Category: General Fiction/Literature Page 14 of 52

Abandon All Hope by Scott Spires: A Cynic and an Idealist Stumble Through Life

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On October 29, 2021

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

When I scheduled the A Few Quick Questions with…Scott Spires post and said, I’d get this post up “in a little bit”, I didn’t realize that a transformer was about to blow a couple of blocks away from me, making it pretty difficult to finish/proofread/schedule this post. At least it was the same day. 🙂

Abandon All Hope

Abandon All Hope

by Scott Spires

eARC, 214 pg.
Auctus Publishers, 2021

Read: October 13-15, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

What’s Abandon All Hope About?

Set in the 1990s, this novel follows Evan—a cynical writer for an educational software company, Eldritch EduWare (a name that must’ve been the cause of problems for the marketing team—while being fairly apt). He actually commutes to the suburbs to work there, which is a nice twist. Evan doesn’t have a lot of drive or ambition, but he seems to like his life—maybe he could be happier, but he’s comfortable.

One day he encounters Eric, a college dropout. Convinced of his own insight, Eric eschews fiction, music, and the history of philosophy—he doesn’t want anyone else’s ideas. His are pure, new, and will enrich the lives of any who read his book—as soon as he finishes it. To pay the bills, Eric works a succession of temporary jobs, each disastrous in their own way.

Evan is intrigued by Eric, and makes an effort to check in on him from time to time (even trying to hire him for Eldritch at one point), but their storylines are fairly divergent. But common elements are there—we see them socialize (a little bit), muse on art and life, interact with family, colleagues, and supervisors, and so on.

He’s Making a List…

A technique that Spires falls back on often while describing things is the list. For example:

The basic building unit of the bad suburbs was the box. Boxes of various sizes and colors, of concrete, glass, steel and brick, big and small boxes arranged upright and sideways, black, white, gray, brown and transparent boxes, boxes stuck together like Legos or separated by swathes of asphalt, boxes with yards of grass or yards of concrete, could be seen everywhere as you looked out the train window.

Strip malls, mini-malls, and shopping centers alternated with identikit housing developments that bore fanciful names, like Avalon Estates, Balmoral-on-the-Lake, Provence-in-the-Woods, and Renaissance Acres: names that inadvertently highlighted their aesthetic failings.

That’s a lot of dense text that doesn’t say a whole lot—it’s frequently an effective technique. But I think Spires could’ve used a few less and been better for it—a list transitioning to a list transitioning to a list gets a bit mind-numbing. I largely enjoyed the writing, but this was a drawback.

A Scrambled Don Quixote

I typically make a point of not reading anything an author says in our Q&A before I write my post about their book. I’m not sure why I did this time, but if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have seen his remark about this being a

Don Quixote in reverse – that is, with the somewhat cynical Sancho Panza character being the lead, and the idealistic Don Quixote figure being the secondary protagonist.

There’s part of me that kicked myself for not picking up on that—Spires wasn’t being subtle. At one point, Eric actually equates Evan to Quixote (I was too busy rolling my eyes at the conversation the two characters were having to pick up on it).

Now that I’ve chewed on it a bit now, I can see it to a degree. It’s not one of those insights that opens a fount of meaning to the text—nor is not having it a barrier to understanding the novel*. But it adds some dimension and depth to your understanding.

* He says with only a slightly defensive tone.

So, what did I think about Abandon All Hope?

In the mid-90s, there was a trend of indie movies in the Richard Linklater vein featuring characters who would unburden themselves to each other of their respective philosophical/aesthetic/political takes. This felt a whole lot like those to me. That’s not an evaluation, it’s just an observation.

This novel featured a large cast of unsympathetic and unlikeable characters acting in pretty unsympathetic and unlikeable ways, I’m not sure that there was any growth or development in the primary characters—their circumstances changed, but I think they remained the same (although there are signs that Eric and Evan might be on the verge of growth at the end). But that pretty much describes everyone I know. It might not be what we expect (want?) out of fictional characters, but it’s a pretty solid description of humanity.

This is one of those cases where I think the whole is less than the sum of its parts. A lot of the moments in this book were great–amusing, insightful, interesting—and the same goes for most of the characters. But Spires didn’t combine these moments and characters into a successful overall narrative.

I think overall he might have tried to accomplish too much. If say, Spires cut Evan out entirely (or significantly—just give us his interactions with Eric), in order to spend more time at Eric’s work (maybe requiring more characters there), and I can see my enjoyment of this increasing. Then write another novel about Evan trying to make his way in the world while writing his treatise, I should add. The strength of this book lies in the depictions of these two characters and their career/employment/lack thereof, as the US seems to be in a cultural shift regarding these things at the moment, it’s particularly thought-provoking and relevant on these matters.

Your results may vary, of course. I can think of a couple of people who’d likely disagree (possibly pretty strongly) with me if they picked up the book. I do recommend it for an intriguing experience, and hopefully, in your case something more.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the author in exchange for this post and my honest opinion. I thank him for it.

3 Stars
This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

A Few Quick Questions with…Scott Spires

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On October 29, 2021

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

In a little bit here, I’ll be giving my take on Abandon All Hope, but before I do that, I thought I’d post this Q&A that Spires was kind enough to participate in with me.

Before we dive in, you might want to read a blog post he wrote about the book, too: Behind ABANDON ALL HOPE.

Describe your path to publication with this.
I actually wrote it in two chunks: the first half all the way back in 2002-03, and the other half in 2019-20 (yes, I set it aside for about 16 years). When I finished it, I knew that as an unagented author I had no chance of being published by one of the major publishing houses, so I concentrated on small presses. I got various laudatory rejections – of the type “we like your book but we’re not going to publish it” – which was frustrating but kept me going due to the positive feedback. Finally Auctus Publishers, a small press based in the Philadelphia area, accepted it in March of this year.

All authors have more ideas running around in their head than they can possibly develop—what was it about this idea that made you commit to it?
I liked the idea of having characters coming from similar backgrounds but having completely different approaches to life. Basically, it’s realism vs. idealism, one of the eternal themes. Also, I was intrigued by the idea of writing Don Quixote in reverse – that is, with the somewhat cynical Sancho Panza character being the lead, and the idealistic Don Quixote figure being the secondary protagonist.

It’s hard to pick just one or two things to focus on to ask about that don’t involve spoiling the whole book…but I want to talk about Vic for a bit. Where did the character come from? He seems to be the only well-adjusted character in the novel (that may not be the best word…he’s the one who has it all together), was that the intent? (did I miss something in him?). Also, post-High Fidelity, record shop owners seems to be more popular in fiction than they are in reality—what’s your pet theory for that?
I agree that Vic is the most “together” character, in the sense that he’s figured out a path in life that suits him, and doesn’t suffer from the feeling of alienation that afflicts most of the other characters. I can’t say that it was my conscious intent to make him that way. To the extent he has some basis in reality, he’s a grad-school dropout who became an entrepreneur, and I’ve known a number of people like that. As for record-shop owners being more popular in fiction than in reality, I don’t quite agree with you on that. Vinyl has been undergoing a big resurgence in the last decade or so, and there have been quite a few physical outlets selling it, although they have to contend with a lot of pressure from online sellers. Vinyl is much more fashionable now than it was in the 1990s, when both High Fidelity and my book are set.

Evan’s tenure as a Temp seemed too specific to be simply the product of someone’s imagination—did you spend a season of life doing this kind of thing, or did you have friends whose lives you plundered for material? How fictionalized were these? Any you decided that you couldn’t use?
Most of the work-related episodes in the book are based on my own personal experience. For example, I had precisely the kind of phone-survey job that Evan does in Chapter 5, and Eric’s office job draws heavily on my own job experience with a fairly well-known company that shall remain nameless. Of course, I modified this material to fit the story I wanted to tell – my own office job wasn’t nearly as deadly or traumatic as the one in the book!

What was the biggest surprise about the writing of Abandon All Hope itself? Either, “I can’t believe X is so easy!” or “If I had known Y was going to be so hard, I’d have skipped this and watched more TV.”
Well, I did watch more TV (so to speak), because I hit a roadblock when I was first writing it, and put aside the manuscript for a short while, which turned into a 16-year break! My basic problem was the lack of a theme, focus, or clear plotline when I started writing it. I had my characters and episodes, but nothing to hold them together. It was only in 2019 when I sat down with this old material and resolved to finish the book that I figured those things out. So I suppose the biggest surprise was that I actually managed to finish writing the book. If you had told me five or ten years ago that I would finish it and get it published, I would have been greatly surprised!

Let’s play “Online Bookstore Algorithm” (a game I made up for these Q&As). What are 3-5 books whose readers may like Abandon All Hope?
Obviously, as already mentioned, High Fidelity by Nick Hornby. Record collecting as a quest for meaning, and as a way to avoid growing up.
The Elementary Particles by Michel Houllebecq. Another 1990s classic, with contrasting, related protagonists trying to make sense of the world in their very different ways.
The Moviegoer by Walker Percy. A fictional excursion into existentialism, with a strong regional flavor (New Orleans in this case).
Finally, this is cheating a bit, but I must mention “Forlesen” by Gene Wolfe. It’s a long short story or novella, not a complete novel, but it’s highly relevant because it’s a poignant, fantastical take on the inanities of office life, which figure so strongly in Abandon All Hope.

What’s next for Scott Spires, author?
I don’t know exactly, but I’m contemplating a couple of projects. One is a “photonovel,” a story that combines text with photographs. The other is a collection of novellas. I think the novella is a great form, but since it’s caught in a kind of limbo between short stories and novels, it’s difficult to publish as a free-standing work. But I think a book of three or four novellas would work very well.

Thanks for your time—and thanks for Abandon All Hope</b?, and I hope you have plenty of success with it.

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: The Chronicles of Iona: Exile by Paula de Fougerolles

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On September 27, 2021

In Book Tour, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

I’m very pleased and excited today to welcome The Blog Tour for the first in Historical Fiction Trilogy, The Chronicles of Iona by Paula de Fougerolles: Exile. This Tour Stop consists in this little spotlight post and then my take on the novel coming along in a bit. Let’s start by learning a little about this novel, okay?

The Chronicles of Iona: Exile Tour Banner

Book Details:

Book Title: The Chronicles of Iona: Exile by Paula de Fougerolles
Publisher: Careswell Press
Release date: May 25, 2012
Format: Ebook/Paperback
Length: 394 pages
Chronicles of Iona: Exile

Book Blurb:

The Chronicles of Iona: Exile tells the story of the Irish monk and Scottish warrior, Saint Columba and Aedan mac Gabran, who would band together to lay the foundation of the nation of Scotland.  They were a real-life 6th-century Merlin and King Arthur and their story has never been told.

The book begins in 563 A.D.  The Roman Empire is long gone, freeing the region of Scotland from the threat of imperial rule but opening it to chaos from warring tribes vying for control. Columba, a powerful abbot-prince, is exiled from Ireland to the pagan colony of Dal Riata on Scotland’s west coast for an act of violence. There he encounters Aedan, the down-and-out second son of the colony’s former king, slain by the Picts.

Together, this unlikely pair travels the breadth of a divided realm, each in search of his own kind of unity.  Their path is fraught with blood feuds, lost love, treachery, dark gods and monsters, but also with miracles and valor.  Beset on all sides, their only hope is to become allies—and to forge a daring alliance with the pagan Picts.

How Columba overcame exile and a crisis of faith to found the famous monastery of Iona (one of the greatest centers of learning in Dark Age Europe) and, from it, the Celtic Church in the British Isles; and how Aedan avenged his father’s death and became, against all odds, the progenitor of Scottish kings and the greatest warlord of his age, begins here.

For both, what begins as a personal imperative becomes a series of events that lead to the foundation of Iona and the kingdom of Scotland—events that literally change the world.

Purchase Links:

Amazon ~ Goodreads

About the Author:

Paula de FougerollesPaula de Fougerolles has a doctorate from the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, University of Cambridge, and has taught and published in the field. She has lived and traveled extensively throughout Scotland and Ireland, including a prestigious year-long Thomas J. Watson Fellowship in which she criss-crossed Europe in search of the physical remains of the so-called Dark Ages—research which ultimately led to this award-winning historical fiction series. To learn more, visit www.pauladefougerolles.com.

 

 

 


My thanks to The Write Reads for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials they provided.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino is a thing that I read

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On September 24, 2021

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

by Quentin Tarantino

Mass Market Paperback, 400 pg.
Harper Perennial Paperback, 2021

Read: September 22-23, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

What’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood About?

This is novelization—and retooling (as I understand)—of Tarantino’s 2019 movie. It follows two days (with typical Tarantino flashbacks and flashforwards for many of these characters) in the lives of a few people in 1969 Hollywood. A former TV star who had his shot at movie fame, and missed—he’s now a traveling bad guy (“heavy”) guest star on TV shows. His stunt double/gofer/driver, notorious for getting away with murder (and is somehow possibly the most sympathetic character. Also, Sharon Tate, Squeaky Fromme, and Charlie Manson.

The Packaging

I trust whoever put this book together got a nice bonus—or at least a good bonhomie slap on the back—it’s so well done. The whole thing is a throwback—the cover style looks like a movie novelization from the 70s/early 80s, with stills from the film. Inside you get a lot of the full-page advertisements for novels (and novelizations) that were era-appropriate and common in the back of Mass Market Paperbacks at the time.

It was a nice little treat.

So, what did I think about Once Upon a Time in Hollywood?

Eh…I’m not sure. I guess I should say that I didn’t watch the film—outside of the writer/director—there was nothing about it that appealed to me. I only picked this up out of curiosity about Tarantino as a prose-writer. That colored my appreciation of the novel for sure. It’s not surprising at all that a movie that didn’t appeal to me resulted in a novel that left me unmoved.

I’m glad I got to see what Tarantino was like as a novelist. I know what he’s like as a screenplay writer and director. And this was different—but similar. Had this been anyone else writing, I’d have commented on how well they capture the Tarantino-vibe. There are so many (seemingly?) aimless stories shared by characters that can only come from him (or someone trying to rip him off).

There’s also this nice recurring thing where a story is being told—characters introduced, etc.—that turns out to be the characters and story of the pilot episode that the has-been actor is shooting. Sort of a novelization within a novelization. That was neat—and there’s so much more going on in that story and with those characters than is possible for a 1969 TV Western, that I give myself a little slack

But as for the novel itself? Eh, I don’t know. I guess I think I understand the point—I just don’t see where they were stories that need to be told. It wasn’t a bad novel, and I don’t resent the time I spent reading it (as I frequently do with books that don’t work for me)—and I enjoyed bits of it quite a lot. But I’ve got nothing to say good or ill about it. Put this down as the most tepid of 3 stars.

3 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

PUB DAY REPOST: Stalker Stalked by Lee Matthew Goldberg: Who Watches the Watchers? Who Stalks the Stalkers?

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On September 17, 2021

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

Stalker Stalked

Stalker Stalked

by Lee Matthew Goldberg

eARC, 245 pg.
All Due Respect, 2021

Read: September 7, 2021

What’s Stalker Stalked About?

Lexi Mazur is a pharmaceutical sales rep who has a habit of sampling her products in addition to drinking pretty heavily. When her boyfriend of about a year breaks up with her, things get worse. Her pill uptake and drinking increase, and she escapes into Reality Shows like The Real Housewives of ______, and her new obsession (literally), Socialites. She’d been heavily invested in those shows before—it was a bone of contention with her ex—but she sunk to pathological levels after the break-up.

Soon, Lexi begins showing up at locations that she knows one or more of the stars of Socialites will be, trying to put herself in a situation where their paths will cross, in the belief that it’s all it will take for them to befriend her. Once they’re friends, her life will improve and she’ll get a bit of the glamorous life they have—maybe even a role in the show.

She has some reason to think that this behavior will work—it has been the foundation (and eventual doom) of her romantic relationships.

Yeah, Lexi is a stalker—she just has a new outlet for these impulses. Her behavior and substance abuse spiral to new depths. We get some details about her prior issues and behaviors, but the novel primarily documents her descent to rock bottom.

That would be enough for most authors, but here’s where Goldberg throws in the plotline that makes Stalker Stalked stand out. In the midst of all the above, Lexi starts to sense that someone is watching her. Stalking her. Is it one of her exes? Is it someone from Socialites? Is it just her imagination, maybe a side-effect of some of the medication she’s abusing?

And then the threats begin…

Low-Hanging Fruit?

Lexi’s story aside (as much as you can do that kind of thing in this book), this book is a sharp satire and critique of TV Reality Shows.

As I read it, I wondered occasionally about Goldberg picking a target that’s too easy. Where’s the challenge in taking shots at Reality Shows?

As easy a target they might be, it’s a target that seems to demand this kind of attention and examination. The cultural impact of this kind of shows—and the social media influencer accounts (and wanna-be social media accounts) that tell the same kind of fictions—is large enough, disturbing enough, that we need as many artists in as many possible media to put them under the microscope.

Looking at this phenomenon through Goldberg’s lens something jumps out at me (and I realize that I’m probably fifteen years behind other people on this insight), this kind of reality shows provide a socially acceptable form of stalking for the masses. How many people think they’re getting a special kind of insight into the lives of these stars? A special, private, view of their day-to-day life? How many unbalanced viewers like Lexi are out there learning that this is an appropriate way to live and take the license to do the same but for people who aren’t on TV?

So, what did I think about Stalker Stalked?

I didn’t like Lexi—at all—for the majority of the novel. I wouldn’t have described myself as terribly invested in what was going on with her or in her well-being. She’s just unsympathetic, unpleasant—the kind of character that most novels would have cast as the villain (one you may ultimately find sympathy for).

As much as I wasn’t able to get invested in her as a character, I couldn’t stop reading. Something about the novel—and I really should be able to put my finger on what it was, but I can’t—gripped me like a Lee Child or Nick Petrie thriller. Compelling doesn’t quite express it—I had to know what was coming next. Lexi was like the proverbial car wreck that you can’t take your eyes off of. Also, I was pretty curious about some of the people around Lexi, how were they going to fare in the face of her problems.

Eventually, however, I started pitying Lexi. I started understanding how she got where she is and how she was tumbling toward rock bottom.

Stalker Stalked is a gripping read, a tragedy that you can’t look away from—that you can’t get enough of. It’s disturbing and thought-provoking. You’re going to want to get your hands on it.

4 Stars

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Down & Out Press via NetGalley and Lori Hettler of The Next Best Book Club in exchange for this post—thanks to all of them for this.

Headphones and Heartaches by Wesley Parker: Sweet, Honest, Heartbreaking, and Heartwarming

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On September 17, 2021

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

You know how sometimes just the right book comes at just the right time? A book you don’t realize you needed until it had done its job on your psyche? As you’ve probably guessed, that’s what Headphones and Heartaches was for me. So, yeah, this is going to be a rave. It’s also going to be shorter than I want it to be, but that’s only because this won’t ever get posted if I keep tweaking and rewriting it (this was supposed to go up seven days ago).

Headphones and Heartaches

Headphones and Heartaches

by Wesley Parker

Kindle Edition, 324 pg.
2021

Read: September 2-6, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

“One day you’re gonna look back and realize these are the best days of your life.”

I’m living in a foster home while my mother is getting treatment for a heroin addiction. If these are the best days, maybe I should just give up now.

What’s Headphones and Heartaches About?

Percy Martin is sure that the social worker he meets next to his mother’s hospital bed means well. But Percy’s not interested in what he’s offering, Percy trusts that he can do better on his own than any foster situation that Alex can put him in. When they meet, no one’s sure that Percy’s mother will survive her latest overdose, and Alex’s hands are tied.

So he makes Percy an offer—stick with this foster parent a year, and Alex will do what he can to reunite Percy and his mom. There’s an earnestness about Alex, and (he won’t really admit this to himself) Percy just wants a break from it all—so he accepts the offer.

Alex brings him to Grace Wilson*. A kind, gracious, waitress who has decided the right thing to do is open her heart and home to a teen who needs both. Percy’s life is changed forever immediately.

* I should devote 3-4 paragraphs to her, but I don’t have the time, but she’s a great character.

He has food—and never has to worry about where the next meal is coming from. She helps him get money—and learn to manage it. He learns to sleep on a bed. He makes friends—real friends. He falls for a girl. He—and he says this several times—has a chance to be normal.

And he loves it. How could you not?

But he’s torn—because the cost of all of this change is the relationship with his mother. He feels he’s abandoned her, taken away her motivation to change, removed his support from her when she needs him the most. Is having a better life worth that?

Opium’s Victims

Percy’s mom, Wanda, is never made out to be the villain of the piece. Never. She is deeply flawed, and Percy doesn’t flinch from that. But she’s also the one constant in his life and has clearly done what she can to be a mother and provider to him. She clearly loves him.

But her addiction runs her life, she battles it, but not effectively, and that has consequences for both of them.

One of Parker’s most successful moves is showing that the statistics and reports about the opioid epidemic underreports its victims. It’s not just Wanda—it’s Percy. It’s Grace. It’s Percy’s friends. If Wanda had other family or friends, they would be in that number. And it’s likely that the turmoil, emotional upheaval, and financial impact goes beyond Grace and Percy’s friends to their friends and family…and so on. Percy thinks he can even see the toll this takes on the Judge dealing with his foster care. Yes, Wanda is the primary victim, and addicts like her ought to be the focus of the efforts to combat the epidemic—but not the sole focus.

Headphones, Comedy Albums, and Mixtapes

The 3.5mm jack connects my favorite artists right into my soul like an IV, securing my hopes and dreams that wither under the assault of everyday life. They’ve been there on the nights when the heat wasn’t, at the dinner table when the food wasn’t, reminding me that better times would come, even if they couldn’t give me an estimated arrival date.

Percy finds refuge from his circumstances in movies (VHS tapes he can buy at pawn shops and the like) and music (largely pirated from public library offerings). Music is the one he talks more about, and he has strong opinions about it—while also having very eclectic tastes.

What kind of strong opinions? Aside from Rob Sheffield or Nick Hornby’s creation, I haven’t seen anyone with such detailed specifications for putting together a mixtape—and I loved watching him obsess about things like that. He has much more to say on the subject of wired headphones than I quoted above—and who cares that much about those? I could go on, but you get the idea.

Along the same lines…what he and Grace say about comedy albums? I didn’t realize other people felt that way about them, too. I really would like to see a second edition of the book (or a companion book) containing essays Percy writes for English class about things like comedy albums and their impact on his life, and various topics related to music/music appreciation. Just based on what he says in this book, they’d be fantastic.

It’s things like this that transform Percy from a pitiable kid in hard circumstances to a rounded character that you can develop an emotional bond with. Parker truly nailed this kind of thing.

Categorizing

By and large anymore, it seems that if the book is about a teenager, it must be a Young Adult novel. But it doesn’t seem as if this is being marketed as one. Would it work for a YA audience? Sure. Well, at least I think it would. But really it works for anyone who likes a good coming-of-age tale.

Percy is a teen—and his emotions swing widely and quickly as such. But anyone who is, or who can remember, what that’s like will easily be able to appreciate that. At the same time, thanks to his hard life, he has a certain perspective that gives a layer of maturity to his thinking—so snooty “adult” readers don’t have to sully themselves with something like a book written for teens.

So, what did I think about Headphones and Heartaches?

On Wheel of Fortune there’s always one guy that keeps asking for letters even though it’s clear to everyone else what the answer is. I feel like that guy right now, because in my heart I know the answer, I’m just hoping that it’s the wrong one.

With only a couple of exceptions, the adults that Percy meets after his mother’s overdose are almost too good to be true. I’d be tempted to call them all Mary Sues/Marty Sues. But part of it is that for Percy, these are responsible, caring, adults trying to help him—it’s easy to see why Percy would largely describe them in glowing terms. And even then, the adults aren’t boring—they’re interesting, funny, and inspirational.

But the exceptions? Boy howdy, they are definitely not too good (nor are they too bad to be realistic…). But let’s not focus on them

But Percy and his classmates, playmates in flashbacks, and friends are absolutely well-rounded and developed—as they’re (largely) the focus of the book, that’s the important part. They sound like, think like, and feel like teens (with varying degrees of maturity). They’re some of the better teen characters I remember reading.

You take characters like that and put them out into the world, and you’ve got yourself a good start to a novel. Add in a compelling story—and an emotional depth that fits the characters, and you’ve got a knockout. This is what Parker has delivered.

As the end neared, I jotted a note,”I am going to end up crying.” And while I didn’t technically weep, there were several moments as I finished the book that I came awfully close to it. Those moments were all over the map, I should add—heartbreaking, tragic, heartwarming, and just sweet. Parker just doesn’t get you with human grief and anger, he gets you with the wonderful moments, too.

This is a sweet book, a touching book—an occasionally hilarious book (with some truly cringe-worthy beats)—I guess it’s best summed up as a very human book. Parker got me to feel all sorts of things for these characters, to a degree I didn’t expect or was prepared for.

This is a special one, reader. You’d do yourself a favor if you picked it up.

5 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

Stalker Stalked by Lee Matthew Goldberg: Who Watches the Watchers? Who Stalks the Stalkers?

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On September 9, 2021

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

Stalker Stalked

Stalker Stalked

by Lee Matthew Goldberg

eARC, 245 pg.
All Due Respect, 2021

Read: September 7, 2021

What’s Stalker Stalked About?

Lexi Mazur is a pharmaceutical sales rep who has a habit of sampling her products in addition to drinking pretty heavily. When her boyfriend of about a year breaks up with her, things get worse. Her pill uptake and drinking increase, and she escapes into Reality Shows like The Real Housewives of ______, and her new obsession (literally), Socialites. She’d been heavily invested in those shows before—it was a bone of contention with her ex—but she sunk to pathological levels after the break-up.

Soon, Lexi begins showing up at locations that she knows one or more of the stars of Socialites will be, trying to put herself in a situation where their paths will cross, in the belief that it’s all it will take for them to befriend her. Once they’re friends, her life will improve and she’ll get a bit of the glamorous life they have—maybe even a role in the show.

She has some reason to think that this behavior will work—it has been the foundation (and eventual doom) of her romantic relationships.

Yeah, Lexi is a stalker—she just has a new outlet for these impulses. Her behavior and substance abuse spiral to new depths. We get some details about her prior issues and behaviors, but the novel primarily documents her descent to rock bottom.

That would be enough for most authors, but here’s where Goldberg throws in the plotline that makes Stalker Stalked stand out. In the midst of all the above, Lexi starts to sense that someone is watching her. Stalking her. Is it one of her exes? Is it someone from Socialites? Is it just her imagination, maybe a side-effect of some of the medication she’s abusing?

And then the threats begin…

Low-Hanging Fruit?

Lexi’s story aside (as much as you can do that kind of thing in this book), this book is a sharp satire and critique of TV Reality Shows.

As I read it, I wondered occasionally about Goldberg picking a target that’s too easy. Where’s the challenge in taking shots at Reality Shows?

As easy a target they might be, it’s a target that seems to demand this kind of attention and examination. The cultural impact of this kind of shows—and the social media influencer accounts (and wanna-be social media accounts) that tell the same kind of fictions—is large enough, disturbing enough, that we need as many artists in as many possible media to put them under the microscope.

Looking at this phenomenon through Goldberg’s lens something jumps out at me (and I realize that I’m probably fifteen years behind other people on this insight), this kind of reality shows provide a socially acceptable form of stalking for the masses. How many people think they’re getting a special kind of insight into the lives of these stars? A special, private, view of their day-to-day life? How many unbalanced viewers like Lexi are out there learning that this is an appropriate way to live and take the license to do the same but for people who aren’t on TV?

So, what did I think about Stalker Stalked?

I didn’t like Lexi—at all—for the majority of the novel. I wouldn’t have described myself as terribly invested in what was going on with her or in her well-being. She’s just unsympathetic, unpleasant—the kind of character that most novels would have cast as the villain (one you may ultimately find sympathy for).

As much as I wasn’t able to get invested in her as a character, I couldn’t stop reading. Something about the novel—and I really should be able to put my finger on what it was, but I can’t—gripped me like a Lee Child or Nick Petrie thriller. Compelling doesn’t quite express it—I had to know what was coming next. Lexi was like the proverbial car wreck that you can’t take your eyes off of. Also, I was pretty curious about some of the people around Lexi, how were they going to fare in the face of her problems.

Eventually, however, I started pitying Lexi. I started understanding how she got where she is and how she was tumbling toward rock bottom.

Stalker Stalked is a gripping read, a tragedy that you can’t look away from—that you can’t get enough of. It’s disturbing and thought-provoking. You’re going to want to get your hands on it.

4 Stars

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Down & Out Press via NetGalley and Lori Hettler of The Next Best Book Club in exchange for this post—thanks to all of them for this.

A Beginner’s Guide to Free Fall by Andy Abramowitz: The best and the worst things in life are sudden

By

On August 31, 2021

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

A Beginner's Guide to Free Fall

A Beginner’s Guide to Free Fall

by Andy Abramowitz

Kindle Edition, 396 pg.
Lake Union Publishing, 2020

Read: August 9-11, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

The Opening

Four months from now, on a secluded beach in Turkey, Davis Winger, who came thousands of miles to start over, will drop his towel and paperback on the sand, wade into the sea, and end up under the tire of a Hyundai that has just come screeching over an embankment. He will be trapped under that car, pinned to the seabed with one final breath crowding his lungs. Time enough to lament that his daughter might now grow up without him; that he might never hear words of forgiveness from the woman he adored, and betrayed; that he might not live to build the roller coaster that his six-year-old had dreamed up from a storybook and that he had spent the summer engineering into reality. Constructing that ride, harnessing his daughter’s giddy vision into a set of blueprints, was his best shot at winning back the people he loved and hurt and lost. The promise of redemption was slipping away. All alone and far from home, he’ll reach for the surface as the sea encloses.

That autumn day was coming. But today it was still spring, a mild Saturday in May, and when Davis awakened next to his wife in the charmingly overgrown Baltimore neighborhood of Mount Washington, he was still gainfully employed and still welcome in his own home.

With an opening like that, how do you follow it up? No really, how do you? How do you get your readers to care about your protagonist and what he’s going through when you know this is what he’s headed for?

Well, enough of that…let’s get on with the post.

What’s A Beginner’s Guide to Free Fall About?

Davis Wagner has one of those jobs that you have a hard time believing people actually have, but clearly, someone does. He designs amusement park rides, like roller coasters. Which is cool enough—but he’s witty, friendly, compassionate, has a great daughter, a wonderful wife, and so on. He’s close with his sister, his father, and his father’s…partner, I guess. (she’s lived with him for years, so girlfriend doesn’t seem to fit…)—Davis’s mother ran off with her therapist when he and Molly were young, leaving them to be raised by their father.

But we know from the opening paragraph above, that this charmed life doesn’t stay charmed—after introducing the reader to this family, Abramowitz starts dismantling Davis’s life—after an accident (that Davis bears no responsibility for), his career is on the line; after something that Davis bears all the responsibility for, his marriage is in shambles and doesn’t look like it’ll recover. The only thing that Davis has left is his relationship with his young daughter in the summer before her first-grade year.

In the (apparently) four months he has left on Earth, can Davis build on the foundation of his relationship with his daughter to save his marriage and career?

There are other plotlines, sure, but this is the focus of the book and the weakness of it drags down the rest.

Molly Winger— Not Pictured

The high school yearbook was basically Davis’s personal photo album, but when Molly graduated three years later, below her photo it read: “Molly Winger—Not Pictured.” And the thing is, she was pictured. Her photo was right there, above the words “Not Pictured.” That was the essence of Molly. Seen yet somehow undetected. There but unaccounted for. Actually, she preferred it that way.

I just loved that idea—well, I mean, it’s depressing as all get out when you think about what that says about Molly—but it’s a great image.

Molly’s still pretty undetected. She writes for an independent newspaper—one limping along financially—as if there weren’t another kind—primarily writing features, but really doing whatever she has to help keep it afloat. She’s dating someone years younger than her, and in no way right for her (or she for him)—she’s smart, literate, cultured. He’s in his mid-twenties, and when he’s not working, he’s playing video games or watching horror movies with his “boys.”

While her brother is trying to put his life back together, Molly stumbles upon a series of articles that will help her confront her own demons, help her readers, and maybe get her detected by people.

I’m glad I read this book if only for the Molly storyline/storylines—Abramowitz was at his strongest here. A character you can sympathize with, chuckle at, and hope for.

Sibling Rivalry

At some point years before we meet them, Davis and Molly started playing this game—Davis would call her out of the blue, and they’d pitch horrible ideas for businesses to each other. For example, a store that sells concert T-shirts for bands that you wouldn’t want to wear in public—Hanson, Sheena Easton, Julian Lennon, Spin Doctors, and so on.

It’s one of those things that makes the most sense in terms of siblings—a running joke that they may not be able to remember the origins of, but it’s something they’ll always do. When you stop and think about it, it’s really sweet.

If you don’t stop and think that much and just read the ideas? They’re hilarious.

Tom Petty

Similarly, Davis amuses himself by working Tom Petty song titles into his conversation around or about one character. It’s a strange way of showing affection, but it works. Sure, I think it’d get annoying in real life—but it’s exactly my kind of humor.

So, what did I think about A Beginner’s Guide to Free Fall?

It took me a long time to be able to care about Davis and his woes, much less his attempts at rehabilitation. I just couldn’t shake the opening paragraph. But I eventually came around and appreciated that part of the novel (which is good, because it’s the majority).

Still, I’d have probably DNFed this if Molly wasn’t around—the character and what she does in the novel are its saving graces.

Abramowitz can write a sentence—I really enjoyed the voice, the way he told the story (well, after the opening), and the themes he explored. I laughed and was moved, and thought a little about life. A Beginner’s Guide to Free Fall is worth the time and effort, you’ll enjoy it.

3 Stars

20 Books of Summer '21

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

20 Books of Summer 2021: Wrap Up

By

On August 30, 2021

In Books, Currently Reading, Fantasy, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, News/Misc., Urban Fantasy

20 Books of Summer
One summer.

Three months.

93 Days.

20 books.

I really didn’t think I’d get it done on time after seeing where I was in July. But here I am with almost 27 hours to go and I’ve finished the 20 Books for Summer Challenge for 2021. After a June that was less-than-productive (well, okay, I read nothing), and a July that got me less than halfway home, I expected I was going to have to fudge things like last year by going with Labor Day as a cutoff. But nope, I pulled off an according-to-Hoyle completion.

20 books down, cleared off a lot from my Mt. TBR (including things I bought in 2018!), not a stinker in the bunch (two of them flirted with it, though)—and a nice, warm sense of accomplishment to boot. Now, that’s books read, not posted about. I guess that’s my challenge for September, I think I have ten of them done, however, so it’s not that daunting.

Here’s the list:

✔ 1. A Beginner’s Guide to Free Fall by Andy Abramowitz
✔ 2. The Dead House by Harry Bingham
✔ 3. The Run-Out Groove by Andrew Cartmel
✔ 4. Love by Roddy Doyle
✔ 5. The Ninja’s Blade by Tori Eldridge
✔ 6. Small Bytes by Robert Germaux
✔ 7. A Reason to Live by Matthew Iden
✔ 8. Twice Cursed by J. C. Jackson
✔ 9. The Dime by Kathleen Kent
✔ 10. Dead Man’s Grave by Neil Lancaster		 ✔ 11. The Magnificent Nine by James Lovegrove
✔ 12. The Mermaid’s Pool by David Nolan
✔ 13. All Together Now by Matthew Norman
✔ 14. The Good Byline by Jill Orr
✔ 15. Sir Thomas the Hesitant and the Table of Less Valued Knights by Liam Perrin
✔ 16. Fools Gold by Ian Patrick
✔ 17. Know Your Rites by Andy Redsmith
✔ 18. The Far Empty by J. Todd Scott
✔ 19. August Snow by Stephen Mack Jones
✔ 20. In Plain Sight by Dan Willis

20 Books of Summer '21 Chart August

Love by Roddy Doyle: Pull Up a Stool, Order a Pint, Listen In on This Conversation

By

On August 30, 2021

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, Roddy Doyle

Love

Love

by Roddy Doyle

Hardcover, 327 pg.
Viking, 2020

Read: August 19-20, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

—Well, that was how it felt, he said. —Like we’d never been apart.

—But—.

—I know, he said. —I know. We’d never been much together. But I’m talking about feelings here, not facts. Feelings. The feel of the thing.

It sounded like something he’d said before. More than once.

What’s Love About?

Joe and Davy are men in their 50s—in their 20s, they were drinking buddies, spending every weekend together at as many Dublin pubs as they possibly could. Eventually, they grew out of it. Davy moved to England with his wife. Joe settled down, too.

Now they see each other once or twice a year when Davy comes over to visit his father. It’s really the only time Davy drinks anymore. And, boy howdy, do they drink a lot.

This novel takes place over the course of one night/early morning, starting after dinner when they have a couple of drinks. Joe has a story he wants to tell Davy, he needs to unburden himself. Davy has something he needs to talk about, too, but he won’t let himself.

And that’s the novel—the two going from pub to pub, having a couple of drinks, and moving on. Sometimes out of choice, sometimes because they got a little too loud and are asked to leave. They walk a bit, sober up a touch (while continuing their conversation), and find a new pub to have a pint or two in before being asked to leave.

And if that doesn’t sound that interesting to you, have you ever listened to a couple of Irish people telling stories?

The Title

In the cleverly titled book, The Four Loves, C. S. Lewis posits that there are four different types of love and spends some time describing each.* Others have come up with different numbers, different categories. Which is just to say that the concept of “love” is a tricky one to nail down. To borrow Justice Stewart’s phrase, most of us know it when we see it, and most of us settle for that.

* It’s beside the point, but I feel compelled to list them: Affection (storge), Friendship (philia), Romantic (eros), Charity (agape).

All this is to say, it’s really impossible to know precisely what the title refers to—there are several types of love displayed in this book, and I can see some people trying to argue for which one is most fitting.

After a little thought, I’ve decided that Doyle is referring to them all (and I don’t think that’s a cop-out). It’s about two men struggling—and aided by several of the pints in the cover image—to find ways to talk about love.

Feelings

There is a reason why men don’t talk about their feelings. It’s not just that it’s difficult, or embarrassing. It’s almost impossible. The words aren’t really there

That’s from the beginning of the book, Davy’s narration noting the difficulty that Joe’s having getting his story started. It’s seen a few times after that (I should point out that at least Joe is trying, Davy’s avoiding it entirely).

Which is where beer comes in, I guess. Joe never quite expresses himself the way he wants—Davy doesn’t help that much, really—but he gets asymptotically close. The number of pints they consume to get him to the point where he gets close is enough to make my liver sick. Part of the enjoyment of this novel is watching these two try to get the words right.

—The drink is funny, though, isn’t it? You see things clearly but then you can’t get at the words to express them properly.

—Or somethin’.

—Or somethin’, yeah.

Conventional wisdom suggests that two women wouldn’t need that much alcohol—or any, really—to achieve the same ends, if not do a better job of expressing and understanding the emotions being discussed. I expect that wisdom is right (but wouldn’t die on that hill)—and the ensuing novel might be less entertaining. Still, I’d like to see someone give it a shot.

So, what did I think about Love?

—It’s a thing abou’ gettin’ older, he said. —At least, I suppose it is. So many memories, you know. It become, harder to separate wha’ happened from wha’ might’ye happened an’ wha’ didn’t happen but kind o’ seemed to.

He was looking at me.

—Is it? he asked.

—Is memory reliable? I said. —Is that wha’ you mean?

—I think so, yeah. yeah.

This is a novel about love—obviously—and old friends, memory, nostalgia, the power of reminiscing, aging, dealing with the past (whether it happened or not), family, forgiveness, trust…and a few more things, too. All discussed in the story that Joe’s telling and the stories that Davy isn’t telling.

When I read this in a couple of years, it wouldn’t surprise me if I come up with a different list of subjects.

But in a sense, it really doesn’t matter what you think the novel is about—it can be enjoyed and chewed on just with the surface. A couple of old friends talking.

Doyle’s dialogue is as strong as it ever was. The dialect makes it jump off the page, you don’t so much read this book as hear it with your eyes.* It is funny, it is tragic, it’s heartbreaking, it’s wistful, and occasionally silly. It runs the gamut—both for the characters and the reader.

* Yeah, I know, I know. Roll with it, will you?

If you haven’t read Doyle before—this is a pretty good ice-breaker. If you know his work, this is exactly what you expect (a little closer to the feel of The Barrytown Trilogy than A Star Called Henry or Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha). His idiosyncratic punctuation and approach to dialogue tags and paragraphs might cause you to stumble at first—but once you catch on, you won’t even notice it.

It’s like you’re sitting there on a night on the town with these two, just catching up with old friends and enjoying the conversation with them (even if you’re not holding up your end). And who doesn’t think that sounds like a fun time?

4 Stars

20 Books of Summer '21

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

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