Image of books

Welcome to free fiction review

Can free fiction by self-published authors possibly be any good? Or are we all just a bunch of talentless narcissists? This is my pick of the best free ebooks I have come across from self-published authors. Obviously my choices are influenced by my own tastes. But since all this stuff is free, what have you got to lose by giving it a try?

Note: the works listed here were all free at the time of my review - but that can change (see below!).  For all my book reviews (both free and paid-for books), click HERE.

 

YARD SALE BY CHARLES HIBBARD

This beautifully written book depicts various episodes in the life of a single character, Ruth. We first meet her in (late) middle age, having gone on a solo road trip to escape marital difficulties. Subsequent chapters provide “snapshots” of her world at different times in her life (childhood, marriage, old age etc), from the perspective of characters including her father, a childhood friend, her husband and various others. Overall, the book feels more like a collection of connected short stories than a novel - because each episode is so well crafted that it could equally well stand alone, without needing to be part of a bigger whole.  But then again, the connections give the individual stories an extra, more novelisticdimension as we gradually build up a fuller picture of Ruth's life.  READ FULL REVIEW. Click on the cover image to go to a download page.

The nose by troy ernest hill

This long-ish short story (just over 12,000 words) is about Lenny, an aspiring actor living in New York, and his love affair with Jacob, a man with a big nose. Others are put off by Jacob’s nose, something that Jacob himself is acutely conscious of. But Lenny falls in love with the vulnerable person that Jacob’s nose has made him into. So when Jacob announces he’s going to get plastic surgery, Lenny feels conflicted. He knows Jacob hates his nose – but he’s also afraid of what it might do to their relationship.  I enjoyed the smart, sometimes bitchy dialogue between Lenny and his friends – but the story is really about how people's behaviour is affected by how they look (and how they think others see them).  Click on the cover image to go to a download page.  Troy Ernest Hill has also written an excellent self-published novel, Myxocene (not free), which is reviewed here.

COURT OUT BY ELLE WYNNE

A well-written comic novel combining a racy, legal thriller-type plot (our heroine is a barrister) with chick lit-style romantic comedy.  As some other reviewers have pointed out, there were some typos but not enough to spoil my enjoyment of it.  I always struggle to find much else to say about comic writing – it was funny and had a good story, what more do you want?  I’m also hardly an afficionado of the genre, but I would guess that the legal thriller aspect differentiates it from quite a lot of chick lit.  As a lawyer, I can say that the legal aspects felt authentic - although not being massively familiar with the world of criminal law, it’s hard to say exactly how accurate it is.  At the time of writing, it was free on Smashwords.  There are a good number of positive reviews on Amazon too.

show them what they won by sean boling

Ever wondered how many people have to die before gun-enthusiasts in the States start to question whether the easy availability and widespread ownership of fire-arms in their country might be part of the problem?  What if someone got so frustrated with this state of affairs that he decided to give the gun community a taste of their own medicine?  And what if that someone were a retired police officer, so he knew not only how to handle guns but also how to cover his tracks? This is what Sean Boling imagines in this gripping and highly provocative self-published novel.  READ FULL REVIEW.  Click on the cover image to go to a download page.   

the prancing jacana by steven jon halasz

The Prancing Jacana has an intriguing thriller-style plot with moments of wry humour, but it’s written with a literary sensibility and deals with some serious issues along the way. Caroline Parker, a best-selling author of crime fiction, has set her latest novel in Senegal – where it has just been banned, having offended the conservative muslim community there because its lead character is gay. Initially, the ban seems like a good way of generating additional publicity for the book – so Caroline accepts an invitation to travel to Senegal to do a radio interview there. Unbeknownst to her, she has attracted the interest of not only the US government, which is looking to use her as “bait” in a trap – but also a group of hackers intent on thwarting what the government is up to. READ FULL REVIEW. Click on the cover image to go to a download page.

bad faith by jesse tandler

This is an excellent literary novel about various characters trying to get in touch with their "authentic" selves - but it's also a genuine page-turner.  Saul is unhappily married to Connie, feels tied down by his responsibilities as a father of two and is doing a job that he considers to be beneath him. He also keeps fantasising about getting back together with his ex, Annabelle - something which is not lost on Connie, who may not be Saul’s intellectual equal but is more than a match for him in emotional intelligence. At the same time, Saul’s best friend, Malcolm is plotting to try to get Saul’s academic career back on track and start a relationship of his own. It takes a little while to really get going, but once it had hit its stride, I found it hard to put down. It also made me think quite hard about the slipperiness of “authenticity” as a guide to what we really value in life.  READ FULL REVIEW.  Click on the cover image to go to a download page.

ME BLACKBERRY FOOL, YOU APPLE TART BY AMELIA SLOCOMBE

This is a very funny chick lit novel, told in the form of an exchange of emails/texts.  Isla, the main character, works for a law firm in London.  Her best friend, Rachel, works in the marketing department of a firm that sells plumbing and toilet accessories.  Rachel's rather useless boyfriend also happens to be the best friend of a Premier League footballer.  The footballer then takes a bit of a shine to Isla, who is already in a long term relationship.  I won't reveal any more of the story, but it is very readable, the plot moves ahead at a decent pace and most importantly, it is genuinely funny.  I also enjoyed some of the secondary characters, like Isla's Dad (a man devoted to the infinite culinary possibilities of mince) and Rachel's mildly psychotic Mum.  READ FULL REVIEW.  Click on the cover image to go to a download page.

DARK PLACES BY JON EVANS

An excellent thriller which was published commercially (and received numerous positive reviews) but is now also available for free on Wattpad, along with a number of other novels books by the same author. All of them are what you might call “techno-travelogue” thrillers.  In “Dark Places”, software engineer Paul Wood stumbles across the dead body of a hiker whilst trekking in Nepal. Local police dismiss it as suicide, but Paul becomes convinced that there is a backpacker serial killer on the loose – someone he may even have met. The search leads him to dark places on the internet as well as in real life. For a longer review which also covers Jon Evans’ other novels, click HERE. Click on the cover image to go to a download page.

single to morden by spike evans

A very well written and consistently funny comic novel. Our hapless hero, Tim, has moved to London in search of his ex-girlfriend, Sarah. All he knows of her whereabouts is that she is living somewhere on the Northern Line.   So he decides to spend a day or so hanging around every single station on the Northern Line in the hope of bumping into her. You might be forgiven for thinking that this central conceit of chapters based around underground stations could become a bit tiresome after a while. But the novel avoids this by having enough going on in terms of plot development (we gradually find out more about the mysterious Sarah), making us care what happens to the characters and providing some well observed sketches of the absurdities of life in London. READ FULL REVIEW. Click on the image opposite to go to a download page.

stumps of mystery by susan wickstrom

This unconventional novel consists of a series of linked stories about the inhabitants of a small town in Oregon around 2007-8.  Initially, each chapter takes the point of view of a particular character – such as a PR consultant who’s just moved to the area, a park ranger, a Mexican immigrant, the sister of a tree-sitting environmental activist or a 13 year old whose older brother is fighting in Iraq.  Until the last section, there is not much linking them all together. But there are subtle links between the chapters and the characterisation is very well done – so much so that the lack of plot didn’t bother me.  Readers hungry for more plot are rewarded in the final section, which centres on a tragic event and is much more plot-driven.  READ FULL REVIEW.  Click on the cover image to go to a download page. 

THE METAMORPHOSIS OF PRIME INTELLECT BY ROGER WILLIAMS

Caroline – along with the rest of human race – “lives” in a virtual environment where she can do almost anything.  She is a so-called “death jockey”, who chooses to spend her time being “killed” in the most painful, bizarre and, frankly, perverted ways possible. However, Prime Intellect, the artificial intelligence in charge of this virtual world, will not allow her to actually “die” because it is programmed to obey Asimov’s three laws of robotics. In the course of the book we discover how this virtual world came into being and meet Prime Intellect’s inventor, Lawrence - who has since become a recluse.  Caroline decides to seek Lawrence out, with a view to taking Prime Intellect to task.  This is an excellent “big picture” sci-fi novel – but it’s not one for the faint hearted (owing to a certain amount of disturbingly graphic content). READ FULL REVIEW. Click on the cover image to read the novel online (free) or download from Amazon here (not free).

TAKING CANDY FROM THE DEVIL BY ROBERT P KAYE

Chris Bly is burned out, his girlfriend has left him and his dream of founding a tech startup has gone up in smoke. And so it is that he decides to return home to the Washington Cascades, back to the bosom of his rather extraordinary family – which includes his eccentric inventor father, his somewhat domineering stepmother and his stunt coordinator brother. The main plot revolves around the appearance of fresh Bigfoot tracks in the area and Chris’s initially awkward relationship with Willa (his first ever girlfriend). There is also a sub-plot where his movie stunt coordinator brother uses his skills to mount a jewel heist, but ends up getting more than he bargained for (and putting everyone’s lives in danger).  A very engaging and entertaining novel, which also offers some more serious food for thought along the way. READ FULL REVIEW. Click on the front cover image to go to a download page.  UPDATE 27.2.2017:  Sadly, this novel is no longer available on Smashwords or even as a paid-for download.

Day Gazing by Carla Herrera

Although subtitled “Weird Shorts”, all the stories in this collection are written in a very accessible way – so don’t assume that “weird” equates to “obscure” or “kind of hard going.” For example, I found that I could readily identify with - or at least empathise with - most of the protagonists; the weirdness is more about the situations that they find themselves in. These range from a couple who respond to an ad offering the chance to spend several weeks in a nuclear fallout shelter to a man who wakes up in a room that is entirely white. A number of the other stories mine a similarly dark seam of people battling with their own personal hell or some form of wider, apocalyptic event. A great collection of shorts that definitely repays more than one reading. READ FULL REVIEW. Click on the cover image to go to a download page.

The Fourth Lectern by Andy Cooke

A free novella about what might have happened if the anti-EU UK Independence Party had been included in the 2010 pre-election TV debates. And if you are thinking, well it probably wouldn't have made much difference, just recall the impact that Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg made in those debates - at one point, I believe, he was more popular than Winston Churchill ! (Ah, how times change...). Anyway, this is an interesting and well-executed counterfactual. That said, it does assume you are quite into politics - so if names like Steve Hilton and Stuart Wheeler mean nothing to you, you may struggle a bit. I also found that the election night coverage dragged a bit (too many constituency names...). However, on the strength of this I went onto read the novel-length sequel, "The Fifth Lectern," which I also enjoyed and have reviewed in more detail HERE (although that book is not free). Click on the cover image to go to a download page.  UPDATE 1.2018: this book is no longer free but is still available as a paid-for download from Amazon here.

The Inelegant Universe by Charles Hibbard

A thought-provoking, varied and beautifully written collection of short stories. I particularly liked combination of fairly everyday incidents (e.g. dinner parties, two friends on a hike, visiting an elderly parent in a nursing home etc) with larger, more abstract ideas – ranging from string theory through to evolution and the conflict between order and chaos. The marrying up of these ideas with the subject matter is elegantly done and never feels artificial. And there was always enough in the way of plot/character to draw the reader in and no shortage of humour. READ FULL REVIEW. Click on the cover image to go to a download page.

Pedalling Backwards by Julia Russell

Lizzie, her husband and her parents have rented a holiday cottage on a bleak, muddy island in the Blackwater Estuary. What could possibly go wrong? Well, for starters, Lizzie has recently lost a baby. Her husband thought it would be a good idea for them both to get away from things for a bit, but didn’t seem to fancy the idea of being on his own with Lizzie the entire time. So he invited her parents. The trouble is, Lizzie’s relationship with them (especially her mother) is not an easy one. Added to which, Lizzie herself can be pretty infuriating at times. So the atmosphere as we join them in the cottage is, well, a little tense. All the ingredients, I’m sure you will agree, of a really super-duper, relaxing holiday. A very well written literary novel which reminded me in some respects of “The Third Person” (also reviewed here - see below).  READ FULL REVIEW. Click on the cover image to go to a download page.

Abraham the Anchor Baby Terrorist by Sean Boling

This novel is about an attempt by Islamic terrorists to insert a “sleeper” agent into the US by smuggling a pregnant Algerian woman into the country; her son, Abraham, is to be raised as a terrorist. The author skilfully keeps you guessing as to whether Abraham will turn out as intended by his terrorist mentors and after a slightly slow start, I found it hard to put down. It has interesting things to say about terrorism, immigration and racism – but it can be read on a number of different levels (for example, you could see it as being about free will versus fate or nature versus nurture). Although a gripping story, it’s not really a thriller; instead, try to imagine the writers of “The Wire” doing with terrorism what they did with drug crime (but minus the law enforcement angle). Then re-imagine that as a literary novel with shades of “The Reluctant Fundamentalist.” READ FULL REVIEW. Click on the cover image to go to a download page.

The Hole in the Wall by Clare Fisher

This is another mid-length piece which (in terms of subject matter) reminded me a little of Ian McEwan’s “The Cement Garden” and also Stephanie Newell’s “The Third Person” (see below). Caroline and Michael are middle class academics with a young son, Oscar. They live in a house with a hole in the wall – the mysterious contents of which are at the centre of this story. Oscar meets a girl called Treasure, of whom both his parents are rather wary, since she appears to come from a much more deprived background. Those concerns appear to be justified when Oscar starts having nightmares and goes missing from school. But the real mystery has to do with Treasure’s past and the reason she has been hanging around Caroline and Michael’s house. Cleverly told from 5 different perspectives, this is a very good short read. READ FULL REVIEW. Click on the cover image to go to a download page.

The Free Indie Reader No.1

First, a declaration of self-interest - one of my own stories (The King of Infinite Space) appears in this anthology. But the main point about this collection of shorts is that it contains pieces by 7 other self-published authors - including several whose work I have reviewed below. So if you want to sample some of the material that's out there, this may be a good place to start. You can view a short - and ever so slightly tongue-in-cheek - trailer for it here.

The other authors whose work I have reviewed on this site are: Judy B, Michael Graeme, Carla Herrera and Tom Lichtenberg (who compiled this anthology - click here for more on that). For reviews of the other authors whose work is featured, see Tom Lichtenberg's blog.  Click on the cover image to go to a download page.

The Future Manifestations of St Christina the Astonishing

This short book (by anonymous authors) uses the medieval Saint Christina the Astonishing as the common denominator for 8 quirky, speculative fictions about the near and distant future. These include a virtual role-playing game, the development of a “quantumputer”, a possible explanation of “reincarnation” and technology that allows you to see up to 6 minutes into the future. It is somewhat reminiscent of “Sum” by the neuroscientist David Eagleman, which is a collection of similarly short pieces depicting possible different versions of the afterlife; both books contain a series of variations around a central, unifying theme and the “big ideas” are deftly handled, in a way which conveys their emotional as well as intellectual content. READ FULL REVIEW. Click on the cover image to go to a download page.  Sadly, this book no longer seems to be available (it was only on Feedbooks, which has closed).

3 by Moxie Mezcal

3 is a collection of three gripping short stories – which almost feel like mini-novellas. The first story, “Home Movie,” is about a porn store DVD which has been replaced with what appears to be a snuff movie – is it just make-believe or could it be real? The second story, “1999,” recounts a night of partying on the eve of the new millennium – and starts with the line “[n]othing in this story really happened”. The final story, “Fake”, takes its cue from several notorious (real life) cases of journalists having made up plausible-sounding but fake stories in order to further their careers. The emphasis on the real and the fictional might make this sound like tricksy, ultra-ironic, post-modernist fare – but although there are nods in that direction, the focus is on telling a gripping story, something Moxie Mezcal does with great skill and verve. READ FULL REVIEW. Click on the cover image to go to a download page.

The Prodigals by Frank Burton

“The Prodigals” is an ambitious contemporary novel following the lives of four mal-adjusted young men in Manchester – Travis, Brian, Howard and Declan. Its main focus is on exploring why all four characters seem to find it so difficult to come to terms with who they are (which in turns leads to various forms of anti-social behaviour). It’s a difficult book to categorise, combining gritty social realism with existentialist musings on why we’re here and what the point of it all is. This might make it sound quite heavy going, but in fact, it has a lot to offer in the way of lively incident and wry humour. Its style and structure are also somewhat unconventional in a way that may not work for everyone – although personally, I quite like being made to work a bit harder to join up the dots sometimes. READ FULL REVIEW.  Click on the cover image to go to a download page.

Corpus Callosum by Erika D Price

This is an excellent literary novel with a sci-fi element. Joey and Jeannette are twin sisters. When Joey is fatally injured in a fire, Jeannette can’t face the thought of life without her – so she pays the good folk at LifeMedia to have Joey’s mind uploaded into a “BrightBox” (this is the main sci-fi element – but in most other respects, the world of the story is very similar to our own and the focus is very much on the characters rather than the science). At first it seems to have worked – but as time goes on, Joey starts to wonder if she now has more in common with other BrightBox “uploadees” than with “breathers” like her sister. On top of which, it seems that the technology may not be entirely bug-free. An intriguing and very thought-provoking novel. READ FULL REVIEW. Click on the cover image to go to a download page.

Shen by Heather Douglass

"Shen" is an engagingly offbeat science fiction novel which the author describes (slightly tongue-in-cheek) as “space opera for the unprepared”. I particularly enjoyed Part 1 which manages to combine elements of popular realist literary fiction (e.g. the main character is having an extra-marital affair etc) with an intriguing sci-fi premise (the main character keeps finding himself on an alien spaceship, but it’s not clear why – and the other people/beings on board don’t seem too clear about it either). Part 2 sees the action move to a different planet and the focus of the novel shifts to more conventional sci-fi/fantasy territory. However, it is still quite ambitious in its attempt to depict the interplay between different racial/cultural/religious groups (Part 2 reminded me of the late Iain Banks’ “Culture” novels and Frank Herbert’s “Dune” series). READ FULL REVIEW. Click on the cover image to go to a download page.

Trade by Lochlan Bloom

“Trade” is narrated from a point in the not too distant future when an internet platform (a sort of cross between Facebook and Ebay) has radically changed the way that people approach sex. Sometimes you have a feeling from the first page that something is going to be worth reading - and for me, “Trade” delivered on that initial promise. The premise was sufficiently intriguing and enough happened in terms of plot to justify the label “novelette,” with its implication that the story will deliver some of the things you would normally expect from a longer work. A gripping and thought-provoking read. READ FULL REVIEW. Click on the cover image to go to a download page.

The Third Person by Stephanie Newell

Lizzie is 14. Her father has left home and her mother doesn’t seem to be coping too well in his absence. Lizzie spends an unhealthy amount of time in her bedroom making elaborate plans. These generally involve eloping with Mr Phillips, the shopkeeper, or exacting revenge upon people who have displeased her. But things don’t turn out quite as she hopes. Lizzie’s narration is utterly compelling – despite the fact that she is highly manipulative and at times vindictive. Overall, the novel reminded me of a cross between Zoe Heller’s “Notes on a Scandal” and Iain Banks’ “The Wasp Factory” - see FULL REVIEW for an explanation of this slightly bizarre comparison.  An impressive and unsettling literary novel. Click on the cover image to go to a download page.

Unpredictable by Bryan R Dennis

“Unpredictable” is a collection of 3 short stories. Why should you read it? Well, if I had to pick just one reason, it would be the last story, “Illinois Corn”, about a sort of agricultural fight-club – it is compelling, unsettling and extremely effective. I was initially less sure about the first story, “Unpredictable”, because the narrator seemed so infuriatingly perverse - but by the end he’d succeeded in gaining my sympathy (to an extent, at any rate). Finally, “Jake’s Mom” is a well-observed story about a mother’s relationship with her teenage son. In all 3 cases, I found myself speculating about what would happen to the characters over the longer term or imagining other details about their lives – which I always think is a good sign. READ FULL REVIEW. Click on the cover image to go to a download page.

The Ant Farm by Neil Hetzner

“The Ant Farm” is a quirky, engaging and very well-observed tragi-comic novel about statistics in the poultry industry and knitting. Hmmm, I sense that I may not be doing the book any favours with the second half of that sentence. OK, let’s try again: 62 year old Gene Almsson loves his job as a travelling rep working in the poultry industry. But when he is forced into early retirement, he struggles to adapt. And how will he cope with childcare when one of his grown-up daughters boomerangs back home with her toddler? Reminded me in some respects of the George Clooney film “Up in the Air” (it has a similar line in wry, humorous observation) - but ends up exploring much darker territory. READ FULL REVIEW. Click on the cover image to go to a download page.  Update 1.2018:  this book is no longer free, but is still available as a paid-for download from Smashwords.

Pigs and Other Living Things by Sean Boling

This is a varied and well-crafted collection of 5 short stories. I particularly liked “Focus”, about a photographer’s encounter with a heron (made me wince) and “The Monitor,” about what you imagine when you inadvertently tune into someone else’s baby alarm (yes, been there). All the stories are based based around a single dramatic event – like a shooting at a store, an unexpected incident at a football game or an encounter with a wild pig – which helps to provide a focal point. I felt the title had a slightly ‘throwaway’ tone which didn’t entirely do justice to the seriousness of the author’s intent. But that's a very minor criticism, so don’t let it put you off giving this well written and intriguing collection a try. READ FULL REVIEW. Click on the cover image to go to a download page.

The Judas Tree by Patricia le Roy

If you enjoyed the non-fiction book “Stasiland” and/or the film “The Lives of Others”, you should definitely give this excellent free novel a try. Its starting point is the death of a French woman, Anne, who was (seemingly) happily married to Matthias, an East German (a marriage that took place some years before the collapse of the DDR). But Anne seems to have taken a number of secrets to her grave. Several years later, Matthias finally decides to visit her family in Provence, looking for answers. Neither he nor Anne’s family fully understand why she made the choices that she did - and it is only when they put the different pieces of the jigsaw together that the truth emerges. A superb literary/psychological novel. READ FULL REVIEW. Click on the cover image to go to a download page.  UPDATE 22.2.2017: this book is no longer free, but is available from Amazon as a paid download.  

In Durleston Wood by Michael Graeme

Following the break-up of his marriage, Richard Hunter finds work as a primary school teacher in the village of Durleston, but his heart doesn’t really seem to be in it – the main thing that seems to keep him going is his infatuation with the school’s headmistress. Shunning social contact, he goes for long walks in Durleston Wood, where he comes across a woman who appears to be kept a prisoner in a remote cottage. Should he help her escape? An impressive and intriguing psychological novel, whose undercurrent of violence/threat and sexual tension reminded me of some of Ian McEwan’s work. Click on the cover image to go to a download page. READ FULL REVIEW.

Ledman Pickup by Tom Lichtenberg

In a world of personal devices, how personal is too personal? Zoey Bridges makes her living testing gadgets – but on this occasion, the gadget she’s been sent doesn’t seem to do anything. She sends it back, only to discover (to her horror) that it’s got lost in transit. She and the gizmo’s obsessively secretive designers then try to track it down - but it seems to have developed a mind of its own. Aside from the gadget (and one or two other details), the world of the story is recognisably our own – and there is some enjoyable satire of high-powered corporate types and their more lowly minions. A well written, entertaining and thought-provoking story – well worth a read even if sci-fi is not usually your thing. READ FULL REVIEW. Click on the cover image to go to a download page.

Falling by Bernard Fancher

A short story about the murder of a child, but instead of the conventional “who dunnit”, the focus is on the emotions of the detective who dealt with the case. The facts of the murder and the subsequent investigation are conveyed briefly, leaving most of the detail to your imagination – but the emotional impact is clear from the effect it has on the central character. The result (for this reader at least) is that you end up reconstructing aspects of the more conventional “who dunnit?” narrative in your head - so that by the time you’ve finished, the overall impact is closer to what you’d get from reading a much longer piece of work. Click on the cover image to go to a download page. I also enjoyed “The End of the Circus” by the same author. Although very different in subject matter, it too focusses on the transient nature of existence as a source of both intense pleasure “in the moment” and sorrow or regret once that moment has gone.

 

Besserwisser by Steve Anderson

It’s easily done, isn’t it? One beer too many at the Munich Oktoberfest and somehow it becomes impossible to resist pretending that you’re a Fulbright scholar on the trail of sensational revelations about Hitler in the Munich archives. One thing leads to another and before you know it, you’ve also managed to attract (a) an enigmatic new girlfriend who seems, well, just a bit too good for you; and (b) the attention of some sinister but slightly inept neo-Nazi types. Well, this is what happens to our hero, Gordy, in this excellent comic novel from Steve Anderson. I particularly liked the deadpan humour but the author also manages to make Gordy sufficiently likeable (despite his many, many faults) that you care what happens to him – which is not always a given in fiction of this type. READ FULL REVIEW. Click on the cover image to link to a download page. UPDATE 1.2017 - sadly this book is no longer available on Smashwords or even as a paid-for download.

Stories for Airports by Judy b

The title of this excellent series of short stories recalls Brian Eno’s “Music for Airports”; the stories are all about finding something unusual or out of the ordinary in the “background muzak” of everyday life that we would normally ignore. Taken as a whole, the collection reminded me somewhat of “Short Cuts” (the Robert Altman film rather than the Raymond Carver stories on which it was based); I had a similar “privileged” sense of dipping in and out of the everyday lives of a whole series of unconnected characters across the same city. This gave the book an unusual sense of coherence (despite the impressive diversity of styles and subject matter on display in the individual stories). An undiscovered Smashwords gem. READ FULL REVIEW. Click on the cover image to link to a download page.

Coming Home by Chris Gallagher

“Coming Home”, which has already had several five star reviews on Smashwords, is a full-length novel about Aidan Pennock’s return to the Yorkshire village where he grew up, following many years in the army. It depicts the impact of his return on his three closest childhood friends, Brax, Jazz and Callie, who have all remained in the area. Although the novel is primarily character-driven (rather than plot-driven), the author never loses sight of the need to entertain – lively dialogue and an occasionally racy plot keep things ticking along nicely towards a striking – and surprising - final scene. READ FULL REVIEW. UPDATE 12.2012: this book is no longer free - it's only available via Amazon but you can sample the first chapter here.

Sonny's Guerrillas by Matthew Asprey

This novella about making an indie movie reminded me of a cross between “Hearts of Darkness” (a documentary about one or two, er, minor difficulties encountered by Francis Ford Coppola during the making of the film “Apocalypse Now”) and “The Beach” by Alex Garland (“Lord of the Flies” for the backpacker generation) - but with the action shifted from south-east Asia to Greece during the first throes of the financial crisis. It’s well written and sharply observed, with a very distinctive narrative voice. READ FULL REVIEW. Click on the cover image to link to a download page. UPDATE 11.2013: this book is no longer free, although you can sample the first 15% on Smashwords.

Want more recommendations?

Much as I might like to believe that I possess an absolute monopoly on good taste when it comes to free fiction, that seems unlikely to be the case. And there is a lot of stuff out there - far more than any one person can possibly review. So here are some more sites which contain recommendations for fiction by indie authors (at least some of which is free):

There are plenty of general book review sites which I could (potentially) add to this list, but I am trying to confine it to ones which have a high proportion of reviews of free fiction by indie authors. If you're aware of any sites or blogs which you think could usefully be added to the list (there must be some!), please let me know at paulsamael@gmail.com.


Web Fiction Guide

Web Fiction Guide is an interesting site with reviews (and links to) a wide range of free fiction by indie authors. However, it has chosen to focus on web-based books i.e. if the author is only making their work available as an ebook and/or in PDF (rather than a purely web-based format), they're not interested (which is a shame in my view, as I much prefer to read stuff on an e-reader - and I suspect I am not alone in that). That said, it may well be that some of the authors they've reviewed make their material available in a variety of formats, not just the ones that happen to tick WFG's boxes.  Update 2.2021:  WFG has indicated that it is now closed for new submissions, although it points you towards a related site called topwebfiction.  It'll be a shame if WFG closes down completely because the latter includes quite helpful editorial and user-contributed reviews, whereas topwebfiction doesn't.  As for other similar sites focussing on web fiction, there's also Muse's Success, which still seems to be running (it accepted a listing of the web version of my own novel in late 2020 and seems to be continuing to list new material).  But I'm not aware of any others.