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Pieces
A new casino affords a playboy the luxury of a Tudor mansion. Follow him from the sixties to the nineties, through an array of San Francisco characters, in the midst of dark suspense and occult paranormal.
- GenresParanormal
198 pages, Paperback
First published February 14, 2012
788 people want to read
About the author
Chad Schimke
19 books533 followersI write weird fiction, dark fantasy, horror and SciFi.
Read them all: The Costumer, The Merchandiser, Vivified, Behind the Walls, Hallowmas & Midwinter.
https://linktr.ee/authorchadschimke
#postapocalypticfiction #horrorfiction #darkfantasy #weirdfiction #amwriting #amblogging
Read them all: The Costumer, The Merchandiser, Vivified, Behind the Walls, Hallowmas & Midwinter.
https://linktr.ee/authorchadschimke
#postapocalypticfiction #horrorfiction #darkfantasy #weirdfiction #amwriting #amblogging
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 24, 2012
REVIEW OF PIECES BY AMOS LASSEN
“Pieces” is completely different than “Picker”. The character who stands at the center is Lyman Blackmore ... his world is one of eccentric characters and is filled with suspense, crime and the out-of-the-ordinary. This is a read that keeps you guessing as you navigate its twists and turns. The characters themselves are reflections of the diversity of San Francisco. While I am not much of a mystery reader, I had a lot of fun reading this.”
http://www.reviewsbyamoslassen.com/?p...
“Pieces” is completely different than “Picker”. The character who stands at the center is Lyman Blackmore ... his world is one of eccentric characters and is filled with suspense, crime and the out-of-the-ordinary. This is a read that keeps you guessing as you navigate its twists and turns. The characters themselves are reflections of the diversity of San Francisco. While I am not much of a mystery reader, I had a lot of fun reading this.”
http://www.reviewsbyamoslassen.com/?p...
October 24, 2012
Chad Schimke's book 'Pieces' is a masterpiece of intrigue, suspense and magical spells...and walks you right into the everyday paranormal - and he shows how silently ubiquitous it can be at every turn. Based in the city I am from, San Francisco, reading this book took me back to this city rich in stories and history. The author knows San Francisco inside and out and so, combined with such well-developed characters, complete with a witch and much more, made for such compelling reading.. that I couldn't put this book down.
August 13, 2012
REVIEW OF PIECES BY AMOS LASSEN
“Inter-Connected Character Vignettes by Amos Lassen. “Pieces” is completely different than “Picker”. It is a paranormal mystery composed of inter-connected character vignettes and set in San Francisco and takes place from the 1960’s to the 1990’s. The character who stands at the center is Lyman Blackmore, a casino owner who is lucky enough to be quite wealthy. His world is one of eccentric characters and is filled with suspense, crime and the out-of-the-ordinary. This is a read that keeps you guessing as you navigate its twists and turns. The characters themselves are reflections of the diversity of San Francisco. While I am not much of a mystery reader, I had a lot of fun reading this.”
reviewsbyamoslassen.com/?p=17052
“Inter-Connected Character Vignettes by Amos Lassen. “Pieces” is completely different than “Picker”. It is a paranormal mystery composed of inter-connected character vignettes and set in San Francisco and takes place from the 1960’s to the 1990’s. The character who stands at the center is Lyman Blackmore, a casino owner who is lucky enough to be quite wealthy. His world is one of eccentric characters and is filled with suspense, crime and the out-of-the-ordinary. This is a read that keeps you guessing as you navigate its twists and turns. The characters themselves are reflections of the diversity of San Francisco. While I am not much of a mystery reader, I had a lot of fun reading this.”
reviewsbyamoslassen.com/?p=17052
September 17, 2012
PIECES - I thoroughly enjoyed how this novel used paranormal witches and demons to explore multi-cultural people and neighborhoods. There is a little bit of everything here and a lot to like. If you like a San Francisco story like Tales of the City this is one for you.
Pieces by Chad Schimke
Pieces by Chad Schimke
April 3, 2013
ROY'S REVIEW
This book has received a sprinkling of five-star reviews on Amazon. I’m afraid I’m not going to keep the sequence going. Maybe I just never got onto the author’s wavelength - I’m not sure - but that is the writer’s job. Engage the reader. I was never really engaged.
Whoever tagged the book ‘mystery’ and ‘paranormal’ has some explaining to do. We start with a coven right enough, in some woods above San Francisco. Lyman Blackmore pledges future profits from his casino to the Moonglow Fellowship in return for its financial success. Failure to honour the pledge will make Asmodeus angry. (Asmodeus is portrayed here as the god of luck and gambling, rather than the better-known demon of lust). That is the last we see of any mystery until the closing pages.
As the title suggests, and the prologue hints, the text consists of pieces of a jigsaw – many sub-stories within the main one. Instead the main story bookends a number of loosely connected vignettes, jumping in time between the 60s and the 90s. Set mainly in San Francisco these little sub-plots are self-supporting and advance the main story little, if at all. They perhaps add a little context but are woodenly written with little real actions. Characters are spasmodically developed only to never appear again. The stand-out character is Pinky Kelly and I warmed to the story as the flawed young man floundered in the city before finding his way home to Kansas.
I persevered, hoping for a big finish. Asmodeus has been shafted by Blackmore’s scheming wife Glinda and he emerges from his underground lair on his winged beast. What an opportunity was lost as he encounters a plane making its way in to land! Instead the book rushes to an end with the wicked Glinda squashed under her own house. This reader was left cold.
Somewhere in Chad Schimke’s novel is a good story trying to get out. In my opinion this just doesn’t happen here. It reads like an unedited first draft. I’m sure the author can write but, for me, he disappoints with this book.
This book has received a sprinkling of five-star reviews on Amazon. I’m afraid I’m not going to keep the sequence going. Maybe I just never got onto the author’s wavelength - I’m not sure - but that is the writer’s job. Engage the reader. I was never really engaged.
Whoever tagged the book ‘mystery’ and ‘paranormal’ has some explaining to do. We start with a coven right enough, in some woods above San Francisco. Lyman Blackmore pledges future profits from his casino to the Moonglow Fellowship in return for its financial success. Failure to honour the pledge will make Asmodeus angry. (Asmodeus is portrayed here as the god of luck and gambling, rather than the better-known demon of lust). That is the last we see of any mystery until the closing pages.
As the title suggests, and the prologue hints, the text consists of pieces of a jigsaw – many sub-stories within the main one. Instead the main story bookends a number of loosely connected vignettes, jumping in time between the 60s and the 90s. Set mainly in San Francisco these little sub-plots are self-supporting and advance the main story little, if at all. They perhaps add a little context but are woodenly written with little real actions. Characters are spasmodically developed only to never appear again. The stand-out character is Pinky Kelly and I warmed to the story as the flawed young man floundered in the city before finding his way home to Kansas.
I persevered, hoping for a big finish. Asmodeus has been shafted by Blackmore’s scheming wife Glinda and he emerges from his underground lair on his winged beast. What an opportunity was lost as he encounters a plane making its way in to land! Instead the book rushes to an end with the wicked Glinda squashed under her own house. This reader was left cold.
Somewhere in Chad Schimke’s novel is a good story trying to get out. In my opinion this just doesn’t happen here. It reads like an unedited first draft. I’m sure the author can write but, for me, he disappoints with this book.
March 4, 2013
Pieces - Chad Schimke
Worlds collide in this colourful and gripping paranormal adventure. Mammon, in all its vulgarity and rampant materialism clash with dark spirits, witchcraft and metaphysics.
A handsome playboy gambler, newly married to Monroe-style buxom blonde, transmogrifies throughout this roller-coaster of a tale. The author develops his characters skilfully as the action progresses. A plethora of supporting characters backlight an artist, an actor,a writer and a thief. Darkness pursues the protagonists and mayhem ensues.
Scenic locations including Lake Tahoe, Wichita, Manhattan and Death Valley provide a panoramic backdrop to the helta skelta shenanigans.
An excellent pace, great characterisation and a sense of the supernatural at play combine to produce this impressive page-turner.
Worlds collide in this colourful and gripping paranormal adventure. Mammon, in all its vulgarity and rampant materialism clash with dark spirits, witchcraft and metaphysics.
A handsome playboy gambler, newly married to Monroe-style buxom blonde, transmogrifies throughout this roller-coaster of a tale. The author develops his characters skilfully as the action progresses. A plethora of supporting characters backlight an artist, an actor,a writer and a thief. Darkness pursues the protagonists and mayhem ensues.
Scenic locations including Lake Tahoe, Wichita, Manhattan and Death Valley provide a panoramic backdrop to the helta skelta shenanigans.
An excellent pace, great characterisation and a sense of the supernatural at play combine to produce this impressive page-turner.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews