Miriam Black series - #1 - #3 by Chuck Wendig

Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

OK, so I've gotta give Chuck a little love. A little love Chuck.

Now I feel icky.

Anyhoo. Miriam Black. So good. Terrible person. Sort of. But also a little bit "Everyman". If "Everyman" was a whiskey-guzzling, knife-wielding, curse-spitting, loner with Mommy issues and a penchant for trouble.

There are lots of good reviews about Blackbirds, Mockingbird and The Cormorant (the three titles that currently make up the Miriam Black series) that will give you a little nutshell synopses about the stories. I'm not really interested in that. Go read those reviews if you want storyline details.

Here is what I can say. It's January 6, 2014 as I write this. A month ago I had never heard of this cat. I've now plowed (ploughed? - what's with the squiggly red line? is this website British?)… Great, now I've completely lost my train of thought. Where was I? Miriam Black. Angry protagonist. Mid-December Chuckles hits my radar. Right. So, I'm not an overly quick reader. Usually I have multiple books on the go and I flit back and forth from one to another like a squirrel searching the yard for the stash of nuts he's sure he buried somewhere around here if he couLD JUST REMEMBER WHERE!

Sorry. I'm a little excitable too. 3 books in about 2 weeks. It's safe to say that these books pulled me in. I wanted to know what was going to happen next with Miriam Black. I was INVESTED in this character.

Here's what you need to know about this little series. 1) If you're easily offended, keep moving. Nothing to see here. Lots of F-bombs. And various other verbal dynamite. 2) Easy read. But not Sandra Boynton easy. I mean, the stories flow quickly, the characters are easy to picture but there are no hippos. That I recall anyway. I did burn through them pretty quickly. 3) This is the thing that has me all worked up - to the point in fact that I'm writing a book review on GoodReads. Check it out - this is the first review I've written. Remember up above; you know, the excitable thing? It's the descriptions, the metaphors, the juxtaposition of language that Chuck employs that made these books stand out for me. These aren't just stories that go from point A to point B. The writing here grabbed me like nothing has in a long time. It's quick and punchy but colourful and thoughtful. He knows how to turn a phrase and he delivers over and over and over (do I dare repeat it one more time?).

Bottom line - very good stories & the language is lively and satisfying. I look forward to tucking into more of Wendig's stuff. Keep it up, Chuck. See what I did right there?

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