NVNC ID VIDES, NVNC NE VIDES

Cat lover? You'll like this web comic. Wil Wheaton mentioned the site on his 'WWdN in Exile' because he happened to be featured in one.

I have done pretty much nothing all day today. There's plenty I need to do but I have no enthusiasm for any of it.

One thing I am doing is reading Malevolence by Nancy Mehl. I became acquainted with Nancy over on Absolute Write. We share an aurora - long story and one of those "you had to be there" ones, too. Anyway I was thrilled to see in her signature block that her book was out and got myself a copy. Unfortunately it's not on Amazon so I can't go review it there when I finish reading it. I'll give you a hint about what I think today and when I'm done with the book I'll write about the rest.

I'm midway through her book now (btw, it's a murder mystery) and very interested in what's going to happen next. Nancy does dialogue really well, it flows naturally, like real people talk, the conversations are believeable and always move the plot forward. Her characters are three dimensional and also believeable, real people. Right now I'm trying to figure out which of the male characters the female lead has met so far is the one I would like to see her end up with, there are two strong candidates and either one would make me happy. Not that this is a romance, maybe she doesn't end up with either of them. Another reason to keep turning the page.

The heroine is coping realistically with tragedy; she's not Wonder Woman but she's strong enough to do what she has to do. There's a lot left for me to find out and I'm looking forward to it.

I did some thinking about what other writer I could compare Nancy's writing to or what other book I could say is similar. I don't want to give too much away because I think you should seriously consider buying a copy and find out for yourself. The plot isn't like Patricia Cornwell's early Scarpetta novels in that it's not a procedural (I think that's the right label) but Nancy's voice, style, tight plotting and characters I can visualize as real people remind me a bit of them.