CLEAN by Ken Sweet

CLEAN, by Ken Sweet is an interesting story of one man's vision of redemption. Ben has lived the life of the average "every-man" and he is frustrated with it all: his marriage, his job and his existence in general. He realizes the need to free himself, to go in search of CLEAN. Ben hopes that if he can win a final showdown against the dark man that haunts him then he will finally be rid of his inner demons and be reborn. The writing in CLEAN is exactly that. Ken Sweet has impeccably edited this self published novel and he's an excellent writer to boot. His imagery puts you right in the middle of the mystical old world locations over in Britain as Ben quests from site to site for clues to CLEAN. And when Ben ultimately finds what he's been searching for, he realizes that instead of finding the end of a journey, he's really only found the beginning.

Cracking Grace by Steven Stromp

Cracking Grace by Steven Stromp, is a delightfully tragic tale. This self published book through lulu.com was short, but long enough to tell the story. Audrey and her father are dealing with the recent loss of her mother. Their family have been the long time caretakers of a nearby cemetery in the woods and now the mother has been buried there. Audrey realizes the loss, but her father is unable to let go of his beloved wife so easily as he begins a trek along the edge of madness. Unknown at first to Audrey are the living tenants of the cemetery which have been watching, listening and wondering about her and her family for quite some time. With the aid of a small bluebird, the statues have been seeking answers about the world around them and about why they are who they are. The story is quite different and very charming, but don't look for theological answers from the book. There's one better suited for that. Stromp is a very good writer and the narrative is always engaging. I was actually surprised at the sudden turn the story takes closer to the end of the book, but that makes it even more interesting and Mr. Stromp brings a nice close to it all with a happier, if not somewhat morbid, ending. One of the most profound ideas in Cracking Grace was that with all of our ability to move and feel and learn about the world around us and the mysteries beyond, most people still know little more than a few cemetery statues about the meaning of life.

Another Worldly Device

Another Worldly Device, by Serdar Yegulap, is a self published novel available only at LULU.com. The book is a coming of age story that attempts to mix some conflict in by way of a mysterious kidnapping of the pre-teen Jane's foster parents. Jane is then eventually adopted by the eccentric Japanese author that lives next door. There is a tie that binds between this woman and the kidnappers although it takes most of the book to find out what that is. The story focuses most of its first person narrative on the relationship between Jane and Satoko with the mysterious kidnapping and break-ins as a back drop to their getting to know one another. Serdar plays the total dysfunction of their relationship like a fine tuned instrument and on the level of coming of age and so forth, the story delivers. However one thing I would fault Mr. Yegulap with is the lack of understanding the reader is ultimately given on the nature of Satoko's power, since the whole background of the story is set around this power and those who are trying to prove its existence among mankind. The book is laced with editing mistakes that tend to really come out in force after the first half of the book. This might be expected with a self published title. A word of warning: this book contains very strong language and is certainly not suitable for the YA crowd even though the main character is 11 years old.

The Seventh Mountain

The Seventh Mountain, by Gene Curtis has been labeled by some as a Christianized version of Harry Potter and given the many obvious similarities, this may be with good reason. The story revolves around Mark Young who is to become a very important member of the mystical group known as the Magi. This is an unveiled reference to the Magi or "Wise Men" from the bible, but Mr. Curtis has endowed them with further mystical powers and a hidden society with seven schools on seven mountains. This parallel with biblical Magi trails away to the Potter arena by these things and the exploration of them throughout the story. I must say that I was disappointed with the story, which seemed promising with its hook on the Potter-esque, but it failed to deliver the goods. For one, the first few chapters are completely non-grabbing and these are some of the most important to pull the reader in. Another problem that I had was that the school itself is supposed to be mystical and oozing with ancient culture and supernatural happenings, but the reader is continually tripped up by the references to paying for the school with a bank account, the selling of school books in a regular old college style bookstore where normal kid tech like video games and cd players and stuff is also sold--basically the school appears to have a mall in it where sword and sorcery combine with the trappings of 21st century adolescence. It seemed like a very forced mix and not in tune with the story. But abiding these problems, the story spends most of its time engaging with school bullies and hanging out with friends rather than any real conflict with the Antagonist, a prime evil spirit that wants Mark's special sheperds staff for his own and the boy out of his way. Any conflict between the two is short lived and only comes in the very last chapter or two and it turned anticlimatic to boot. The self published LULU novel, The Seventh Mountain is a reasonably entertaining story for the YA crowd, but it lacks the kind of depth and drive I was hoping to see from it.

Miss Alice Merriwether's Long Lost Cakes

Miss Alice Merriwether's Long Lost Cakes, by Barry Aitchison, has to be one of the oddest, yet well written and interesting books I have read in a long time. At the outset, let me say that the only reason this story did not get a 10 rating from me is because of its long use of profanity--a coarse hair in the icing of Miss Alice's delectable cake. This is the second book I have reviewed by the small british based publisher, Velluminous Press, and I continue to be impressed with them. They are turning out interesting and nice looking books from over in the motherland and Miss Alice is among them. To the story: Think small town America meets Tim Burton and you might come close. This story is told with precision and each page begs to be turned! Mr. Aitchison gives the reader just enough enticement from each P.O.V. change to keep you moving through the story at a brisk pace. The narrative is charming and alarmingly accurate to the odd meanderings of small town folk. Mr. Quentin C. Coriander has suddenly arrived in Parcival, USA and though he is an odd sort, they eventually pay him no mind. After a jealous Sheriff Pumpernickel threatens Coriander over one Miss Alice Merriwether and her delicious cakes, the town suddenly finds itself scooped out of planet Earth and hastened away to somewhere unknown. The town must come to grips with the fact that they "aren't in Kansas anymore...oh, silly, they never were," and their isolation inside of an invisible dome--yes, the entire town; land and all. Now they must solve the mystery of where they are, why they are here, and who this odd fellow Quentin C. Coriander really is and his true intentions for the Parcivillians. The humor of Miss Alice resides in the accurate portrayal of its characters and boy are they ever--characters that is...so pull up a book, and try a whopping sugary slice of Miss Alice's Long Lost Cakes.