Sandra Ruttan

In Review: Harvest of Ruins 2011/08/14

“Intricately layered, Harvest of Ruins works well on several levels. On the surface it’s a taut legal thriller that interweaves the proceedings currently unfolding in the courtroom with the events that brought McKenna to this point. On a deeper level, however, Harvest of Ruins is a psychological study of the devastating effects of guilt, both for actions taken as well as those not taken.

“Author Sandra Ruttan’s writing is some of the smoothest and most realistic you will ever come across. Everything from the setting to the dialog to the courtroom process rings true – and as an attorney I am hard on courtroom scenes, trust me – and the characters are so finely drawn it feels as though you’re reading about people who could be your friends or neighbors. Indeed, Harvest of Ruins will not only entertain you, it will cause you to take a lingering look at those around you, forcing you to wonder what may be going on with them just beneath the surface, waiting to boil over.”

- Elizabeth A. White, All-Purpose Monkey

Speedloader Review from The Big Issue 2011/07/11

SPEEDLOADER Edited by Sandra Ruttan & Brian Lindenmuth

(Snubnose Press, Kindle edition, £0.70)

Showcasing some fine noir writing, mostly from America, it’s a white-knuckle ride that takes the reader to some dark places. The overall standard is excellent, but the stand-
out stories from Matthew C Funk and Richard Thomas demonstrate what can be achieved with simple prose and a masterly use of tension. Real page-turning fiction that never resorts to cliché or stereotype.

Also: My post, The Fine Line Between Heeding Wisdom and Selling Out Creatively, is up at Do Some Damage.