maestro’s staccato. The only drawback to Staccato is that it doesn’t come with a soundtrack — each meticulously chosen piece of music enhances the mood of the scene it accompanies, and unless you are much more informed about music than I am, you will miss some of the brilliance of this composition.
Readers are in for a treat, and me? Aaaarrrggghhhh!!! I have to write another review! Well, I don’t have to, but the book deserves all the attention it can get. So, I will add it to the stack of other books I’ve promised to review, yet haven’t:
Lacey Took a Holiday by Lazarus Barnhill
The Medicine People by Lazarus Barnhill
Steel Waters by Ken Coffman
Toxic Shock Syndrome by Ken Coffman
Mazurka by Aaron Lazar
Heart of Hythea by Suzanne Francis
and now, Staccato by Deborah J Ledford
Although all these books are much more literate, readable, and enjoyable than Dan Brown’s pap, the best I can come up with as a review for each of these deserving novels right now is, “Good book. I liked it and you will, too.”
: 
: 
: 
: 
: 
: 
: 
: 
: 
: 
Bertram's Blog 
September 16, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Woohoo!! I’m not the only one who thinks Dan Brown writes like am amateur! ^^
September 16, 2009 at 9:38 pm
There is a whole coterie of anti-Dan Brown fans. In fact, one group is having a Dan Brown parody contest. I’ll post the link tomorrow. It’s on Gather.com, and the site is doing an upgrade right now so it’s inaccessible.
September 17, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Hurray! So it’s out. It’s one I’d really like to read – perhaps over Christmas when my Mum is here to keep me in tune with the music.
September 18, 2009 at 9:24 am
Writing reviews is one of those things I’ve let lapse. I need more hours in the day. But you’ve reminded me that I need to get to them. And I will. I’m jotting down a note to myself right now. Before the end of the day, I’m doing a review for Struck by Keith Pyeatt.
Great review, Pat. You’ve made me want to read the book.