John Vercher

I received an advance copy of this book, Thank you.

I have never read a book quite like this. I was curious, and the book compelled me to finish it, but I didn't like it. What I didn't like about it, probably would cause the author to say, "Don't you understand, your reaction is exactly what I was trying to evoke in people." and he would be right. The book jumps right into grabbing your attention and making you connect emotionally to the narrator. He is in the procession heading to bury his teenage son. He's carrying on a conversation with his son; conversations he should have had while his son was alive. Suddenly he is gripped by a panic attack, all this I could completely understand and sympathize with. We don't know how his son died, just that it was way too soon.
Throughout the rest of the book, the story unwinds as he continues to talk with his son, reflect back to his own childhood, reflect back even further. This is where I began to get impatient with the character. He's got a lot of baggage, and that weighs him down. It weighs him down in a way that he is 100% self absorbed and self wallowing. As he talks to his son, and looks back on their conversations, he admits he should have said something other than what he had. After half the book like this, I wanted to smack him and say, "yes, you were the grown up, you should have tried harder to reach your son". See, I told you, the author succeeded in evoking my emotions. The book continues on, all his baggage is clearly what his self revolves around, and he can't move forward. The way the author writes even emphasizes this. There were at least a couple places where one sentence went on for over 1/2 the page. Yes, I was reading silently, but mentally I couldn't take a breath. It wasn't until almost the last few pages, that the Narrator admits he's wasted his time/life trying to be something he isn't, but couldn't stop trying for it.

As I mentioned before, I didn't care for this book yet, without a doubt, it drew a strong reaction from me. I imagine there will be a lot of people who love it.… (meer)