Pompomberry House [Kindle Edition]

Reading 'Pompomberry House' by Rosen Trevithick has assured me that 'Seesaw' was no one-off. This author can write! When you relax reading a book, it's because you know you are in safe hands. Well, you're in safe hands here.

As an independent author myself, I was delighted and amused by Kindle, forum, and other author references dotted throughout the book. There is much to enjoy here for non-writers too though. The book is funny, very funny in parts. The author has a turn of phrase that is comical and some descriptions are truly laugh-out-loud.

I admit that about a third of the way through the book, I began to worry. How could the idea of a group of writers writing stories that seemed to come true stretch out for a full-length book? It all seemed to become a little predictable. But then, the book takes on the form of a thriller (still laced with humour) and we are following Dee and her husband (in a will they, won't they relationship) as they try to unravel the truth about what went on at Pompomberry House.

By the time I had finished the book, I was struck by something. 'Pompomberry House' is clever. When we follow the characters through to their conclusions, the whole thing comes together nicely and it is hugely satisfying. The book has clearly been well thought out.

Featuring a cast of grotesque comical characters, and a central couple I grew to like, 'Pompomberry House' is a delight. Fun, dark, and very clever.

Firstly, I really hope that I can review this book without making any spelling, grammar or punctuation errors!

This is an absolute corker of a read - based around six writers from an online forum who attend a course in an isolated island house somewhere in Cornwall in order to produce an anthology of stories. Sounds boring, but then the stories they write start to come true and the reader is in for a cracking read as Dee, seemingly the only sane author at the house, tries to solve the mystery of what is going on along with her estranged husband Gareth. We therefore have a book with a touch of murder mystery, comedy, horror (with murderous seagulls) and relationship problems - quite a lot of action for one read!

The book is full of humour, taking the mickey out of online forums, indie writers and amazon reviewers (hence the worry about making spelling mistakes in this review). The characters for the most part are over the top caricatures and completely unlikeable with hardly any redeeming features, but all mixed together and in the context of this book, they just totally work 100%. If it were a "serious" book or in the hands of a less talented writer, then admittedly the plot would also be deemed to be over the top and far-fetched, but in this story, again, it just works.

To sum up, at first glance the plot and characters seem doomed but thanks to the author's storytelling skills it all pulls together wonderfully and the end result is a fantastic unputdownable read. Well written, funny and with an original storyline, it is certainly an example of what a lot of indie authors should be striving to produce, but so often fail at. Highly recommended!

A writer's retreat seemed the perfect chance for Dee Whittaker to take her mind off her marital difficulties.

However, she meets five of the most hideous writers ever to have mastered a QWERTY keyboard, and her problems quickly multiply. Things escalate further when the handyman winds up dead.

After fleeing from the island, Dee attempts to get her life back on track but begins to notice that something strange is going on.

I was enjoying this upon til the point when the same police officers turned up for the second time. I couldn't quite suspend my belief that far - it was too far a stretch!

2.5 stars for the amount that I read. Nicely written though. I will probably check out what else the author has written.

Self-published authors have gained more public attention in the last couple of years than ever before, as ebooks have reduced the cost of production, and increased the scope for distribution. Now, you can debate the extent to which this is a good thing, but there's an undeniable curiosity about the phenomenon. Rosen Trevithick - already a successful self-published writer, has taken the zeitgeist's pulse, looked at her fellow authors (and, I suspect, at herself), and judged that the time was right to satirise the growing trend of self-published writers.

Pompomberry House, however, has wider aims than just satirising the pompous, deluded arrogant writers who think they're bringing down a centuries old publishing industry with hackneyed romance and thriller novels. Hilariously observed as these parts of the book are, these grotesques are an easy target for mockery, and probably self-indulgent to boot. So Trevithick combines this 300 page satire with a sinister murder mystery, and a dash of chick-lit flustering.

The plot twists and turns, and regular readers of mystery fiction will spot some of the twists, but by no means all of them. There is real humour and heartbreak among the disappearing evidence, sinister clues and huge red herrings. Everyone gets a dig in the ribs, from the deluded authors themselves, to fanatical readers and acerbic reviewers. Whatever the future has in store for books and publishing, Pompomberry House is an entertaining and solidly written snapshot of the 'indie' scene as it exists now, and far more accurate and plausible than some readers (ie, other authors) will like to admit.