Customer Reviews

A Bad Day for Sorry: A Crime Novel

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Some men just don't know when to stop. Stella Hardesty had enough abuse from her husband, Ollie. She finally hit him with a wrench and removed the problem. Stella pleaded to self-defense and was set free.

Now, women who are at risk and don't know how to rid themselves from abusive situations, approach her as a problem solver.

Stella is a fifty year old woman whose mood is darkened with the effects of menopause. She owns an assortment of guns and tools that she puts to use, convincing heavy handed men that they had better smarten up and behave.

One woman who asks for her help is named Chrissy. She informs Stella that her husband, Roy Dean, has taken her son, Tucker. Chrissy has been abused in the past by Roy Dean and Stella had to give him a lesson in maners.

Stella attempts to trace Roy Dean's trail and finds that he was involved in illegal activities. In her attempt to learn more, Stella makes a tactical mistake and ends up hospitalized.

Chrissy arrives and becomes more forceful. She demands a more active role in searching for her son and so, the women begin working as a team.

Stella is a fresh voice in women's literature. The author's writing style is unique and persuasive. She must have enjoyed creating this overweight, menopausal, former abused woman as her central figure for the novel. Stella makes this reader think of Daisy Duke, from the Dukes of Hazzard, aged thirty years and gaining considerable weight before beginning her adventures.

Stella Hardesty is just your typical everyday woman...not! She works as sort of a patrol officer/bounty hunter. The only thing that makes her different is that she doesn't work with the law but makes her own rules. Kind of like the great John Wayne or Clint Eastwood.

Her favorite bird is the Raven. When some of her men need more convincing than others to turn their lives around, they end up on the receiving end of the Raven. You don't want to hear this Raven's tune.

When Stella learns that no for good husband Roy Dean has not only beat his wife but vanished with their two year old son, Tucker. Stella is after Roy Dean...like a mouse is after cheese. Stella learns that she is not the only one interested in Roy Dean. He has some very bad men after him as well.

A Bad Day for Sorry is Sophie Littlefield's debut novel. After reading this book, I can guarantee that she will be an instant bestseller. The two things I absolutely love about Stella is that she has a mouth like a truck driver's and she takes no bull from anyone. In fact she calls all the shots and if you don't like it...too bad.

A Bad Day for Sorry is a one sit read. I couldn't read this book fast enough. I almost forgot about doing anything else like eating or sleeping. Mrs. Littlefield has captured my attention. From now on, I will be reading all her books. Now if only I didn't have to wait so long for her next novel.

In Missouri, after several years of abuse from Ollie Hardesty and not believing in divorce, Stella took care of business. The widow opens up a sewing shop and could wear a T-shirt that says "I survived domestic violence the old fashion way by burying my spouse".

Stella also believes she needs to help battered women like she was as a form of redemption for putting up with Ollie much too long and as an avenging angel dispatching retribution on these bullies. Stella keeps an eye on Roy Dean Shaw, ex mean ass husband of gentle mom Chrissy Shaw. When Roy Dean abducts Chrissy's two years old son Tucker, Stella decides this punk needs a permanent lesson in how to treat a lady. She affirms her feelings about this abusive moron when she learns he is part of the stolen auto parts mob. Chrissy, upset with his taking her infant, has had enough. As Sheriff Goat Jones watches Stella with his dreamy eyes, she hopes it is for her body and not her activity as she leads Chrissy into hell as they team up to take care of Roy Dean and his car ring associates to rescue the baby from the mob.

This is an enjoyable jocular frolic as middle aged Stella takes on the world with no looking back as to whom she runs over when she does. She makes the tale work although the rest of the key cast members are fully drawn especially Chrissy and Roy Dean. The latter will soon learn what the wrath of a lioness is as she and her sidekick kick butt to rescue the infant. A BAD DAY FOR SORRY is a good day or three for readers.

Harriet Klausner

It's so much fun to read about feisty Stella Hardesty as she blazes a trail in a new occupation, reversing abusive relationships. A short visit from a woman with the proper tools (and reputation!) is usually all it takes to straighten things out, until a different sort of crime throws a wrench in Stella's plans.

This mystery novel is told with verve, and clearly portrays life in a part of Missouri that seems far away from the nearest Interstate highway.

Littlefield taps into a growing zeitgeist with her unique and entertaining voice. The moments of violence in this book are real, well-crafted, and full of suspense. I didn't guess the ending, and loved every minute of being wrong.

Can't wait for the next Sophie Littlefield book!

A little overweight, neglected dye-job, stumbling over her words in front of the cop she's got a crush on- Stella Hardesty is the most refreshing [...] I've come across in fiction since... Well, since I'm not sure when. There's no way not to root for her as she doles out [...] whuppin's to abusive husbands and boyfriends between hot flashes. The climactic finale does not disappoint, nor does it disrespect the strengths and limititations Sophie Littlefield has placed upon her heroine, which is equally refreshing. Can't wait for the next Stella Hardesty book!

I really, really wanted to like this book but I found it terribly disappointing.

The description sounded so promising: A feisty, take no prisoners middle-aged woman runs 2 businesses--a sewing/quilting shop, and an under-the-radar vigilante justice program to reform men who abuse their women. I was expecting a book that I wouldn't want to put down, it should have had it all--humor, action, suspense...

Instead I found myself struggling to finish. The characters were one-dimensional and cliched, and just not that believable. We're supposed to believe this self-made woman overcame her abusive past to become a kick-a** success yet she makes some really ridiculously stupid mistakes on more than one occasion. And the only way she survives her stupidity is that other characters make equally stupid mistakes. The writing was uninspired--some points were labored to death, others were glossed over, and the humor just didn't work for me.

I'm sorry to be such a downer, but I wish I'd waited for the paperback on this one....

I'm not usually a proponent for vigilante justice but I hate spousal and child abuse even more. I just kept rooting for Stella even though I didn't agree with her methods all the time. Sometimes people just need a good swift kick (or worse) before they'll sit up and pay attention.

I found it hard to believe this was Littlefield's debut novel. I thought the premise of the plot was very unique - sometimes a little unbelievable but that was okay. After all, this is fiction and the author gets to take us into the world she has created where anything is possible. I liked the characters and thought they were very well developed. I liked the cover art --great! There are not many books out there with middle-aged female protagonists and Stella is not a size 2 but is healthy and very strong; she has learned from the mistakes in her life and she still is making mistakes; she protects those who are weaker in the world and not always able to protect themselves; and she has a budding romantic interest who likes her just the way she is.

At first I was comparing Littlefield to Janet Evanovich but I think that takes away from Littlefield. She is a funny, irreverent new author whose book I truly enjoyed (although I do believe if you like Evanovich's brand of humor, you will enjoy this series also).

I wanted to like this book. The descriptions seemed like a great setup for meaty issues with a great character...unfortunately I found everything very superficial. Rather than digging into the meaty issues regarding abuse, victims and vengeance the story just skimmed the surface without digging into the issues. Could have been much more...but in the end it was just a passable read that never really hooked me. Plus the insanely long chapters were quite irritating.

BOOK CLUB REVIEW
A BAD DAY FOR SORRY
Sophie Littlefield

Our book club's book for April was A BAD DAY FOR SORRY, by Sophie Littlefield.

As always, we chose our book through a circuitous route. In the last year or so, we've read a bunch of books that were late in their particular series, and in many cases we were disappointed (for example, Louise Penny's THE CRUELEST MONTH and M.C. Beaton's THERE GOES THE BRIDE). So we decided we wanted to try the first book of a series, but because we like to try new things, we figured we should read something in a fairly new series. A bunch of used to like reading the Stephanie Plum books, and we remembered with fondness how enjoyable they were back in the day - so we decided to look for something similar. One of us had heard about A BAD DAY FOR SORRY, and we decided to go for it. Even the guys in the club were amenable.

A BAD DAY FOR SORRY is the story of Stella Hardesty, a tough-talking 50-ish sewing shop proprietor in Prosper, Missouri. Boring, you think? Well, she might be - if she didn't moonlight as a vigilante angel, helping to scare the bejesus out of men who abuse their wives or girlfriends. Stella, formerly an abused women herself (more details if you read the book), has developed an interesting arsenal of tools to motivate lousy men to reform their evil ways, and she's quite effective in her role. As the book opens, she's helping local dipstick Chrissy Shaw deal with an abusive husband, but things take a turn when Chrissy's son is kidnapped. Before you know it, Stella is on the trail of the little boy, dealing with underworld types and trying to stay alive, all while she nurses a crush on the local sheriff (Goat Jones) and pines for her daughter, Noelle, who isn't speaking to her.

All of us, with no exceptions, greatly enjoyed this book. The writing is stellar - fun, clever, but serious when it needs to be. Stella Hardesty herself could be a stock character, but in Littlefield's hands she has a nice level of complexity and contradiction. We all liked her a lot and were rooting for her. Of course, it's hard not to root for a woman who's made it her life's work to teach dirty dogs a lesson. It was interesting to see the reactions of the men in our club - a minority, of course, but we do have them. A couple of them said that guys like those in the book make them feel embarrassed to be men, and they know there's a lot of guys like that out there - and they were glad to see someone teaching them a much-needed lesson.

The plot itself is all right, not really spectacular and with few real surprises. The cover calls the book "a crime novel" rather than a mystery, which is accurate - there aren't too many surprises or turnabouts, just a linear plot that follows Stella's antics. The mob story has been done before, right down to the without-human-feeling drug dealers. And Stella's partner in crime, Chrissy Shaw, goes from mindless dip to competent right-hand woman a little too quickly. Still, these were small flaws, we decided, because we really couldn't put the book down, and most of us finished it in two or three sittings.

I for one am definitely looking forward to the next installment in this series.

I was very curious because of the blurbs I had read about this and wanted to see whether it was a cozy, a mystery, a thriller, another "homespun sleuth" -- or something in-between.

I was expecting an Evonovitch copy-cat and was happily surprised. I don't know exactly how to categorize it. I think Ms. Littlefield has developed her own cross-gender. I was not completely thrilled with the story itself, but I love her use of real-life dialog. She has a very refreshing approach to her writing.

She won't replace Parker, Patterson or Koontz on my bookshelf, but she's a refreshing addition.