Official Review: The Coal'd War by James Alan Thompson

[ladycraic]

I'm not interested in spy novels and the plot of this story doesn't appeal to me. Hence, I will not be reading this novel. In addition, I saw quite a few of the mentioned formatting errors and grammatical errors. While that didn't necessarily influence my decision, it didn't work in the book's favor.

[[Valerie Allen]]

Sorry! I'm not entirely drawn in by the free sample pages, review and spoiler alerts! And, while "The Coal'd War", with an attractive book cover takes a very slow start (dragged on), the idea of treachery and salvation intrigues me, but the fictional context of this criminal, thriller, and mystery: foreign governmental, spy tale is just not for me; therefore, I do not foresee me reading on pass this point. Best wishes to the author on the #BOTD

[kfwilson6]

I find this to be a boring topic for a plot. I have to agree that the beginning is very slow. There are a lot of characters introduced in the first chapter which did not so anything to draw me in. I also found the formatting frustrating. The e-version definitely needs some work.

[tamdlyte]

A super twisty political double crossing spy thriller with a nifty title! Coal'd War = Cold War... Interesting how the author is able to use a whole industry to try to take down a country.

[Sese98]

The book the coal'd War by James Alan Thompson is really epic. The plot twist is really amazing and the various characters in the book playing their different roles bring out the true meaning of the book. Kudos! The book is really amazing to read over and over again.

[B0oK+ev]

The Coal'd War by James Alan Thompson. I enjoyed the review of this book. Initially the title intrigued me as being a clever use of words. The premise of Russia plotting to make England a communist state is actually believable. This book might be worth a go.

[micoleon13]

Though this sounds like an interesting spot novel for many people, it just doesn't grab my attention, add to that the punctuation errors and I don't think this is a book for me. Thanks for the review

[dhomespot]

I do not usually like spy novels, but you make this one seem very interesting. Thank you for a great review.

[R-g-R]

I agree that this book starts slowly. Actually, the Prologue seemed filled with menace and tension, but this was quickly dispelled as the order was given simply for a meeting to be held. The moments I enjoyed, in the first few chapters, where when the socialist visitors experienced a local store in the West, and are shocked at the easy availability of food and other goods, as well as the building of an unexpected friendship. The story then unfortunately becomes bogged down in details that I wanted to skim through, in order to find more action. There was so much detail that I began to wonder if perhaps the book was a non-fiction account of English coal mines and unions, but this did not seem to match the prologue.
After moving from the sample to the official review, I discovered that the book is indeed a work of fiction, to which I suggest further editing to ensure readers reach the promised action thriller. There were also noticeable grammatical and punctuation errors which need correcting.

[Jude Austin]

Thanks for the review. Unfortunately I read the sample pages and decided the pacing and number of errors meant this wasn't one for me, so I'll pass on the full thing, but it's interesting to read exactly what kind of story it was.

[reader44ever]

Great review! I don't think I'll read this book. You wrote, "The formatting in this [Kindle] version leaves a lot to be desired. There are half blank pages, paragraph indents in the middle of sentences, some parts were right justified, etc. All this made it challenge to read. Add to that some punctuation mistakes . . ."

The paragraph indents in the middle of sentences and punctuation mistakes jumped out at me in reading the sample. Also, the author failed to maintain consistency in the spelling of Gennardy's last name.

I'm afraid that these sorts of errors are such a major pet peeve of mine that I wasn't able to finish reading the sample. So this book is sadly not for me.

[kemp1kor]

The book sounds complex to begin with, and it seems to me that the formatting and grammatical errors would make it all the more difficult to get through. This one isn’t for me, but thanks for the review!

[Kalin Adi]

Russians trying to make England a communist state sounds quite rough but believable. I like how the author included diversity by introducing characters from different nationalities. I'm not into spy novels but I'm sure lovers of the genre may enjoy this one. Thanks for the review!

[MarisaRose]

I’m not a huge fan of spy thrillers, but I do think the diverse cast of characters from different countries makes this book more appealing than others in the genre. Thanks for the insightful review!

[melissy370]

I usually like spy books but this one has no suspense or drama to it. It seems from the review that it happens at some point but I have already lost interest. I was confused when Li was described as wearing trousers and a jumper. A jumper consists of pants and a top together. So not sure how she is wearing that and trousers.