The Art of Deception

I just finished a novella entitled The Art of Deception by Christine McClean.

First I looked up the definition of "novella". We probably learned it in English class many, many years ago and I new that meant it was shorter than a novel. But I wondered if there was other criteria.

 Novella (Wikipedia):
"A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative normally longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. The English word "novella" derives from the Italian "novella", feminine of "novello", which means "new".^[1] The novella is a common literary genre in several European languages. A novella generally features fewer conflicts than a novel, yet more complicated ones than a short story. The conflicts also have more time to develop than in short stories..." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novella

This novella was 94 pages. It could easily have been read in one sitting.

"Mark finally had everything he could dream of – the perfect woman, friends and family who loved him, and a career-changing story at the newspaper about the mayor’s mistress and his seedy backroom deals. Little did Mark know that his big break was about to take a sinister turn when his girlfriend was kidnapped right before his story was to be published. Unbeknownst to Mark, the mayor was a member of a secret society that had been running the city for decades and would stop at no lengths to protect both its members and itself."

The book certainly grabs you right away with the kidnapping of Karen, Mark's girlfriend. As the description says, The Society, is apparently in charge of the town of Granston City, unbeknownst to the citizens of the town. The Society, is not a nice group of people. In fact, I would say they are pretty despicable. Now some are not in it by choice, like the mayor of Granston City.

It left me with the same feeling I had after reading Gone Girl and Natchez Burning. I kept reading because I wanted The Society caught, but it wasn't a feel good story.

Being a novella, all 94 pages are pretty much action, no room for descriptions of the landscape in a novella. I would say it is a good vs. evil story. You will have to read it to see who wins.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Deception-A-Novella-ebook/dp/B013MZEB9A


I received a free copy of this in exchange for a review.