The Last Simple is free to download on Amazon

My latest promotion is the parody 'The Last Simple', written a long time ago, in 2011.  I had read most of the Dan Brown novels published up to that date and had enjoyed them, up to a point.  Dan has a method of writing that keeps the story moving and gives the impression that much of the storyline is well researched.  However, in line with most novels, you only have to stray into your own sphere of knowledge and specialism to realise that the author is winging it a little.

That's not a criticism, by the way.  We all do it, when we have to write about things we have limited experience of.  For me the warning bells sound when authors start writing about aircraft, and how they fly.  I've spent enough time working around fixed and rotary winged aircraft to know when someone is making assumptions, based no doubt on snatched views of a flight deck and scenes from movies.  I'm sure practically every reader with specialist knowledge cringes with  every book they read and film they watch, it's just that we all cringe in different parts.

Anyway, the winging was one thing. The trend towards ever shorter chapters was another.  I get it, write short, punchy chapters and readers can park the book after two stops on the subway, the perfect commuting aide.  Dan, or more probably his publisher, took this to a new level.  To me a chapter is a self contained unit.  Sometimes it can contain several perspectives but there should be some form of unity from start to end of the chapter.  Many of Dan's chapters ended in the middle of a subject and the next chapter picked right up where the previous one had ended.  That's a very artificial way of breaking a story up and to me it jarred, however after the Da Vinci Code became an international best seller the technique appears to have become legitimised.

So The Last Simple was born.  In part it is a parody of several of Dan's novels - if you've read any of his books you should be able to spot most of them fairly easily.  But it has it's own life as well and is pretty tongue in cheek.  For starters, the characters in the book know they are characters in a book.  In the case of Bradford, the lead character, he knows he's the lead in a third rate parody of a Dan Brown novel, but his ambition is to be one of Dan's lead characters.  The trouble is, he doesn't know if he has to dumb up or down for the gig.

There is a lot of wordplay, puns and silly gags running through the book and none of these are meant to reflect on Dan Brown.  I tried to cram in as many silly jokes as I could on every page. Some will make you groan, hopefull many will make you smile.

The promotion is time limited and finishes before the next weekend, probably Friday morning UK time.  Of course, if you have access to Kindle Unlimited then the book is free to download any time you choose.  For those stumbling across this blog entry too late, the book is reasonably priced anyway.