Due to site problems - A reposted critique request.

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Alcatraz

Decent Imagination
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Aug 28, 2006
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Kilmarnock, Scotland, UK.
Before I copy the body of text onto this site to be critiqued, I want to make you aware that there is some 'baby-swearing' included.

There is a possibility that this sites filters may kick in. If they do, fine.

If not, may I make you awere that there are two uses of F.

If you do not wish to read further, I respect that, however as an adult who writes I need my characters to be as 'real' as possible, and I feel that I have been responsible enough to self-edit.

So without further ado.

PART 1.

Death always seems to find a way of sneaking up and biting you on the arse at the most inopportune moments, and when she does bite it’s not usually the most pleasant or pain free of experiences.

Looking at the body propped against the hedgerow, my belief in Death being one of the most twisted, sickest entities in existence was firmly reinforced.

“That doesn’t look very pretty, Inspector Hatton.” I said nodding towards the dead body, its head twisted a full one hundred and eighty degrees, and throat ripped wide open.

Leonard ‘Lenny’ Hatton, an enigma of a police officer. Scruffy and sarcastic in equal measures, but probably, and don’t dare tell him I said this, the best detective I have ever met. That’s not to say that I like the guy. As a matter of fact I can’t stand the sight of the fat, bald piece of ****e, and I’m pretty sure that I’m never going to be on his Christmas card list either, but, hey, let’s give credit where it’s due.

I’m equally positive, that given half the chance, he would love have me locked up in the most secure nut house in the land if he had is way.

You see, Detective Inspector Hatton doesn’t approve of my area of expertise. My investigations have a knack of crossing over into his cases, and given the nature of my line of work, this pisses him off no end. On top of that D.I Hatton is a sceptic and doesn’t believe in my ‘talents’ as I like to call them, despite the evidence of his own eyes over the years.

“Oh joy. To what do I owe this pleasure, Quinn?” he asked sardonically.

“Him.” I replied pointing towards the dead body. “Do you mind if I have a peek?” I asked rhetorically as I moved to have a better look.

“Yes I flippin’ well do mind.” Hatton said as he did his best to run (or was that wobble?) after me, “You’ve no bloody right to be shifting around my crime scene, so piss off, and let me do my job.”

Technically, Hatton was correct. I didn’t have any official authorisation to be at this crime scene, but considering the fact that I knew that the victim had his neck broken and throat ripped out by a feral vampire, I felt that it may well be within my remit to at least have a wee nosey around.


How did I know it was a feral vampire who ripped and gorged on the victim?

Well, that’s the talent that D.I Hatton doesn’t approve of.

My name is Tobias Quinn and I’m a Grigori. A Watcher. It’s my job to make sure that the Hidden World of Twilight and the Real World don’t cross over, and if they do, it’s as limited exposure as possible.

It’s a difficult job considering that there are only a handful of Grigori the world over, but we’re lucky here in Old Blighty because we have me, and I’m an agent of the British Security Service. An operative of the rather officially titled Special Operations Taskforce. Our remit is to investigate and contain supernatural and paranormal phenomenon within the UK, and if necessary, overseas. We are, if you excuse the rather deliberate pun, Spooks. It’s a nice, symbiotic relationship. I get to do the job I was born into, and the government pays the bills. Sorted!

Anyway, I sensed that a feral had entered the city a couple of nights earlier, although I had no way of tracking its erratic progress through the estates and suburbs.

Then I caught a glimpse…literally.

I couldn’t sleep that night. Images of violence flooded my dream, which in itself wasn’t anything unusual given the nature of my talents, yet I felt compelled to awaken, climb out of bed, and open my curtains. Looking out onto the street I saw the feral; his features were almost canine as he sniffed the air. I don’t know if he sensed some kind of preternatural link, because I’m positive he turned to look directly towards my apartment window before merging into the darkness.

I quickly pulled on a pair of jeans, trainers, a tee-shirt, and ran down stairs. If I could maintain the link with the feral, perhaps I could stop it embarking on a rampage of carnage.

Now for your average SOT operative, this wouldn’t be the wisest course of action, however, and at the risk of sounding egotistical, I’m not your average SOT operative. I am a Grigori, the human embodiment of Angelic power on Earth, and more than a match for your average feral vampire.

As I raced down the stairs and onto the street, I realised something was wrong. I had lost the feral into the night. This wasn’t right. A feral vampire only retains the smallest element of the person it was before it was ‘Turned’, and therefore shouldn’t be able to build a block against an elementary psychic, let alone a Grigori. Even the oldest and most powerful Nascosto and Stirgoi vampires would have difficulty in blocking one of my psychic traces.

All was not lost, as I had picked up a trail, back from where the feral had last fed. It was close, only a matter of streets away. I needed official sanction on this case, so my charging around to the ‘crime scene’ wouldn’t be the most appropriate action to take.

I returned to my apartment, and made the call into the office. Dawn would be breaking soon, and because all vampires, regardless of breed or clan, become catatonic during daylight hours, I felt it more prudent to investigate the killing, rather than continue hunting the feral.

I grabbed my leather biker jacket and headed out to follow back on the trail of the feral.

The uniforms were already there when I arrived, and Hatton was rolling out his car with his CID flunky, Detective Constable Nick Morton in tow.

They were quick.
“I said, piss off, Quinn and let me do my job,” growled Hatton, becoming more aggressive, “I don’t want you buggering anything up.”

“Listen to me, you fat twat. You haven’t a clue what you’re dealing with here. In two minutes you’re going to get a call from your DCI ordering you to hand this case over to us, and lend us your every support,” I snapped back at Hatton, “So tell Sherlock over there to go and fetch me a cup of tea so I can get on with my investigation.” I said pointing at Morton, bluffing my authority.

As I said, I had no official sanction to be at this ‘crime scene’ but hopefully the call that I had made to the office would give me the authority I required to be there.

Looking at the body, something caught my attention. The clothing the victim was wearing.

“You’re full of ****e, Quinn. There’s nothing here that warrants Security Service involvement, let alone the ‘Spook Squad’.” Hatton said.

If this hadn’t been a possible SOT investigation I would have agreed, and let our CID colleagues in the Met handle the case.

Even if a feral vampire had not been the killer, the clothing of the victim took this out of the hands of the local CID.

“Inspector Hatton. I think that you’ll find that given the attire of the victim, this investigation falls firmly in the remit of the Security Service.” I said softening my voice.

“What are you doing?” Hatton asked as I placed my hand into the inside pocket of the victim.

“This, Inspector Hatton, is the body of US Naval Captain, Nathan Morrow. Attached to the American Embassy.” I replied, reading from the identification card in the wallet.

I could see the colour drain from Hatton’s face as he replied the only way he knew how.

“Oh, bollocks.”
 
PART 2.

To say my boss, Jim Pryce, is one of the most single minded men I have ever known would be a gross understatement.

“You can’t do this, boss.” I offered with more than a hint of authority.

“Watch me.” He growled in his gruff Belfast accent as he picked up the receiver of his phone. Only the brave disagreed with Jim Pryce in the sanctity of his own, rather dated, office, and lived to pick up their next pay cheque.

“But, boss. What about the Americans?” I asked, knowing that I was losing the argument.

Of course I could have made him agree with me, but that would have been a gross misuse of my abilities, and besides, despite him being a control freak with boundary issues regarding his lack of anger management skills, I quite like the guy.

“Tobias, you know as well as I do, that nine times out of ten, the progeny of a feral is also a feral, and believe me, having one of those bastards lose in my city is bad enough. I’m not risking a pandemic.”

I could understand his point, however the fact was, the Americans weren’t going to be very happy to discover that a US Naval officer with diplomatic accreditation had his veins pumped full of silver or was decapitated, just so we could make sure that Captain Morrow didn’t Turn and become another feral vampire.

I resigned myself to the fact that the possible threat Captain Morrow possessed had to be neutralised.

“OK then, boss. So why not put him in the vault?” I said as I tried to come up with a diplomatic solution, “Come sundown, should the good Captain join the ranks of the undead, we blast him with all the UV we have at our disposal. That way if he doesn’t Turn then the Americans have a complete body to take charge of.”

Pryce mulled the suggestion over in his mind. Slowly he smiled. He tapped his forefinger on his desk and pointed at me. “I knew there was a reason I hired you, Tobias.”

Putting the receiver to his ear he pressed a red button on his rather antiquated phone. It has been suggested by others that Pryce’s office exists in different timeline to the rest of the SOT, and that it’s permanently stuck in 1974. Personally I think that Pryce is stuck in 1974. I’m convinced he thinks he’s the real Jack Regan.

“Hello, Jonesey?” Pryce greeted the person at the other end of the line, “Take Captain Morrow down to the vault. If the ******* so much as farts at sundown, you have my permission to UV and crispy fry his Yankee arse. Oh and by the way, tell your Missus, that banana loaf she made was bloody fantastic, and ask her if she could make me up a few more. Thanks mate.”

Only in the SOT could you have a conversation where you went from giving an order to neutralise a potential feral vampire to the niceties of banana loaves.

“So,” started Pryce as he looked at me, “Tell me how my star player missed a feral vampire entering into my patch?”

It was true, as soon as the feral entered the city, I should have been able to locate and destroy it. However, as I said earlier, it was as though it was being shielded. There is no way on Earth that a feral should have that kind of ability. After all, ferals are nothing more than demonic parasites that use their host to fulfil their everlasting appetite for human blood.

“There’s something more to this than a random attack by a feral, boss” I replied. “Someone or something was shielding the feral, and whoever it was didn’t want us to be able to trace it, or them.”

Pryce ran his fingers through his shaggy mane of blond hair and shook his head.

“Are you saying that you think someone is controlling this *******, and using it as a weapon?” Pryce asked.

“It’s a possibility, boss. From what I picked up at the crime scene, there were at least three other civilians who had passed right in front of the feral minutes before it killed Captain Morrow. From what I could sense, it was almost as though it was waiting specifically for its prey, and it knew exactly who its prey was.” I answered.

“****!” Pryce bellowed as he slammed his hand on his desk. “To use a feral as a WMD on my patch is not on. I want you to do whatever juju it is you use, Tobias and find the ******* that’s behind this and neutralise their evil arse. You are sanctioned to use whatever force you deem to be necessary.”

I nodded my understanding.

“Well what are you waiting for?” Pryce yelled as he again slammed his hand of the desk.

I stood and exited his office. As I closed the door I heard him smash a mug against the wall. That was at least the fourth mug in as many days.

Pryce was correct when he said that it ‘wasn’t on’ to use a feral as a weapon, but he didn’t know the half of it.

As most of you know, there are two opposing forces in the universe. Good and Evil. Yin and Yang. Positive and Negative. Order and Chaos. Call them what you will, but many millennia ago a Détente was agreed with various treaties and rules put in place. One rule was that the uncontrollable races could not be used as weapons against humanity. Ferals, along with various different Faerie races such as Goblins and Trolls fell into this category.

If someone or something was using a feral as a weapon, then they had fired the first shots in what could end up becoming ‘The War’.

Oh yes, I do mean Armageddon, the Apocalypse, End of Days. You can call what you want, but this is why the Grigori exist. We are to prevent the end of the world, because what happens here in the Real World affects The Hidden World, and gods forbid anything happens to Twilight, Heaven or Hell.

I exited the lift in the vast underground garage reserved for SOT operatives and support staff. As I approached my car I felt a presence, watching; no studying me. I reached to my hip and drew my Walther P99 from its holster.

Using my abilities I reached out. Show yourself. I psychically commanded my stalker.

“Please put your pea shooter away, Tobias,” requested the tall, slender man stepping out from the shadows.

“Byron,” I sneered, “How the hell did you manage to worm your way past our defences?”

“Exactly, so,” he retorted, his sneer oozing malice, “And it’s ‘My Lord’ or ‘Your Lordship’”

“Piss off, Byron.” I said returning my pistol to its holster.

Lord Byron Holmes, the Old School upper class snob, or so he would have everyone believe, although his true origins and history are clouded by half-truths and rumour. What was in no doubt was the fact, that like me, Byron is a Grigori. Except that where my abilities are a gift from the Penthouse, his emanate from below the Basement if you catch my drift.

Byron is my counterpart. His role is also to enforce the Détente, but he maintains the status quo on behalf of The Fallen and due to his psychotic, narcissistic nature, he isn’t averse to using rather distasteful methods to do so.

“It seems we have a slight problem, Tobias, in relation to the unfortunate demise of poor Captain Morrow.”

He dabbed his handkerchief against the corner of his eye in mock sorrow, and smiled. Gods, I would love to crack him on his long, hawkish nose, but I’m sure that there is a clause in our job descriptions which would claim such an act to be a breach of the Détente. So, for now at least, I had to put up with the snobbish prat.

Instead I walked up close to Byron, face to face, and smiled.

“So tell me then, Byron, which one of your twisted, psycho friends controls the feral, so I can neutralise them and put this case to bed early?”

Byron stepped back from me with a look of disgust and utter contempt.

“You really are a disgusting, uncouth little man, Tobias. However, as you know, in order to avert The War, we Grigori of The Fallen adhere to exactly the same Detente as you. We will not start The War, but we will end it.”

It was worth a try. The Fallen want to control all Creation and all its Realities, but they’re too chicken **** to start The War themselves, so I had no reason to disbelieve what Byron was saying. This brought me back to my original problem. Who, or what, would be enough of a nutcase as to try and orchestrate events so as The Eternal and The Fallen go to war, and why was Captain Morrow so important?

I pondered this question over and over in my head.

“Byron. Do you know where to find Reverend Bob these days?” I asked.

“I’m afraid I haven’t seen the Lupine half-breed since he intervened in negotiations to end the Vampire Wars between The Stirgoi and The Nascosto. Why?”

Reverend Bob was an expert in all things related to Vampires, which was quite ironic given the fact that he was a Werewolf, but unlike many of his peers he wasn’t cursed with this condition, he was one of the rare breed who were born with it as a result of one of his ancestors being cursed prior to having children.

Curses are like genes, they can lie dormant for generations, and then, poof, and you’re a Werewolf.

He was ‘happy’ with his condition, unlike his cursed brethren; therefore, unlike many Werewolves when human, he was less melancholic and more willing to help others.

“No one in either this World or Twilight knows more about the Vampire races than Reverend Bob. Perhaps his insight would be valuable in ascertaining who, or what controls the feral. If he can help, then it may help us prevent the start of The War.”

Byron smiled gleefully. I wondered what the pompous twit had to grin about, and then I realised my mistake. I had said ‘help us prevent....’

“So, Tobias. Do I take it that you require my assistance in solving this problem?” Byron asked.

I rubbed my fingers against my forehead. I could feel a migraine coming on.

“Sure,” I answered, although I could feel myself regretting having agreed to this almost instantly, “Why not?”

“Splendid. After all you know what they said in Sodom and Gomorrah, ‘Two heads are better than one.’”
 
My name is Tobias Quinn and I’m a Grigori. A Watcher. It’s my job to make sure that the Hidden World of Twilight and the Real World don’t cross over, and if they do, it’s as limited exposure as possible.

It’s a difficult job considering that there are only a handful of Grigori the world over, but we’re lucky here in Old Blighty because we have me, and I’m an agent of the British Security Service. An operative of the rather officially titled Special Operations Taskforce. Our remit is to investigate and contain supernatural and paranormal phenomenon within the UK, and if necessary, overseas. We are, if you excuse the rather deliberate pun, Spooks. It’s a nice, symbiotic relationship. I get to do the job I was born into, and the government pays the bills. Sorted!

Oversees eh? How about underground, or in the dark world where no normal people do venture in their sane moments?

It's good. Check your fullstops. And FYI I would get this book, for reason of its dark world, and gritty characters. Keep your style and finish it.
 
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I remember liking this the first time through, and if I didn't comment, I should have.

I'm can't-keep-my-eyes-focused sleepy, but I was checking on the comment status of my Carnival piece and yours caught my eye again and made me smile. It also reminded me of a piece I'd tossed around for a while, but never took very far that's a simple rehashing of standard race types that focuses on character driven storylines. Also vampires and elves, OooOoo.

I'll be back another time, I'm sure, to give a more detailed opinion, but it made me smile a lot, and I like Quinn.
 
I remember liking this the first time through, and if I didn't comment, I should have.

I'm can't-keep-my-eyes-focused sleepy, but I was checking on the comment status of my Carnival piece and yours caught my eye again and made me smile. It also reminded me of a piece I'd tossed around for a while, but never took very far that's a simple rehashing of standard race types that focuses on character driven storylines. Also vampires and elves, OooOoo.

I'll be back another time, I'm sure, to give a more detailed opinion, but it made me smile a lot, and I like Quinn.

Thank'. I like Quinn too.

I look forward to your more detailed crit.

Thanks again.
 
Read it, liked it. Haven't got anything more to say than that really. The way the narrator talks direct to the reader sometimes is unusual, but I came to like the chattiness.

Just one quibble - you quite often mis-punctuate in dialogue. Three examples from near the front:

“That doesn’t look very pretty, Inspector Hatton.” I said nodding towards the dead body

“Him.” I replied pointing towards the dead body.

“Yes I flippin’ well do mind.” Hatton said

In all these cases (and there are others), the full-stop at the end of the speech should be a comma. (If you imagine it without the quote marks, it's one sentence.)
 
Strange that I missed this. It's brilliant!
'nuff said. :)

- Dreir -
 
It's late and I didn't read through it all.

Having said that, I do need to point out a few things that I saw. One of them is a firm technical detail, the easy kind. The others are subjective as they are only my opinion.

The technical one first.

When writing dialogue commas always go at the end of a sentence inside quotation marks unless no dialogue attribution follows it.

"Yo," I said.

"What up!" he said. <-- This is an important example because even if an exclamation point or a question mark ends the dialogue the sentence isn't officially over until you put the dialogue attribution or decide to not attribute it at all.

"You're lying," I said, breathless and growing angrier every second.

That's one complete sentence.

So when you do things like -- "Hey, can I have a beer." I said.

That's two complete sentences and incorrect.

However, if you leave off the attribution altogether, then you complete the sentence inside the quotation marks.

"I liked it."

That's correct.

So above when they said watch your full stops, that's probably what they meant.

On to the subjective, opinion things, I liked what I read, but some stuff explains itself and upon a reread you'll probably realize they aren't necessary.

You see, Detective Inspector Hatton doesn’t approve of my area of expertise. My investigations have a knack of crossing over into his cases, and given the nature of my line of work, this pisses him off no end. On top of that D.I Hatton is a sceptic and doesn’t believe in my ‘talents’ as I like to call them, despite the evidence of his own eyes over the years.
In my opinion, my humble opinion, most of that can be scrapped as it is sufficiently explained very soon after. Whether through dialogue or short bits of descriptive narration, we learn that anyway. Thus, it comes as redundant to me or rather it makes the other parts redundant because it was already explained to me.

“Oh joy. To what do I owe this pleasure, Quinn?” he asked sardonically.
I'm not a fan of adverbial dialogue attribution. Let me say that up front. So this is a very personal preference. In any book, in any short story, in anything I read ever, it always annoys me. I cut them viciously from my own writing. I'll tell you why and maybe you'll agree, but at least give it a thought.

Given the bit of dialogue from the inspector, it comes across as sarcastic on its own, doesn't it?

If you agree, nix the adverb.

To me, and most won't agree, he said, she said, Bill said, Linda said, or none at all if we're clear on the speaker, is best to speed the story along. Most of us can gauge whether something is sarcastic, mean, witty, rhetorical, etc., without an author telling us.

That's just me though.

It's late and I wanted to offer up a bit of advice before I went to bed. I liked what I read. I'm going to read the rest tomorrow providing work doesn't try to hold me hostage again.

Keep up the hard work,
Kyle
 
Just catching up, and wanted to say thank you for the critiques. All of what has been suggested has been taken onboard, and I'm going back to cast a critical eye over the WIP and see what I can do to make things flow a liilte easier.

I've ammended the Primary 7 grammar errors (Doh!!), and thanks to those who picked up on them.

Thanks again guys, and gals.
 
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