Plot Fiction like the Masters is a compelling idea but lacks execution. Through the written works of Ian Fleming, Jane Austen, and Evelyn Waugh, Terry Richard Bazes outlines how writers can construct better plots through active reading.

Bazes walks the reader through the artistry of the plots of Dr. No, Pride and Prejudice, and A Handful of Dust and how each succeeds as a story.

Where Bazes succeeds is in uncovering concrete examples of proven plot tactics. Not sure this needed to be an entire book, though.

Bazes gives each of his book examples its own chapter. It makes sense from a formatting perspective but results in redundancy--even considering how different the three books and authors are when compared on the surface.

At slightly more than 100 pages, it is a quick, easy read that may spark an idea or two for would-be fiction writers. That is really all you can expect from a venture such as that. In that, it delivers.