A book with true wisdom to share, even if it’s a little rough around the edges.
A sequel novel about one man’s relationships and personal development.
Frank follows up The Courage of a Butterfly (2018) with another intimate look at the life of protagonist Jeff Williams, who has a motorcycle accident in the Utah desert. Things look grim, as he’s not only injured, but once again accompanied by a personification of Death, whom he affectionately calls “Big D.” Jeff believes that “everything in my life is there as a lesson for my learning,” so what better opportunity for engaging in some introspective education than being stranded in inhospitable terrain? The previous book was structured as a more linear telling of the events of Jeff’s life, starting in childhood, but this volume is mostly dedicated to specific interactions with people he met along the way. Key events include his divorce after some 25 years of marriage, and a clash with a man who claimed to have been part of a white witches’ coven. Jeff has much hard-won truth to impart, often summed up in “Spiritual Laws”; as he shares concepts such as “Everyone in your life is there, bearing you a gift of learning,” he also shows how he came to know their truth through experience, including during time spent with motorcycle clubs. Frank provides his protagonist with a crass mode of expression from the get-go; for example, Jeff reflects that his first marriage officially ended when his wife complained, “Why can’t you wipe your butt better?” It’s clear right away that Jeff isn’t the type of person to mince words, and this extends to accounts of sexual experiences; readers may not necessarily want to know about the “exotic muskiness” of one of his love interest’s “most private of privates,” for instance. That said, this style combines well with the characters’ earnest accounts of road trips and spiritual healing. There’s a heartfelt honesty that permeates the pages, which makes for a memorable read, and readers may find themselves learning a lot from this account of an unwavering quest for self-discovery.
A book with true wisdom to share, even if it’s a little rough around the edges.Pub Date: Feb. 8, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73483-675-2
Page Count: 428
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: June 25, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A redemption story, with some satisfying suspense and triumph, that delivers too much unbelievable tragedy for such a...
A talented young runner escapes a turbulent childhood only to face even bigger challenges in this debut novel.
With an abusive father, Wes Strong grows up living in a state of undeserved criticism and fear. A hardworking student who just wants to make his father proud, Wes asks earnestly in prayer “What have I done, God? What am I doing wrong?” Even though he never does anything wrong, his father’s abuse is merely the first, and least awful, of the horrors awaiting him. He briefly finds an outlet for frustration on the running team, even achieving a scholarship to a nearby university. But as he relishes escaping his father, his indulgence in his first and only beer quickly snowballs into a sudden pain pill addiction and a drug deal that ends with the murder of a policeman, landing Wes in prison for six years. To top it all off, his mother dies in a car wreck around the same time. Despite all this adversity, Wes carries on and tries to avoid the two leading rival gangs at his new home in prison: the “boys” and the “freaks.” But, poster boy for Murphy’s Law that he is, Wes soon becomes a target for rape by the “boys” and seeks refuge with their enemies, discovering that they truly are freaks: “Jesus Freaks.” Wes builds a relationship with God that seems to reverse his bad luck. In telling Wes’ tale, Smith makes it difficult for a reader to take the protagonist’s “redemption” seriously. Most of the characters are two-dimensional, either completely monstrous or saintly, and Wes’ wrong place, wrong time “crime” is much less intriguing than a true dark side. The author excels in small, contained scenes, especially Wes’ races, which are taut, suspenseful, and compulsively readable. But Smith never decides how best to approach Wes, sometimes narrating from his first-person perspective and sometimes describing him at a distance like a documentarian. The result is a disjointed character who never earns the sympathy he truly deserves.
A redemption story, with some satisfying suspense and triumph, that delivers too much unbelievable tragedy for such a fragmented central character.Pub Date: June 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5127-4282-4
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A playful, Christian romp through an imaginative world.
Derowitsch’s (A New Global Ideal, 2016) allegorical novel follows a young man at a crossroads.
Kyle Redding—who is best described as ordinary—is a 17-year-old living in Salem, Oregon. The narrator explains the lack of much of a description for Kyle: “How do you really describe someone who is just about average in every way?” He befriends the new girl at school and thinks she has girlfriend potential. After Marah Deni rebuffs him, Kyle tries to kill himself. He doesn’t succeed, and a voice guides him to a street called Kingwood, where he embarks on a surreal adventure and meets many strange characters. The most sinister is a jewel-covered snake, aka Leviathan, though some call him the “Soul-Devourer.” Lucky for Kyle, there are plenty of people looking out for his best interest, including Clive, who’s hammering away at a typewriter. One need not know much about theology to figure out that a story that includes a combination of a cunning snake and a writer named Clive is likely to have something to do with Christianity. And so the reader is guided through a tale dotted with occasionally playful creatures (e.g., cartwheeling squirrels) and focused on the importance of understanding one’s true spiritual needs. Events move quickly, propelling Kyle to a new understanding. Watching Kyle’s growth gives the book its best moments. He is even shown the spiritual states of people he thinks he knows pretty well. Although these sights aren’t as punishing as Dante, they provide a lasting reminder that all that glitters isn’t gold, a reminder that works well in a story that, though threaded with silliness, is in the end very serious business. All told, such a combination makes the book’s message obvious but also digestible and even a little bit fun.
A playful, Christian romp through an imaginative world.Pub Date: Feb. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5127-7165-7
Page Count: 158
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: July 5, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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