Gods Behaving Badly

Marie Phillips debut novel, Gods Behaving Badly, is a delightfully funny read that I highly recommend to adult readers.

Vital Stats

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (December 10, 2007)
ISBN-10: 0316067628
ISBN-13: 978-0316067621

From the Book Description

Being a Greek god is not all it once was. Yes, the twelve gods of Olympus are alive and well in the twenty-first century, but they are crammed together in a London townhouse-and none too happy about it. And they've had to get day jobs: Artemis as a dog-walker, Apollo as a TV psychic, Aphrodite as a phone sex operator, Dionysus as a DJ.

Even more disturbingly, their powers are waning, and even turning mortals into trees-a favorite pastime of Apollo's-is sapping their vital reserves of strength.

Soon, what begins as a minor squabble between Aphrodite and Apollo escalates into an epic battle of wills. Two perplexed humans, Alice and Neil, who are caught in the crossfire, must fear not only for their own lives, but for the survival of humankind. Nothing less than a true act of heroism is needed-but can these two decidedly ordinary people replicate the feats of the mythical heroes and save the world?

This book is consistently funny and imaginative. Phillps' description of the underworld is very creative, right down to how one gets there in modern London. She manages to write a tight, intelligent novel without the need to impress us the reader with her command of Greek mythology. Perhaps most importantly, those with limited knowledge of the gods (like myself) will enjoy this book just as much as those who are versed in the subject.

Bastard Out of Carolina

Bastard Out of Carolina, by Dorothy Allison (1992)

Allison’s debut novel follows the Boatwright family, a group of rural dwelling ne’er-do-wells. The protagonist of the story is Ruth Anne—nicknamed Bone by an uncle—who is the bastard child of Anney, a diner waitress.

Allison’s characters work hard and live hard. The men of the Boatwright clan work dirty jobs in mills and factories by day. By night, they drink, fight, and chase women. Bone’s mother later meets Glen, a coworker and friend of the girl’s uncle Earle. After making her suitor wait for a time, Anney marries Glen.

Bone’s relationship with her stepfather is troubled almost from the start. Daddy Glen begins sexually abusing Bone shortly before his child Anney is to be born. When the mother suffers a miscarriage, an already tenuous situation only gets worse.

Glen’s temper gets him into trouble again and again as he loses jobs following violent altercations in the workplace. The family is forced to move many times and at home, Glen’s abuse of Bone escalates. While Anney doesn’t know about the sexual abuse, she blames the physical abuse of her daughter on Bone herself. Anney leaves Glen a number of times but always comes back, and the cycle begins anew.

Allison’s coming of age story has an authenticity that grabs hold of the reader early on and doesn’t let go until the very end. I was finally glad to read for myself what all of the talk was about. I highly recommend this book to adult readers.

Up High in the Trees

Up High in the Trees, by Kiara Brinkman (2007)

Brinkman’s first book is a account of a family struggling to cope following the death of a mother. The story is told by the mother’s son, eight-year-old Sebastian Lane, who lives with an older brother and sister, and his professor father.

According to some reviewers, Sebby exhibits signs of mild autism or Asperger’s syndrome, which may explain why he seems to be unable to express himself appropriately at times. At the same time, he comes across as uniquely in tune with the emotions of those around him, as well as being obsessed with the details of his mother’s death.

The mother’s death most profoundly affects Sebby and his father, Stephen. Sebby acts out at school and Stephen begins to have trouble managing his new reality. The father takes his son out of school to stay at their summer home, hoping that a change in routine will help both of them, but Stephen only sinks further into depression. Alone in his grief, young Sebby writes letters to his teacher and others to cope as he recalls the close bond he still shares with his mother.

Delivered in short episodes, the book moves seamlessly between past and present and into the corners of the protagonist’s brilliant mind. The author does an excellent job of conveying life from the standpoint of a young boy. The Washington Post’s Ron Charles concludes that “Up High in the Trees is not a novel about autism, a condition that affects nearly 1 percent of us; it's about grief, a condition that affects 100 percent of us at one time or another.” Brinkman’s debut is a moving and compelling story throughout. Highly recommended.

The Memory of Running

The Memory of Running, by Ron McLarty (2004)

When Smithson “Smithy” Ide loses his parents and his older sister during the same week, he knows that his life will never be the same. The protagonist, an obese, chain-smoking, hard-drinking veteran of the war in Vietnam, leaves his Rhode Island home and begins an improbable cross-country journey on his bicycle.

As the long trek begins, McLarty takes the reader back in time. The book continues in a parallel track throughout as the reader learns how Smithy has gotten to his current state. His childhood is defined by his sister’s struggle with schizophrenia and the rest of the family’s need to protect her from herself. The other defining experience for Smithy is his military service, during which he is gravely injured.

On the surface there seems to be no particular reason to root for Smithy, but other than a few youthful indiscretions, McLarty’s main character rarely seems to commit an offense against another. This, coupled with the terrible treatment he often receives from strangers, brings the reader to Smithy’s side.

Not surprisingly, much of Smithy’s journey is about coming to terms with his inability to love another person. In a figurative sense, the protagonist seems to have been running from a romantic relationship out of fear of getting hurt. Will his literal and personal journey allow him to let go of his demons and open up his heart?

McLarty has written a beautiful, epic story that this reviewer devoured in a few short days. Highly recommended for adult readers.

Christmas Jars

Christmas Jars, by Jason F. Wright (2005)

Wright has written a tender, slim novel about the triumph of the spirit. The story begins with the discovery of an infant girl, who has been abandoned in a restaurant. The woman who finds the child winds up adopting her and in the face of unforeseeable events the new mother sees a fresh beginning for herself and for the infant child. The young girl receives the name Hope.

Hope Jensen proves to be a remarkably smart young woman with a strong work ethic. She desires nothing more than to make her way to the top of the newspaper business. Upon graduation she takes a job at the local paper and while she is not well to do, she is on her way.

Hope's life takes a turn when one Christmas Eve her apartment is burgled. In the hours after the theft she finds a jar filled with money outside her doorstep. She becomes consumed with her desire to know who is behind the random act of generosity. What she finds in the course of chasing the big story will change her forever.

There are a few minor problems with the book but the story unfolds well and does what it sets out to do: to illustrate that giving is better than receiving since one's gifts are ultimately returned to them in greater measure. Secular readers will appreciate the fact the book makes its point without getting too preachy. This is a modern holiday tale that should appeal to a wide array of readers.

Changing Faces

Changing Faces, by Kimberla Lawson Roby (2006)

Roby writes about three professional women who deal with the ups and downs of work, family and romance. Whitney wages a war on her weight while Taylor faces a stagnant relationship and a frightening medical condition. Charisse’s marriage is in trouble as she struggles with her temper and controlling nature.

While each of these characters has challenges the author wastes little time in revealing the layers that lurk beneath the surface. As the title implies, all of the women face major life changes throughout the course of the story. For Charisse rage, greed and lust are disguised by a demanding and pious facade. As the chapters progress, alternating between characters in the first person, the straightforward language belies the surprising amount of pathology in these lives.

While the book’s readability is one of its biggest strengths the laid back tone is also a major weakness. The writing simply lacks the depth of emotion and a sense of growing psychological dissonance to captivate the reader. As the novel reaches a fantastic climax some readers will be caught off guard by the author’s method for finishing the story.

Roby writes with an easy manner that suggests lighter fare than what happens here. Changing Faces has some good kernels but fails to come together into a cohesive whole.

Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves & Demons of Marvin Gaye

This post is one in a series of reviews commemorating Black History Month

Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves & Demons of Marvin Gaye, by Michael Eric Dyson (2004)

Dyson has written a fascinating analysis of the life and career of the late Marvin Gaye, a book that will appeal even to readers who don't know Gaye's music all that well. That having been said, this is a weighty tome, which touches on the religious, cultural and social influences of the black community and how they shaped the singer.

For example, in examining the effect of childhood abuse on Gaye, Dyson traces the problem of domestic violence in the black family to slavery. While this is an interesting discussion, it sways quite a bit from the book's star. Some readers will find these diversions tedious.

Because Gaye's relationship with Motown founder Berry Gordy is discussed at length, anyone who has studied the studio and its music will find something of interest here. References to the black church and family will ensure this book's place in programs of African-American study. Finally, the last chapter is in large part about present-day soul star R. Kelly. Dyson's discussion of how both men merged concepts of spirituality and sexuality within their music is interesting. In short, this book is a real find for a musicologist or sociologist, but it's not a biography "for the rest of us."

Originally reviewed 1/20/05

The Coldest Winter Ever

This post is the first in a series of reviews commemorating Black History Month

The Coldest Winter Ever, by Sister Souljah (1999)

Winter Santiaga is born on a bitterly cold Brooklyn day to her mother, a homemaker, and father, who oversees a drug syndicate in their neighborhood in the projects.

Though the streets around them are poor, the Santiagas want for nothing thanks to the father's nefarious trade. Winter grows up with all of the material gods she could ever hope for, and she moves through her rough neighborhood unheeded as she has the protection of her name.

With life getting more dangerous for his family, Ricky Santiaga decides to move to Long Island. He put his wife and three daughters into a palacial home in an exclusive neighborhood. Meanwhile, he commutes back to the city to monitor his business.

When this new life garners the attention of federal authorities, Winter finds her father incarcerated and all of the family fortune confiscated. She goes from getting diamond tennis bracelets as birthday gifts to fending for herself on the streets. She spends some time living with friends and family, on the run from the Bureau of Child Welfare, which gains custody of her two younger sisters.

The protagonist puts herself above all others. She possesses a supreme sense of entitlement and while she seeks to build a criminal business of her own, she never stops looking for a man to take care of her. I find the dichotomy between her desire to get ahead of everyone around her, yet to be subservient to a strong man one of the more interesting and troubling aspects of her character.

Eventually, Winter's path crosses with that of the author herself, Sister Souljah. The activist and rapper is hosting talks with members of the community to discuss life choices and black unity. Will Winter shed her hard, selfish path and decide to change her life?

The book is like few things I've read. The language is raw but genuine, and while the story is somewhat predictable it's a powerful read. Highly recommended.

Originally reviewed 2/18/06

A Summer of Kings

A Summer of Kings, by Han Nolan (2006)

Esther is the eldest child in a well-to-do New York household when she meets King-Roy, the 18-year-old African-American son of her mother's childhood friend. The protagonist, about four years his junior, is clearly in an awkward stage in her development. Much of the story seems to hinge on the uncomfortable tension between Esther and her parents and her nascent fascination with King-Roy and the civil rights movement.

The premise of the story is compelling: during a tumultuous time in history a young white girl struggles against her sheltered upbringing to empathize with people from a different world. However, the book suffers from its inability to make this connection real for the reader. The story is hampered by improbable plot elements such as when Esther is in the middle of Harlem with her two younger siblings looking for King-Roy. These moments require a great suspension of belief yet still manage to pale in comparison to a truly fantastic ending.

It’s clear that Nolan had a good idea with this book, but she fails to convince the reader that Esther could make such a leap from privileged white girl to scholar of one of the more controversial movements of her time. The main character seems both too immature and guarded for this to be possible. In addition, the cast of supporting characters, which consists in large part of borders in Esther’s home, rarely seems to come alive, though one of her characters turns out to be crucial in the development of the story.

Nolan’s book is both well written and interesting as a work of historical fiction. And while it could be that this reviewer is asking too much from a book written for young adults, key events in the account simply seem beyond the bounds of believability. This is not a good trait for a story about such an important era in American history.

Wonderdog

Wonderdog, by Inman Majors (2004)

Dev Degraw is the recently divorced and perpetually uninspired son of the governor of the state of Alabama. A child actor in a bad television show, Dev is a man who is both dogged by his past and resigned to a future over which he seems to lack any control.

Though he is a trained attorney, the "young governor" hasn't practiced a case in months. Aside from political favors and appearances for his father Dev does little more than while away his time in Tuscaloosa bars, where he runs rather large tabs. The cast of supporting characters is varied, coming from the bars and from the seat of power in Montgomery among other places.

Told with extreme sarcasm this tale is a laugh-out-loud funny joyride that’s hard to put down. Majors peppers his staccato delivery with contempt for the small and insignificant lives of his extras, yet his protagonist seems to have little going for him but his name. The author brilliantly couples the rudderless Degraw with a larger-than-life supporting cast. The accounts of poets who have an affinity for dairy products and C-list actors who struggle to revive their careers combine to keep the reader caught off guard and frequently laughing.

Like the best tall tales, Majors’ story accomplishes what it sets out to do: make the reader shake his head in disbelief as he eagerly turns the pages. The result is one of the funnier books that this reviewer has read in several years. For fans of the zany and eccentric this one is not to be missed. Highly recommended for adult readers.

One Mississippi

One Mississippi, by Mark Childress (2006)

Just before Daniel Musgrove is to start his junior year his father gets a transfer to a new territory. Ever the company man, the action starts almost immediately when the stern father packs up the family for the trip from Indiana to their new home in the Deep South.

Daniel’s mother is a native of the South and is thrilled to be going back but the kids obviously have a tougher time adjusting. Not only does Daniel have to forgo his place on the varsity wrestling team, he is forced to deal with the profoundly different culture in Mississippi. He endures the jeers of kids on the school bus who taunt him for the way he speaks and looks. He marvels at the poverty that is all around him.

Daniel quickly forms a bond with a non-conventional Southerner, Tim Cousins. The protagonist learns a lot from Tim, including what he absolutely cannot say if he wants to avoid serious trouble. Still, Daniel cannot help but cross some of his schoolmates when he becomes enamored with Arnita, the first black prom queen in the history of the recently integrated high school. Prom night brings a mistake that will make Daniel’s life more complicated even as it pulls him into Arnita’s orbit.

The issue of race relations is probably played up a bit too much in this smart book. Granted, the Deep South was still a tense place in the 1970s, certainly a very different place than Indiana, but the Hoosier State is hardly a haven of progressive thought. (Full disclosure: the reviewer is a native of Indiana.) Even so the contrast makes for a compelling anchor for the story and a tension that keeps the reader interested.

Childress has written a thoughtful and entertaining book that will appeal to many readers ages young adult and up. Highly recommended.

An Abundance of Katherines

An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green (2006)

Colin Singleton is a high school graduate for only a day when his girlfriend, Katherine, dumps him. Wallowing in self-pity, Colin becomes obsessed with what went wrong. But rather than concentrating on his own character, he channels his energy into constructing a formula that will predict what people will be dumpers and dumpees. Perhaps he’s concerned because he’s just been dumped for the 19^th time, all by girls named Katherine.

The protagonist doesn’t have too much time to retreat into himself before his Lebanese sidekick, Hassan, appears and proposes a road trip. The two confer with skeptical parents and are quickly off in Colin’s car. They have no idea where they’re headed, but it’s not too long before they stop to visit the gravesite of a famous figure in world history. There, in a small Tennessee town, they meet Lindsey, a tour guide at the facility and her mother, Hollis, owner of the local factory.

As with Green’s hugely successful Looking for Alaska, the author creates highly developed and likable main characters. Hassan is everything that Colin is not: crudely spoken, unmotivated and ready for adventure. The young Singleton has always pushed himself to live up to his promise as a prodigy. Filling his head with useless trivia and extensive knowledge of obscure languages, it’s little wonder that he has never stopped to ask himself why he will only see girls named Katherine. Hassan is there to tell him when his digressions are boring, when he’s taking his obsessions too far and when he needs to break out of his comfort zone and take a chance.

While the book is told in the third-person point of view, Green’s narration echoes the thinking patterns of his main character. Through the course of the book there are dozens of footnotes, often with random tidbits of the kind that occupy his protagonist’s head. Rounding out the short book is an appendix of notes and formulas that expound upon Colin’s life and work.

This book is highly recommended for young adults, although adult readers will also appreciate this irreverent, cerebral and funny story.

War by Candlelight

War by Candlelight, by Daniel Alarcón (2005)

“In Lima,” writes Daniel Alarcón, “dying is the local sport.” The same is true of the Peruvian countryside, where one of the author’s characters loses his wife in a fantastic mudslide that inundates his entire village.

Alarcón’s Peru is a hard place to make a life. Nearly all of the short stories in this collection catalog the war torn country’s violence, its corruption and its lack of opportunity for able-bodied citizens. At the same time, there is a gentle nature about many of the author’s protagonists, most of who are simply trying to make the best of a bad situation.

The majority of these stories take place in Lima, a city that contains a large penitentiary for terrorists and street thugs. The local kids refer to the facility as the University “because it’s where you went when you finished high school.” In Alarcón’s first story, Flood, every moment – every breath it seems – is dominated by the neighborhood turf war, the threat of incarceration and worst of all, death at the hand of a rival gang.

For the author’s story, Absence, the scene shifts to post 9/11 New York City, where Wari, a painter, is having a showing of his work. Before leaving Peru, the painter is warned by a friend to shave, lest security officials mistake him for an Arab. The reader follows his experience at the American Embassy in Lima and even here, his situation is made more difficult. Hoping to obtain a ninety-day stay, Wari finds he can only get a one-month tourist visa. After a meeting with an abrasive embassy agent, he is limited to two weeks out-of-country.

Daniel Alarcón writes with such an authentic voice that it’s hard to imagine the lives of the people of Peru being any different that what he describes. All of the stories here bring a new tragedy – the loss of a loved one, or the story of a laid off bank employee, Miguel, who has been pleading with his girlfriend, the mother of their child, for her hand in marriage for five years. The woman loves Miguel but tells him but that she is not sure that that is enough. Miguel muses that “in this city, there is nothing more useless than imagining a life... There is no work,” he complains.

Born in Lima and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Alarcón has written a beautiful, if sobering, collection of short stories. Strongly recommended for adult readers.

The Penderwicks

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy, by Jeanne Birdsall (2005)

When the family’s established summer vacation plans fall through, Mr. Penderwick makes alternate arrangements and heads to the Berkshires with his four girls. The botanist and college professor is again on the road without his wife, who has passed away from cancer several years before. The eldest daughter, Rosalind, while only 12, has assumed the role of family matriarch. She helps her free-reigning father with the headstrong Skye, age 11, and the cerebral budding writer, Jane, age 10. Rounding out the Penderwick set is four-year-old Batty and the family dog, Hound.

The Penderwicks have rented a cottage on the stern Mrs. Tifton’s Arundel estate and the adventure begins almost immediately as Skye literally runs into Tifton’s son, Jeffrey. The boy is a gifted musician, who tries the patience of his unyielding mother. The mother and her new love interest believe that Jeffrey should honor the family tradition of becoming a military officer, an idea that the boy abhors.

Four weeks is enough time for plenty of summer play including soccer, nursing crushes on boys, crashing Mrs. Tifton’s garden showing and experiencing the family drama unfolding in the Arundel mansion. While a few of the story elements are a bit far-fetched, it hardly seems to matter as the characters are so delightful and the story line is fun to follow.

Birdsall has penned a fine first book and crafted a cast of characters that will make readers ask for more. Highly recommended for grades four through six.

Each Little Bird that Sings

Each Little Bird that Sings, by Deborah Wiles (2005)

Comfort Snowberger knows far more about death than the average 10 year old. Her family owns and operates the lone funeral home in rural Snapfinger, Mississippi and she has attended nearly 250 funerals.

The funeral home’s motto is “We live to serve,” and it is a dictum that the Snowberger clan take to heart. As her father prepares the departed for burial, Comfort’s mother handles floral arrangements and her elder brother tends the lawns. Even the family dog, Dismay, does his part by staying with the deceased in the preparation room and by standing stoically for visitations.

The author writes in her introduction about the inspiration for the book. In the four years that followed the publication of her last book she lost several family members. It was a situation that left her “suffocating in grief,” but through it all she learned “the meaning of friendship and the power of love.”

Wiles has written a tender, yet often funny book that deals with several coming-of-age issues. Death is an obvious theme, but the story also addresses the struggle of dealing with agitated family members in times of stress, as well as the strain on friendships as young people mature.

Highly recommended for ages 8 to 12, this book will appeal to young people with its strong story line and folksy, small-town humor. Adults will want their children to read a well-written book that confronts some of the struggles their children will face as they approach their teenage years.

The Poet of Tolstoy Park

The Poet of Tolstoy Park: A Novel, by Sonny Brewer (2005)

When Henry Stuart finds out that he has tuberculosis, he leaves his native Idaho for the warmer shores of Alabama, where his doctor and friend believe he will live in relative comfort. The year is 1925, a time when tuberculosis is a death sentence for most who contract it. Aged 67, Henry quickly tends to his affairs and leaves for the Deep South, where he has just purchased land in the utopian community of Fairhope. It is here that he intends to live out his days.

Almost from the beginning, the former professor finds a spiritual connection to his new home. He feels a deep connection to the land, which parallels his interest in Native American philosophy. But Henry’s chief influence is Leo Tolstoy, the Russian author who believes strongly in transcending the physical and embracing the spiritual side of life.

Henry’s new life is consumed with this embrace of the spiritual, and he is conflicted between his desire to study and write, and his need to throw himself into work in order to avoid brooding on his grave condition. An autumn hurricane ravishes his new property shortly after his arrival to Fairhope, and he becomes strongly dedicated to the latter course. He works long days, when he is able, to build a new concrete home that will survive a strong storm.

To write that this is a unique story would be an understatement, but there is something strongly compelling about Brewer’s protagonist. Henry Stuart is a man whose actions are at times so incomprehensible and whose thought process is overly turgid, yet he is a highly moral man. One will be hard-pressed not to find themselves cheering for him as the story unfolds.

This book is highly recommended for adult readers. Students of religion, philosophy, and 20th century literature will find likely take an interest in this relatively short book.

Alabama Moon

Alabama Moon, by Watt Key (2006)

Moon Blake lives with his survivalist father in a remote wilderness shelter on land owned by a paper company. From the day he is born, Moon is told that the government is out to get him and his family. He is instructed by his Pap in every aspect of living off of the land. From creating shelter to hunting and gathering food, the two have virtually everything they need to survive without others.

Moon’s isolated existence is threatened when his Pap develops a serious infection. Lacking proper medical care, the father passes away, but not before he tells Moon to find his way to Alaska, where there are other people like them.

Following Pap’s death, Moon tries to find his way in a world that is completely alien to him. He turns to the few people he knows, who promptly alert authorities. Rather than finding his new home, Moon becomes a ward of the state and he is transferred to a home for boys. In spite of the tight security there, Moon’s skills pay off as he executes an escape. He absconds to the woods with a couple of new friends from the boys’ home.

On the run from a determined and abusive constable, Moon learns that there are consequences for his actions. He begins to question what he has been told about the government and about living off of the land. Will Moon be able to outrun the authorities and make his way to Alaska, or will his journey end at another boys’ home, or worse, jail?

Key’s first novel is very well written and while it is intended for young adult audiences, the plot and characters are strong enough to keep the attention of older readers as well. Strongly recommended.

Gods in Alabama: A Novel

Gods in Alabama: A Novel, by Joshilyn Jackson (2005)

Arlene Fleet has long since left her native Dixie for a new life in Chicago. When the story begins, she hasn't visited her home for some nine years. Arlene's childhood was not an easy one and her family is infuriating but as the story progresses it becomes apparent that Arlene harbors a terrible secret.

The cultural conflict of a Deep South family losing their girl to the North is played to the hilt here and provides some of the funnier moments in the book. Arlene's Aunt Florence has written her niece off to perdition even though the young woman remains a Baptist. Potentially more troublesome is Arlene's black boyfriend: while he is a successful lawyer and church-going man, interracial relations are still problematic for many in her home town of Possett, Alabama.

An old high school acquaintance begins to seek answers as to what became of their former classmate, the star quarterback. When this figure from a previous life crosses paths with the protagonist Arlene is forced to confront her confusing and painful past.

It's a testament to Jackson's abilities as a writer that a mystery novel could also be such solidly funny fiction. Witty and light, there are enough twists and turns here to hold the reader's attention throughout. Highly recommended, young adults and older.

Unscarred

Unscarred, by R.M. Hamilton (2006)

Hamilton makes his debut with this tale from a distant land named Eir. While this is his first book, the Chicago-area author’s biography includes some ten years of work in printing and graphic arts.

The fantasy begins with the gruesome toppling of King Jonathan’s empire by Marauder’s vicious henchmen, a battle that determines the entire fate of the land. Marauder’s order, The Eternal Flame, is a ruthless band that inflicts terror on all of their subjects. Shortly after the opening salvo, the reader meets Kyle, a farm boy whose relationship with the feared dictator becomes the central conflict in the story.

When Kyle meets tragedy he learns of his own mysterious lineage. The young farmhand is pulled into Marauder’s orbit following the death of his parents and he is forced to help the dictator find an ancient amulet that only Kyle can retrieve.

The reader meets Melinda, a barmaid, and her brother Adam, who together are proprietors of a successful tavern. They, along with Ellis, a nomad with a questionable past, figure in Kyle’s story as the protagonist finds his way.

The book suffers somewhat from lean editing, but this flaw rarely takes away from the enjoyment of a fast-paced novel. In sum, Hamilton’s debut is a swift-moving, action-packed tale that leaves the reader ready for more. The author is already working on his next novel, which will be the sequel to Unscarred. The graphic fight scenes make this book unsuitable for children; recommended for all other age groups.