Snow by Paul Kane

I really enjoyed reading the “praise for Paul Kane” at the start of this novelette, this is unusual as I find self-promotion a bit sickly, however I was intrigued by some of the names mentioned, high praise indeed and, as it turns out, all warranted.

PK grabbed my attention with his introduction, I really do enjoy finding out how a story developed for an author, although the constant stream of name dropping had me rolling my eyes by the end.

PK is an excellent master of vivid description, he uses words beautifully to evoke the mental image of a scene. With his fast moving narrative, I was soon imbedded in the story.

Angela’s family background and history are swiftly and succinctly dealt with giving you just enough information to get a brief snapshot of her life and understand the dynamics, grinning at all the comparisons and links to the original fairy-tale.  The overall premise IS the story is Snow White. All the elements from the “original” are there but PK has brought them in to the modern world with a bang.

I loved Angela’s inner dialogue as it really pulled the story along and gave odd flashes of tongue in cheek humour.

PK was very clever in adding all the elements that were so central to the fairy tale and slotting them in so I barely noticed them until they slapped me upside the head and made me grin like an idiot.

There is just a splash of gruesome and horror as in all good fairy tales.

Overall, I really loved the way PK writes and will definitely be seeking out other titles by him to enjoy.

Snow