Raymond Birdsell

Rats are my all time worst fear and I almost skipped over this one because of it. I am so glad I did not though! What a rollercoaster of humor this was! I had to feel for the poor family and what they went through, but it's nice to know the author has a sense of humor and can look back on it and laugh-because it really is just too funny for him not have have shared with us readers. Quick, easy read that will have you scratching your head and wondering exactly how smart rats actually are. I now look under my bed for rats, not the boogyman!… (plus d'informations)

The premise of Ratticus: A True Tale from Critter Corner was admittedly a little strange, it is purely the true tale of one family’s experience of a rat problem in their home, and would’ve been blog-fodder in the days before self-publishing. Still I gave it a go.

Despite my scepticism Ratticus is actually an amusing and fast paced read. The frustration of the householders is palatable, especially when trying to find the mysterious creature that was destroying their white goods. The author’s vivid description gives an hilarious mental-picture of all out war between him and the rat. At times it felt more like fiction than non-fiction, not a bad thing at all.

I like the idea of a blog providing extras to the book, something that has been suggested for several years in order to add value to e-books. In this case however I do not feel the minimal blog content actually adds to the account, and could have benefited by being linked to certain events/pages in the book.

Overall, whilst short (a ten minute read at most), it is a hilarious and well written account. It may be lacking real information (for a non-fiction book) or a complex plot (as a piece of fiction) but this does not affect the enjoyment for the reader, as long as the reader does not expect too much.… (plus d'informations)