Meek's Critiques

Review: SINFUL, by Victor McGlothin

meek@meekscritiques.com (PocketScribe.com) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 05:36:00 +0000

Sinful

Critique by Meek

4.5 out of five stars, Superb!

Victor McGlothin’s novel Sinful is full of delicious scandal, deception and manipulation, but is also surprisingly inspirational. In this believable tale of hope, the marriage of Chandelle and Marvin Hutchins is threatened by miscommunication, financial strain, trickery, and seduction. When it seems all is lost, McGlothin tastefully weaves in the mysterious hand of God to bring about redemption, without being overtly religious in his writing.

The story takes place in the author’s own hometown of Dallas, TX. McGlothin describes in believable detail places like the grimy ghetto, the posh estates of the upper-class, and the glitz of the downtown nightclub scene. The stark contrasts of the settings play well into the way McGlothin describes his main characters.

Chandelle Hutchins is the upwardly-mobile wife of Marvin Hutchins. Though she came from the streets and has a sordid past, she is determined to distance herself from her past by being a devoted wife, a faithful church-goer—and an avid shopper. Chandelle has a problem; she is hopelessly materialistic, trading poverty for debt. Her desire for nice things is only the beginning of problems in her marriage.

Marvin is the hard-working, devoted husband. He prides himself on being a diligent worker, but his job as manager at Appliance World does not represent his full potential, at least not in Chandelle’s mind. He is financially responsible and committed to keeping to the household budget, a budget that Chandelle casually ignores. When he and Chandelle decide to buy a house, and discover that their funds don’t match Chandelle’s dream home, he is determined to find a way to make it work, but the marriage becomes strained in the process.

Things become more complicated when Dior, Chandelle’s street-wise cousin, shows up at their front door with a duffle bag of clothes and no where to go. Dior is trouble. Her manipulative ways and intense self-centeredness know no bounds. Though Chandelle is down to help her cousin out, Dior is loyal only to herself. Secretly envious of Chandelle’s life, Dior decides to take advantage of her cousin’s weakened marriage and claim Marvin as her own.

Several other characters make this novel complete, including Dooney, Dior’s insightful twin brother and reformed thug, Marvin’s attractive new boss, Kim Hightower, and Dave, the wise old bar owner. At times, however, I felt that McGlothin, a black man, might have been using his main male characters (Marvin, Dave and Dooney) to make a social commentary about black men not being “all bad,” as the male characters in the novel were far more dignified than the main female characters.

Overall, however, the situations were very real and believable, showing just how easily situations can and do spiral out of control. Most people can relate to the problems associated with less-than-above-board friends and relatives. However, I did have to ask myself, why Chandelle was not at all suspicious of her cousin Dior. When it comes to their men, most women would be at least a little suspicious of any woman living in their home, related or not, especially if that woman is anything like Dior.

Victor McGlothin’s writing style is impeccable in Sinful, and the dialogue flowed very naturally. The plot was interesting from start to end and it was easy to become emotionally involved in the story. The descriptions made the book come alive, and for these reasons I would strongly recommend that this novel be converted into a screenplay for a blockbuster film (starring Taye Diggs and Gabrielle Union as the happy couple, and Kerry Washington as Dior).

Stay tuned for my review of Sinful Too, the sequel. I can't wait to read it!

Scoring Summary

AREA	PTS	COMMENT
Overall Story	1.0	Great from start to finish.
Writing Style	1.0	Impeccably written
Setting	1.0	I thought I was there.
Characters	0.5	The men were too good to be true. (half point awarded)
Plot	1.0	Very creative, with lots of drama
TOTAL	4.5	Superb!

Review: A CHOCOLATE AFFAIR, by Sheila Copeland

meek@meekscritiques.com (PocketScribe.com) — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 06:37:00 +0000

A Chocolate Affair
by Sheila Copeland
Critique by Meek

3.5 out of five stars, Not a bad read.

A Chocolate Affair, the sophomore book in author Sheila Copeland’s three-part ‘Chocolate Series’, reads like a Los Angeles-based version of Sex in the City, where the four black heroines are young, beautiful and successful. However, a major underlying theme in the work seems to be just how differently the women define success, and how they come to reconcile (or at least acknowledge) their differences.

The story takes place in an ultra-fabulous Los Angeles wonderland, where the men are rich, the women are gorgeous, and the Cristal is always flowing. The author goes into some detail describing the lavish homes and restaurants frequented by the main characters, even citing real-life celebrity hangouts. Copeland, who has done some work in the music industry, is obviously no stranger to Hollywood’s opulence.

Keisha Johnson is the terribly sweet stay-at-home-mother and devoted wife to NBA player Eric Johnson. Though, she has the ideal marriage, she is insecure about her husband’s opportunities to stray after his recent trade to the Los Angeles Lakers. Very family-oriented, her character provides support and spiritual encouragement to the others.

Jade Kimura Ross is the polar opposite of Keisha Johnson, preferring to pursue her career as top priority, rather than marriage and family. However, she is the new wife of former NBA star, Sean “Sylk” Ross, who has somewhat different expectations of what sort of wife Jade should be. Their marriage is very fragile.

Topaz is the larger-than-life singing sensation, with a successful career and quite a few skeletons in her closet. Her past mistakes cost her relationships with her son and his father, Germain. She will go to any length to win back the love of her ex-husband, Germain. The fact that scandals follow Topaz wherever she goes, mixed with her unmanageable personality, make her the most interesting of all the characters.

Nina Beaubien is Topaz’s cousin and personal assistant. However, Nina finally decides she does not want to ride on anyone’s coattails, not Topaz’s nor the hot-shot producer Jamil, who has asked Nina to marry him. She struggles to find success on her own terms.

The lives of these four women intertwine in ways that are unpredictable and down-right fun to read. There were many moments, when I had to do a double-take, like “Oh no…she did not just say what I think she said!” There is enough scandal to make you feel guilty just by reading it, but ultimately each woman comes to terms with her own success.

Sheila Copeland’s writing style is polished and her dialogue is very believable. However, her too-perfect characters are a bit fantastic and flat. It is difficult to reconcile the characters to real-life people, so they come across as two-dimensional cartoons (i.e. the too perfect wife, the ultra-feminist, the diva song bird and the side-kick struggling to stand own her own two feet.) I also found the constant name-dropping a little bothersome, as it dated the publication, but to each his own.

Overall, I would recommend this book, not on it’s on, but rather in sequence and with the rest of the ‘Chocolate Series’ by Sheila Copeland, which includes the hit title Chocolate Star and Diamond Revelation.

Stay tuned for my official critique of Diamond Revelation, coming soon.

Scoring Summary

AREA	PTS	COMMENT
Overall Story	1.0	Got progressively more interesting
Writing Style	1.0	Impeccably written
Setting	0.5	Okay at best (half point awarded)
Characters	0	Cliché characters (no points awarded)
Plot	1.0	Interesting twists and turns
TOTAL	3.5	Not bad overall

Author Interview: Mary Monroe

meek@meekscritiques.com (PocketScribe.com) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 22:32:00 +0000

Virtual Book Tour: Best-selling author, Mary Monroe Visits sLiterary
by Meek (for SLNN.com)

October 1, 2007

sLiterary, Second Life—In the late afternoon Sunday, at sLiterary’s Events Center, Authors in Your Pocket on SL hosted a live talk featuring New York Times Bestseller, Mary Monroe, to discuss her career as a writer and her latest novel Deliver Me From Evil, released in September.

Monroe’s latest novel, whose main character is the attractive Christine Thurman, involves greed, sex, forbidden love, and a terrific scheme. Deliver Me From Evil, like Monroe’s other works, is told with loads of the emotionally-stirring detail, promising to send imaginations awhirl.

Monroe’s claim to fame is largely due to the realness of her characters. Monroe’s fans will find the characters in Deliver Me to be just as believable. When asked whether she has ever been accused of using real people in her novels, Monroe said, “People might think they recognize themselves in my books, but they are always wrong. I do pattern characters after myself and others I know, but very well disguised.”

Monroe graciously answered audience questions and offered helpful advice to the aspiring authors who were in attendance, admonishing them to read often and write daily. She credits other authors, including Toni Morrison and Alice Walker for offering her valuable advice early in her writing career.

Interestingly, as Mary Monroe spoke to an audience of over thirty avatars, in the virtual world of Second Life, she admitted that she is not very technically inclined. Her SL appearance was due to the diligent work of avatar, TriComPodSquad Writer of Authors in Your Pocket on SL, who happens to also be the real-life L. Peggy Hicks of TriCom Publicity Inc. Hicks is Monroe’s technology-savvy literary publicist. To Monroe, sLiterary was just another great stop on her latest book tour.

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