ParaRealm
Copyright © January 2012 ASIN: B006VOQBIO A Gripping Story, an Entertaining Paranormal THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS: A THRILLER by Richard Stone is the first book in his Last Man thriller series. despite the fact that at first I had problems knowing where I was, distinguishing up from down, at times unable to tell who was saying what to whom. COMMUNION deals with the anguish of a man fighting the forces of change, his resistance on the road to belief, grace, salvation—whatever you want to call it. It deals with the agony of confusion. The author tells the reader that the novel takes place in Grand Rapids. If so, it’s not the Grand Rapids I know. Matter of fact, apart from a rare nightmare and the odd hallucination, the story’s reality is not one with which I am familiar. But, okay, I thought, time to stretch the mind. So I picked up the book and soon could not put it down. I decided to write my essay about this book to describe my emotions. The story starts when Otto meets his friend, Thomas, in a bar. They bump into a weird cast of characters. Otto’s adventures begin. Otto is overcome by, chased by, fights off wave upon wave of paranormal creatures, a huge cast of celestial beings who fight for the heart and soul of this man—angels, devils, super human men and women. They intrigue us with wings and scales and power. All the while, the reader wonders what’s going to happen to Otto. Which Otto, you might ask, for there are two—the Otto who has long been the “project” of his fire and brimstone friend, Thomas, and “Other Otto,” his erstwhile alter ego. Otto, it seems, is changing. In his quest (or test), Otto revisits somewhat familiar territory now grown wild and distinctly other. But assuredly Otto is in an altered state of reality, a place called Underground. Being human, he is under the influence of devilish creatures. Along the way he meets former friends, new ones, and celestials—from seraphs to devils, all with supernatural powers. And he has guides—Constance (my favorite), Anna, Regina—and a father, Frank, who looks for him. Not only is the landscape Kafkaesque but the place itself is one of the main characters. Otto is constantly on the brink. In the end we find out that … but, no, I won’t spoil it for you. THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS has a gripping storyline played out on a burnt-out stage, a set worthy of Orlando Furioso or Batman, but influenced by the traditional Judeo-Christian worldview. It has a definite beginning, middle, and an end that will surprise. If you are a reader into paranormal thriller, you will love this book. Presentation. That said, there are numerous typos and this edition could use a proofreading scrub behind the ears. And the ebook formatting isn’t perfect. Sometimes typesetter marks are used, other times, not. My Rating: 4 Stars
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Review 82: Natalie’s Good Fortune by Anthony R. Fannin
Hunger sets in and Natalie comes across a group of cannibals. She approaches them in desperation. And obviously, the mad men attack her. John is a former privateer and pirate himself, with a cunning reputation well known across the Atlantic and the Caribbean. A battle of wits and of the sexes soon plays out between John and Natalie as he kids her about her prim and proper upbringing, all the while still respecting her as a lady, and Natalie becomes determined to hold her own and get off the island and to the American coast however she can. While working on a boat for their escape, John teaches Natalie how to gather food and how to fight with a sword. The scenes involving a coconut tree and a bamboo sword are both fun and hilarious at times! And Natalie gets to test out her skills sooner than she expected when savages attack again. Finally, the day comes when John and Natalie’s boat is ready to take to sea. John so aptly names the boat NATALIE’S GOOD FORTUNE in honor of Natalie’s hard work and determination. But things don’t get much better when they are off the island. Natalie must soon put her new skills to test when they come across boats of mad men, and eventually meet up with the pirates that originally captured the Bonny Lass. Besides the physicality of the book itself and the nicely paced storyline, I was impressed with Fanning’s characterization. Natalie is not treated as a stereotypical female character one might consider for this time and for this type of plot. Sure, she’s slowly made into a hero of sorts, but Natalie becomes much more than that. She definitely holds her own at a sea full of men. Fanning keeps the underlying sexism to a minimum, and says himself that he wanted to “create a fun story that was reminiscent of tales of adventure like Treasure Island.” And he has indeed done just that! Review 82: Natalie’s Good Fortune by Anthony R. Fannin
Natalie’s Good Fortune Natalie by Anthony R. Fanning Copyright: © 2006 Paperback $15.99 420 Pages ISBN: 9780615288499 I received a hard copy of Anthony R. Fanning’s book in the mail a few months ago. Opening the package, I discovered the book was wrapped in brown paper tied with cotton twine much like a treasure map. What a cool marketing idea, I thought! It really gave me a nice visual introduction to the book. Unwrapping the paper, I discovered a nice little 4.25″ x 6.88″ pocket size book totaling 430 pages and only 19 chapters! But it’s orange cover (the author has since changed the color) and pencil drawing of a young girl standing in front of an Old World Caribbean map appealed to me even more. I usually frown at 300+ pages in any book, but the small size of this book made it read more like 215. The book centers around Natalie Brennan Satterfield in the year 1722. The blurb on the back of the book calls her a “pampered and privileged sixteen year old daughter of a wealthy English merchant.” But don’t go judging Natalie just yet! I immediately thought of Keira Knightley’s character in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean had those films been more about her and less about Captain Jack Sparrow. Natalie is at sea on a ship called the Bonny Lass headed for the colonies. The story opens with the cook telling Natalie a horrible story about what a crew of pirates did to a young “lassie” who was aboard a vessel they took captive just a year ago. Just three chapters later, Natalie finds the Bonny Lass being taken captive by pirates and the cook’s wretched tale echoes in her ears. She manages to escape and soon finds herself marooned on an uncharted island in the Caribbean Sea, but Natalie quickly discovers she is not alone. |
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