The Place That Never Existed by Jim Ody

reviewed from Kindle
written by Jim Ody
publisher CrazyInk

What can I say about the creativity of this book? All I can say is "WOW!" This is the first book I have read by Jim Ody and I must say it is a tightly woven story that leads the reader in many directions.  From psychological overtones, to several sexual encounters, to a heartfelt love that survives regardless of multiple efforts to kill it. From a honeymoon in a village that seems a little strange and has a history of missing people to an ending that the reader will not see coming, my attention was grabbed from the beginning. Of course with a title about the non-existent place that is the source of fear, confusion and deadly pitfalls, I just knew I had to read this book. I am very glad I did and I will be looking for more by this author. The build-up was something that couldn't bring to mind where it was going and when the finale came it was spot on. Jim Ody, you took me completely by surprise.

The Hummingbird Wizard by Meredith Blevins

reviewed by e-reader
by Meredith Blevins

Wow, this book almost wore me out! Fasten your seatbelts, you're in for a wild ride! The characters are fun to read, always plotting against each other or with each other, characters you won't readily forget. This mixed Gypsy and non-Gypsy family is fascinating to follow. Full-blown life and sudden death; a dose of magic and the paranormal mixed through the plot. Who is the mysterious Hummingbird Wizard? Gypsy lore, bit of culture mixed in. This is a story to keep one glued to the pages. Meredith Blevins has given us a remarkable roller-coaster of love, murder and deceit. It is also a very full story with a lot going on throughout. The matriarch is fully in control, fierce but full of life. A true gypsy fortune-teller and a woman of many surprises, she is a bundle of conflicting emotions and brings the reader into them like a moth to flame. So many twists I got dizzy. The interaction between Madame Mina and Annie Szabo, the mother-in-law and the widowed daughter-in-law, is a tug-of-war of feelings. I don't believe I've ever read a story like it. It grips you and doesn't let you go. First in the Annie Szabo Mystery Series, and I think I'll be back for the second.

Promised Lands: Growing Up Absurd in the 50's and 60's by Douglas Williams

Douglas Williams begins his memoir somewhere in the middle, describing life as a hippie at a time when so many young people slung on their backpacks and took off for the quest to live life wild and free, travelling through Europe mostly, some dipping into Africa and Asia as well. He has described the scene of the counter-culture life of the '60s well, both good and bad. It may be symbolic that he next reverts to his childhood memories in the second part of the book.

Living rural near a small town in post-war Canada, his parents immigrants, life was loosely structured but strongly disciplined. The author bares his heart and soul in this memoir. We see a slice of life in what could be referred to as a border town on Lake Erie through the eyes of a child, then through his teen-age years. His honesty is "no holds barred" about himself and the lack of adjustment to the times in a small town.

His father's death when Doug was 7 profoundly affected him in numerous ways. The most consistent theme in his life appears to be his creativity, whether it be in ill-chosen exploits with school friends, or the creativity that comes through during the 1960s, it remains central to his character. By the time the '60s are in full swing, he lacks a close family relationship and is ready for his journey abroad.

As he tours several countries, intimate encounters, and whatever drugs come along, his descriptive writing gives the reader one man's record of a unique and surprising decade. He makes fairly lasting friendships regardless of the nature of his meanderings through time and place. This decade is forever etched in the minds of anyone who lived through it, whether in the counter-culture or away from it, it was a stupifying time filled with change. A time of living music speaking to a new generation.

This book reflects the changes in the traditional mores, beliefs, politics, drugs and sex, a book for those who will remember the distrust, unrest, the revolt on rigid morals, religion, war and corporate greed driving political agendas, and as such is definitely an adult book. The book is true to itself -- Doug Williams kept a journal which is probably why he was able to write so comprehensively on his subject. We learn that among the spaced out, starving, and sharing, there is also humour. Travelling with friends in a malodorous, airless, traditional old VW van is often hilarious. In keeping with his creative side, he touches on his occasional forays into the film industry while in Europe,  a stint at a film school in London, England, discussing with the reader his thoughts on movie-makers and their impact on him. Among those movie contacts he mentions are Truffault, Kubrick, and Hitchcock, as a few.

For readers who were not around during what really begins in the 1950s through into the '70s, this book is an eye-opening trip, both in hippiedom and in the aftermath of WWII, segueing into the fear and adulterated suspicion of the Cold War and on through the biased Viet Nam war. This book deals primarily with those fast-changing decades.What he writes in this memoir is baldly honest. What you read is what he is.

As a descriptive and thought-provoking author, I suspect we haven't heard the last of Douglas Williams. But whether his next book will be about the industry of film making, the National Film Board, TV directing, producing and writing, or more travels, we will have to wait and see. Regardless, I'm sure it will be interesting.

The Organ Grinder and The Monkey by Sam Moffie

Reviewed for Review the Book
Published by Xlibris

I found this book unsettling, not in my comfort zone, although I can see there is humor, angst, poverty, imagination, unique characters, believability and hope. The story is mostly either in conversation or thoughts. Although I found the one-liners by Constance got tired very quickly, it seemed right. I loved the comical efforts to keep the memory of Dean Martin alive, Seymour's father's obsession. Seymour's Italian parents are divorced, his father gay and his mother fixated by the fact. It is very uncomfortable for him as a child to have overnight visits with his father, and yet daytime visits run fairly smoothly. The scene in which the character of Seymour is traumatized was difficult for me to read.

What I liked about the book was the building and shaping of the three main characters, Seymour, Irving, and Constance, from their struggling beginnings in the small, decrepit towns of Ohio and Massachusetts, to their lives in New York. The connection between Seymour and his "Papa" (grandfather) is a great comfort to this young impressionable boy, and a steadying influence for him. From him, Seymour became well-versed in the history of the town. With a chance to get away from Steubenville with an inheritance, Seymour's goal is to become a veterinarian, for which he has a special talent.

Irving, the son of radicals, mother Jewish and father Irish, gets assistance from a policeman in his old town, and decides to set his goal on being the "best cop in New York", a handsome goal that certainly has it's pitfalls in a world of corruption, but as a person who believes everything is a conspiracy, he has a better chance at keeping clean than most. Constance's ambition from her earliest days is to be a dancer with the Rockettes. Constance, raised by her mother alone, is both talented and beautiful. Her beauty plays against her in New York. These three innocents have never been out of their small towns before.

All three of our unlikely protagonists are very different with simply small town life and college as their connection. The novel is complex, informative, and shows us a slice of life that is almost impossible to overcome. Sam Moffie is definitely an exceptional author with his own style. Events throughout the book will take the reader through hilarity, tragedy, and determination against the odds.

Even the therapist is not altruistic, she is expecting to get a best-selling book out of her sessions with Seymour. He has now been diagnosed with split personality. Complications and changes soon begin moving thick and fast. Irving attends Al-Anon as well as therapy, trying to deal with his drug and alcohol addicted wife. Constance has everything she needs to be a Rockette and/or stand-out actress, but with no resume, she is now the victim of playing small parts off-off Broadway, and full-time dancer at the strip-club, S.T.R.I.P. It is hard not to become involved in the lives of these characters, a sign of a good author. This is definitely not a "feel-good" book but the intricacy and readers' fascination with every aspect of life, it is one of the best of its type. The book is intense, raw, with acts of deviant sexual extremes, and politically incorrect; shocking yet insightful. It speaks to a time of corruption, desperation, and victims of circumstance.

The characters, their dreams, their trials, their achievements all stand up to the test. The changes in Seymour's life midway through the book, build the story to the final outcome, as the story's focus speeds up. Interestingly, it seems at this point much like a thriller with cheat sheets, the reader knows who, but the characters don't. Few people other than the therapist come out ahead. “The Organ Grinder and The Monkey” was a "Best Books, USA Book News" Award Finalist. In the version I read, there are some Reading Group Questions and Topics for Discussions in the back.