Reviews

Higgins, Max AuthorHouse (90 pp.)
$13.95 paperback
ISBN: 978-1491816233;
September 9, 2013

A debut novel about a young woman’s dangerous misadventures as a bartender.Wendy Dawson’s mother always told her that good things eventually come to hardworking people—but for Wendy, life seems to only bring more hard work. The 30-year-old spends her days, sunup to sundown, tending bar in her Nova Scotia hometown. After several loveless years in New York City, she bought the small, local tavern in her old rural neighborhood, where she now lives a quiet but busy life. One morning, Wendy arrives at work, ready for yet another long but pleasant day of serving her customers, and is shocked to discover that she’s not alone in the bar; a dark stranger awaits her, apparently intent on robbery. Wendy is knocked unconscious and later awakes to find herself tied up in a small, dark cabin, with a kidnapper eager for answers. His questions, however, center on when Wendy first arrived back in Nova Scotia, and she’s soon convinced that her abductor has snatched the wrong woman. She manages to escape and returns to her pub, where she finds her friend Doug digging in the dirt, as part of a plan to expand the bar. Much to her surprise, he discovers a dead body buried right near the pub. Soon, Wendy again finds herself in the clutches of sinister goons who are eager to make her pay for her perceived misdeeds. This fast-paced, exciting story has all the delightful chills of a proper thriller, complete with a spunky, likable protagonist who manages to outsmart her foes. In addition to mystery and danger, the novel serves up a fine love story and a heartwarming tale of family and friendship. Readers will likely be surprised by the novel’s twists and turns and touched by Wendy’s resilience and strength.

A memorable mystery with an engaging heroine.

Middleton Yard’s Pub and Grub: Abduction
Max Higgins
AuthorHouse, 78 pages,
(paperback) $13.95, 9781491816233
(Reviewed: October, 2013)

Have you ever met one of those people who always seems to have something interesting afoot? This short romance novel squeezes more adventures for its protagonist into a scant 78 pages than most of us will have in a lifetime. If it’s a bit rushed, it’s a good time nonetheless.

Wendy Dawson owns Middleton Yard’s Pub and Grub and is responsible for serving drinks and the aforementioned grub seven days a week. Tied to her duties so completely, she opts to build a studio apartment under the pub, but work barely begins when she’s kidnapped by thugs. A daring escape leads to even more adventures, including two dog-sled races, a new romance and the mother-of-all vacation nightmares. Roughly 20 minutes after each drama subsides, Wendy is sighing at the fact that life has gone back to normal, but it never stays that way for long.

Author Max Higgins may be envisioning this book as part of a series; the subtitle “Abduction” and information about Wendy on the back cover that’s not included in the novel itself leave the doors open for a sequel or prequel. If so, future books would benefit from a slowed-down approach that incorporates more detail into the jittery plot. Five life-changing adventures in so few pages make it read like a children’s chapter book for adults — or a story outline in need of elaboration.

That said, it’s clear that Higgins is having fun. The prose is clean and unfussy, and there’s a nice variety to Wendy’s adventures (during an ATV race, who do you think falls through a hole and into an old tunnel, only to dig up a box of buried treasure? That’s our girl!).

Middleton Yard’s Pub and Grub is a nice appetizer. If the author expanded on her ideas a bit, this could be a delicious and filling series. Readers who plow through romance novels at warp speed will snarf it up like a bag of popcorn and assuredly be back for more.

Middleton Yard’s Pub and Grub: Abduction
Max Higgins AuthorHouse 978-1-4918-1623-3
Three Stars (out of Five)

A likable and driven protagonist brings passion to this novella set in a small-town pub in Nova Scotia.

The hub of many towns is the local pub, a place where people of all ages and backgrounds meet, laugh, and reminisce. Ambitious pub manager Wendy Dawson returns home after exploring the big city in Max Higgins’s short novel, Middleton Yard’s Pub and Grub. Little does she know that her life is just about to rev up: kidnappings, romance, and intrigue lay waiting in the small town.

Dawson trades her grueling life in New York City for her sleepy hometown of Middleton Yard, Nova Scotia. After years in the fashion industry, this nearly thirty-year-old woman realizes her life will be little more than a shell until she has someone to share it with. Confused about her future, Dawson is ready to return home and settle into a quieter life.

Managing a Nova Scotia pub is easier said than done, and Wendy works tirelessly to meet the needs of her tight-knit community. Her pub is a place where laborers in logging, construction, and land development come together, especially when the thaw hits and they find themselves out of work. Rich insights about bar life show it is more than just drinking and late hours. After all, Wendy works constantly and has to meet, greet, and handle the public day in and day out. Though the work is grueling, her drive, motivation, and passion shine through. In a short amount of space, Higgins develops an independent and well-rounded protagonist.

The short length of the book makes it a quick read. Each of its five chapters, though linked into a cohesive plot, focuses on a life-altering experience: from Wendy’s abduction to the discovery of a secret tunnel beneath her pub to finding love when she least expects it. A lot happens in this compact work. In fact, it feels like Wendy could spawn many volumes of stories: each focusing on how she overcomes mishap after mishap.

Though Wendy is a likable and independent woman, much of the novel is told through summary. When she is abducted, the action is quickly told, but not shown. Thus, the suspense of waking up after being drugged is glossed over. Adding more descriptions, similes, and other metaphors would heighten her run through the woods or eventful diner mishap. Such detail would increase the sense/feeling of danger and allow the reader to better imagine the paranoia of constantly looking over one’s shoulder. It is hard to imagine what Wendy, the pub, or the town look like because there is little description. Similarly, dialogue sometimes veers off into cliché. For example, one criminal actually says, “Where is the loot?” Veering away from clichés would heighten the tension and make such scenes unique.