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Thursday, September 15, 2011

The End is Near

Author: Harry Ramble
Publisher: Ebb Press, LLC
ISBN: 9780981650227

Hope is a necessity for normal life and the major weapon against the suicide impulse. ~ Karl A. Menninger

Nathan Huffnagle, a man in his forties, is just a plain unhappy person. He has never married, has no kids, and has the most boring of jobs. Nathan becomes sick and tired of this so-called life he has made for himself. After his mother dies he returns home to take care of business. Not just the depressing business of settling his mom's affairs, but finishing his, literally. Nathan has decided to end it all, because of the crappy hand life has dealt him, but after a time in the neighborhood tavern, he decides to take someone with him on his little death trip. Really what is driving his man to go to such a final solution to his problems? Could something in his past that seems to haunt him all his life be the reason? Is it really found in the journal he wants to leave behind for all to read?

Instead of this book being a “who done it” I would call it a “how come” novel. How come this man has made the decisions he has made?

Written in the first person this book, I found, to be full of emotion and feeling. This is especially felt in describing the shocking and sickening details of the many events of bullying that the main character had to endure. The author uses directness and boldness to get across the seriousness of how being belittled through someones life can affect a person, as they become damaged adults. The bullied sometimes become at odds with the ghosts of their past, as Nathan did in this story. Mr. Ramble is ingenious in allowing the reader get inside Nathan's head—to feel his pain and sadness; he took a complex situation and made it simpler to understand by expounding the details. I can not say enough on how truly great and eye opening this book was for me—highly recommended!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Element Keepers--Whispers of the Wind

Author: E. P. Marcellin
Publisher: Tate Publishing
ISBN: 9781616636586

A wisp of gossamer, about the size and substance of a spider's web.
~Monica Baldwin

In D'Shee, a fishing town in a world like our own, Rhet and Peteal make their living by cleaning the catches of the day on the docks. Everyday the same as the last, but it suits them both fine. As a strange ship sails into the dock, baring a flag with a web of a spider and, carrying mysterious women of remarkable beauty, the world as Rhet and Peteal know it changes forever. The women are searching for the prophesied man told about in their holy book and hope to find him in D'Shee. Much to Rhet's dismay, he maybe the man that they are looking for.

The author takes the reader to a world of magic and wonder. Each region visited has their own individual look and style. Truly, there is a web being spun as this tale is told. The reader becomes entrapped in wanting to follow the characters as they travel and try to find where their fate may take them. Places and locals are beautifully described in just enough detail to give a great view of things, without being overly wordily. The way the book ended had me wanting more to read; I was shocked that it stopped how it did, actually made my jaw drop! What a way to have the reader look forward to the next book in the series. Highly recommend it to everyone, young and old.