A Bloody Business by Stephen A. Roddewigg In Review

Over the last few months, or longer, I have been reviewing Vocal creators' forays into the world of self-publishing and publishing. So far, I have reviewed "Glass Dolls" by L.C. Schäfer and "Wasted Love" by Poppy.

The time has come for a long overdue nod of respect and review of the first self-published, fully fleshed book by the one they call Stephen A. Roddewigg. His book is called "A Bloody Business".

During a recent trip to a caravan park in Berwick-Upon-Tweed with the good lady wife, Ruth Stewart, I had the pleasure of spending many a wee small hour or free time when we were not out on drives, feeding the birds or chitchatting and eating, finishing this bloody fantastic book.

Even had he not reviewed my own book; I would still have felt compelled to write my own for his. Here's why...

The Actual Review

I do count Stephen as a friend and someone I'd always look to for advice on publishing and self-publishing and other stuff I can't think of right now. We often moan in unison about our pet peeves on this here platform. So, this may well be biased. Do I care? Do you? I would never say it was, or even bloody fantastic if it wasn't. That is not my bag, baby! So, when I say it is absolutely, bloody fantastic, I mean it. All right?

Martin Williams, a hitman for a shady organisation called The Firm, the protagonist, is quite the jerk. Really. He is. Think James Bond/Sterling Archer with more compassion but still a hardened heart that has been calloused by conflict and poor gambling decisions. If you're looking for an in-depth, factually rich historical thriller - this is not the book you want. That doesn't mean it's not the book you need, though. If there is one thing I really enjoy about my bantering with Stephen, it's his genuine sense of humour and he has channelled that into the hard-not-to-love Martin, the star of the story.

He really is the star too. This book features a dizzying array of many historical events of the early to mid-1900s, but Martin is rarely side-lined by something as trivial as the Titanic sinking or either WWI or WWII.

That's not to say there isn't enough detail to immerse you in the chaos that Mr Williams finds himself in each of the wonderfully crafted chapters of this book. You get a sense of the dirt and the hopelessness of trench life, the devastation and panic among the crew and passengers on the Titanic. It's just that, as this is Martin's tales of working for the shady shadowy organisation known as The Firm are the most important thing.

My Final Verdict

What can you expect when you enter the world of "A Bloody Business"? Expect a lot of action, a whole lot of smoking. Like old movies, old TV shows smoking. Drinking, violence (though never too much), women, one-liners, satire, a whole lot of love for the craft of a good yarn and a genuinely heart-warming acknowledgements section (which, frankly, is an achievement in its own right)

Everything is expertly paced because as rich in detail as some parts are, it is never at the expense of moving the story along. The characters are well-developed. So that even a minor German soldier gets to shine a little without stealing Martin's deadpan thunder.

From start to finish, it is an irreverent, rip-roaring, bloody charmer.

In other words - a bloody fantastic book.

The bloody fantastic book is available on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and audiobook editions. I will be checking out the audiobook at some point and may do a follow-up review in the future about it. He also has another new book out,

Here is the Amazon link again and the link to Stephen's site. If you want a rip-roaring ride through history and to spend time with an interesting character, then buy the bloody book!

If you do buy it – you should review it, as the reviews make a lot of difference. Not just for the author but for Amazon and other online retailers and may make all the difference between someone deciding to click Buy Now and not. It doesn't need to be much, but even a small review can have a big impact.

Currently reading the rather fabulous "all the brooding flowers" by B.G. Craig, so expect a review in the coming week or so for that.

If you are interested, here are links to my other reviews of Vocal creators' books:

Also, if you are still here, here is a shameless plug for my first book: