Readers React to Setting the Family Free

I’ve shared the published book reviews and the endorsements from such authors as Junot Díaz and Jacqueline Mitchard. What do regular readers have to say about Setting the Family Free?

With 19 ratings and reviews on GoodReads and an average score of 4.89 out of 5, and 5 reviews on Amazon with an average score of 5 out of 5, the reviews are enough to make any author purr.

“It’s a compelling story told by a skillful, adventurous writer.”

“His unique writing style is addictive.”

“This book had me hooked from page one.’

“The strength lies not just in the story, but in the voice and in the lush, everyday details that make the characters real people.”

Read more—or leave your own review!

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50094058-setting-the-family-free?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=WoJFYMZgBn&rank=1

Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Setting-Family-Free-Eric-Goodman-ebook/dp/B07T6DN458/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Something So Right about Armchair Travel

Feeling walled in by the lack of travel opportunities? 

In 1972, nearly 50 years ago, Paul Simon recorded "Something So Right." The song came to mind this morning as I share a travel story.

       They've got a wall in China

       It's a thousand miles long

       To keep out the foreigners

       They made it strong
       I've got a wall around me
       You can't even see
       It took a little time
       To get to me

Of course, Simon is writing about something more personal than the Great Wall of China. But with Trump's talk of building walls, our situation of being walled into isolation by the pandemic, my former travel to the Great Wall of China, and my travel story about that visit, along with the forthcoming release of my thriller with a scene set there, The Color of Jadeite, something sounds right about "Something So Right" being in my head.

Take a walk on the wall with me. Read my story, "World's Greatest Wall," in Go World Travel.

https://www.goworldtravel.com/great-wall-china/

Goodman has a Good Ear for this Sort of Thing

The Internet Review of Books published a review of Setting the Family Free. The reviewer is a former journalist and author of a Boston art guide.

I share the good, I share the bad, I share them both and there you have ... reality. Readers of Writeful know that I don’t share only the good reviews. When the rare negative review rears its head, I share it. Although the reviewer did have some good things to say, such as "Goodman has a good ear for this sort of thing," I would consider it a negative review.

The reviewer’s first quarrel with the book: how does a man open the doors and cut holes in the dozens of wire cages in a reasonable amount of time. My answer, assuming one is wanted: my character, like the real person it was inspired by, just took the time and did it. Why did the animals not attack him? Because they were used to spending time with him as he often got in their cages. They didn’t think to attack their owner or at least didn’t act upon it. They considered him their alpha, their family.

I was surprised when the reviewer mentioned a leopard killed a television reporter, which did not happen and made me wonder whether the review is based on a read or a scan. The leopard killed a female police officer; the reporter was elsewhere.

Marty Carlock summarizes her review by professing to be a connoisseur of good writing, which she cannot define: “As the quote goes, you know it when you see it.” She says she didn’t see it from Eric C. Goodman.

Whew. For a moment, I though she was talking about the writing of Eric D. Goodman.

You can read her full review of Setting the Family Free at The Internet Review of Books.

http://internetreviewofbooks.blogspot.com/2019/12/setting-family-free.html

ArLiJo Features “Horseback”

The Arlington Literary Journal, known by regular reads as ArLiJo, has published my story, “Horseback” in issue 136.

“Horseback” is an excerpt and stand-alone story from my novel, Setting the Family Free.

Check out the story, and the full issue, with other fiction, poetry, and photography, at the link below.

http://www.arlijo.com

Steve Berry on Jadeite: A Tight, Taut, Terrific Thriller

Steve Berry knows a thing or two (or twenty) about adventure thrillers. He’s the New York Times bestselling author of 19 novels, including The Amber Room, The Romanov Prophecy, The Alexandria Link, and The Emperor’s Tomb. 

Some have compared his work to that of Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code, Inferno), centered on adventure quests and measured in thrills per page.

So to receive an endorsement from a thriller-novel master is like finding a long-lost treasure.

Steve Berry calls The Color of Jadeite “a tight, taut, terrific thriller.”

Learn more about Steve Berry and his work at www.SteveBerry.org.

Learn more about The Color of Jadeite at www.EricDGoodman.com/Jadeite.html.

Independence, Syndic Style

The July 4, 2020 edition of Syndic Literary Journal is all about the Independence Day. It includes my short story, “Flag in the Road.” You can read it, or listen to an emotional reading by Charles Rammelkamp!

Charles Rammelkamp has his own work in this issue of Syndic, as does Nitin Jagdish, Matt Horner, LeRoy Chatfield, and more!

Read and listen to the latest issue of Syndic Literary Journal.

http://www.syndicjournal.us/syndic-no-30-july-2020-table-of-contents/?fbclid=IwAR02d1k-zMgY43lP4hU8AZLCPFEPZoWieSA9k7XrtA9h6RE-LC65xdyokwc

Come With Me to Beijing with Baltimore Style

Before writing an adventure thriller set in China, I wrote travel stories about China. 

Learn about some of the exotic settings you'll encounter in The Color of Jadeite by visiting them in my published travel stories.

This one, on Imperial Beijing, was published in Baltimore Style Magazine.

https://baltimorestyle.com/crickets-and-dragons/