Deadly Ruse, by E. Michael Helms
Maybe this guy actually can write. His letter was significantly better written than his book, and much more entertaining. Hi Morgan,
I'm writing to explain a few things and ask a few questions of you. Let's start off by saying I'm sorry you didn't like my book. It is upsetting to know you really hated it. I can understand that not everyone is going to like it or appreciate the characters and story. That being said, you went about attacking both the book and me personally. The latter is very unprofessional of you. You don't like the book, fine, but to throw in such comments as: "Tozer had no understanding of how real people think and act. Has he never been to Starbucks, work, or even a Walmart? This book probably would have been a lot better if he had picked up a psychology book." These are just from the beginning; you went on to relate more. Where is your professionalism? You are the first reviewer/reader who's said the characters are lacking. I find it hard to believe that you don't find the dialogue realistic. You are, admittedly, a teenager, and the dialogue between youth and adults completely differs. I'm sorry I didn't have my characters talking about the Kardashians or other "hot" topics. You wrote you couldn't keep track of the characters-no one else who's read the book had trouble keeping track of them (See what a personal attack feels like? Not nice or professional is it?-so I'll say sorry, but I wanted to illustrate how I felt while reading your comments). I'd like to address your "biggest problem" - Spencer. Your review is incorrect on a few things. Not everyone agrees with Spencer as evidenced by the split in camp politics. And not everyone bows down to him like you suggest. He's kept everyone alive and thriving in a world that has lost hope and is beaten down by a merciless enemy. No one said that he is "awesome". He's a former assassin. He's not meant to be liked, ala "Harry Potter". He excels at killing and has no social skills. He's not supposed to have social skills as per his choice of occupation. Most everyone else in the book also have poor social skills because the title dictates what the book is about. The Dead, as all intelligent readers would have surmised, is not referring to the walking corpses on the outside of the fence but the broken and "dead", living survivors on the inside. They all are screwed up in some way or another. So of course they're not going to have the best social etiquette. You mentioned that he would not "inspire extreme loyalty anywhere". I beg to differ. You head on over to a warzone in Afghanistan or anywhere where ISIS flourishes. While the bullets are flying around you, you spot someone that not only survives running through hails of bullets time and again, but pulls your ass along and saves you as well. I'm thinking you'll be loyal to him no matter what he did before or how socially retarded he is. Why? Because you said you can shoot too. You may be able to shoot, but can you hit what you're aiming at when bullets (or zombies) are inching ever closer to you-when you're running and aiming at a moving target? Unless you've been in the military for years, I highly doubt it. Spencer (and his coldness) has saved everyone at their camp dozens of times over. Gained the camp: vehicles, food, medicine, and a chance to live another day. This is why people "bow down" to him. He doesn't have to be "likeable"-he's in dire need by the community. I'd also like to know why you think he's not "intelligent". The man saves lives, plans assaults, and knows enough about how people think to not spill his former occupation. Where is his lack of intelligence? Because he doesn't have social graces? He doesn't need them. He wants to be alone, remember? His plan was for him and Lexi to take off from the group at their convenience. Only his character grew some emotions and maturity along the way. One dimensional character writing? I don't think so. Regarding Lexi as being "...only one desire is to be with him and make him happy"-Did you not read the book? Lexi has a personality dysfunction because of how she was brought up. I'm sorry to say, I've met a couple of Lexi's in the real world. They want to be fathered, to be protected from the world. They live to find some sort of peace and normalcy that is of their own creation and thus different than what people would call "normal" (like latching onto someone who makes them feel safe and secure in the world). I watched a young singer perform last night. The TV station kept showing the crowd. There were at least twenty young women crying and reaching for him, with one almost fainting. If he allowed any of them to come backstage for sex, I doubt there would be one refusal. Why? Because he can sing a tune? He's good-looking, of course, which wouldn't hurt (I'd like to see if those same women would act that way had he been butt-ugly). Spencer is in that kind of league. He’s strong, good-looking, protects people, and provides some sort of comfort in a world where men are fast becoming a rare commodity. So, the good-looking ones are going to have a lot of women just jumping for the chance to be with him. Yes, it's sad, but looking at those women in the audience I can say with authority that my writing on that front is believable. I can also say that some women will throw themselves at a married man or men with girlfriends for validation of their beauty or some twisted desire to have something/someone that belongs to another. Again, sad but true. I'll also inform you that many of the people in my book have real life counterparts. Their actions or how they think, act, and talk are true to the nature of these characters. Of course there have been some fictionalized additions to most of them, but the basic characters are from reality. Morgan, you are young and inexperienced with the many different characters and personalities reality has to offer. You probably have a select group of friends that act similar to you and you don't have time to get to know or understand the other varied colourful personalities this world has to offer. I get that you didn't like the book. That's okay. I don't have a problem with that and actually respect it. However, your comments that personally attack me not only as a writer but as an intelligent person? ... That goes too far. In summary: If you want to go anywhere as a reviewer, you have to learn to review with some sort of respect to the authors. It's okay to give a bad review, but to outright trash someone goes beyond reviewing. And how is it that I have John Russo (look him up if you don't know of him), one of the zombie genre fathers; and Joe McKinney, the Stephen King of zombie writers, not only read but like my book with Joe giving me a standout review (check it on the second page of my website). These are established and respected authors (I didn't pay them, nor are they my friends). So how can it be as poor as you've related? Surely they wouldn't have put their names and reputations on the line by associating with my book if it were that terrible. Had the book been rife with: run-on sentences, bad grammar, incorrect verbiage, atrocious spelling, or sentence structure, your personal attack about my writing and intelligence might have been justified (btw, I've had the book edited by two different professional editors-so if you've found any of those legitimate problems within the book, please let me know so I can go after a partial refund from my editors. The bad review of my book = disappointing. The trashing and wordy abuse regarding myself as a writer and my intelligence = loss of respect for the so called reviewer. Regards, Rob. PS: Also, why would you want to feature my interview if you hated the book that much? I look forward to hearing your reply. |