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arts / rec.arts.books / General fiction reviews

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o General fiction reviewsSteve Hayes

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General fiction reviews

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From: hayes...@telkomsa.net (Steve Hayes)
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Subject: General fiction reviews
Date: Wed, 25 May 2022 05:43:16 +0200
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 by: Steve Hayes - Wed, 25 May 2022 03:43 UTC

The General Fiction Shelf

Pasta Mike
Andrew Cotto
Black Rose Writing
https://www.blackrosewriting.com
9781684338658, $16.95 Paper/$3.99 Kindle

https://www.amazon.com/Pasta-Mike-Story-Friendship-Loss/dp/1684338654

Pasta Mike is a novella about male friendship, loss, and mental
illness, and follows Andrew Cotto's survey of his 40-year friendship
with another man, which ends suddenly when Mike dies. This prompts a
spiral into depression which holds no easy resolution as Andrew
struggles with the loss of a friendship that can never be replaced.
It's also a review of a somewhat idyllic New York childhood, the close
bonds of boys who differed in ethnicity but shared so much that it
felt like they were brothers, and a survey of how that bond began,
evolved, was broken, and continued unexpectedly. As adulthood brings
girlfriends and wives, teaching jobs, and new experiences, the two
remain firmly bonded by roots and interactions that keep their
friendship alive on a different level.

Abruptly changed and challenged by death, Andrew seeks to avoid the
memories that once gave him strength. As his trajectory spirals
downward, readers receive a solid examination of this process: "The
routines, so to speak, both good (writing every day) or bad (getting
shit-faced each night and taking cigarette walks) kept me occupied
somewhat as each day became an exercise in avoidance. Memories of Mike
interrupted me throughout the day, and especially when my guard was
down during times of either not being immersed in creativity or
succored by liquor. The experience was relentless as it was jarring,
just a normal moment alone or in front of a class or talking to
someone else, when a thought of Mike would arrive and ruin everything.
I assumed this was a temporary condition, a phase of grief that I was
entitled to because we had so many memories, and that, eventually,
this "new normal" I kept hearing about from people who spoke of grief
would arrive like a new day and the life I previously enjoyed would
return, minus a key figure, of course, but livable nonetheless."

At once a journey through friendship's bonds, their disintegration,
and Andrew's process of moving beyond the pain, Pasta Mike represents
a study in emotional growth from beginning to end that holds its roots
in connections and love.

Biographical fiction seldom emerges as poignantly and powerfully as in
Pasta Mike. Blend a first-person memoir format with the embellishing
drama of fiction and the psychology of interpersonal relationships and
self-examination for a winning story that men and women alike will
find compelling, revealing, and hard to put down. While its novella
format translates to library interest for fiction collections, ideally
Pasta Mike will be included in discussion groups about men's
friendships and mental health during grief. It's a powerful saga that
grabs and doesn't let go.

Beauty Abides
Robert Albo
Independently Published
9798784246547, $14.99 Paper/$3.99 Kindle

https://www.amazon.com/Beauty-Abides-DARK-MATTER-NECKLACE/dp/B09NGTB7K4

Book 2 in the series Her Dark Matter Necklace is just as evocative a
work of metaphysical, visionary fiction as its predecessor, and
continues the saga of a teenage orphan destined to become humanity's
savior. Or, is she? Alice holds doubts about her self, her destiny,
and her future. It's been three months since events placed her in a
position of fame, and since she survived what happened to her father.

Newcomers to this story will find that Robert Albo succinctly recaps
these past events, winding them into the story's opening lines a
manner that will remind prior readers of the past while educating
newcomers about Alice's background.

This approach to building the present plot on the foundations of past
experiences makes Beauty Abides accessible to all and neatly dovetails
with a story that evolves as Alice confronts her deepest fears, more
metaphysical events, and the evolution of her changed position among
her peers, new friends, and more.

One feature to note as the story moved forward is that Alice isn't
your typical spunky character filled with self-confidence. Indeed, her
doubts power this story of her pursuit of an uncertain destiny. She
questions everything around her -- most of all, her changed role and
evolving position of power.

As the government's Project Dark Knight (a fifth force electromagnetic
beam that breaks the matter/dark matter bond, effectively dissolving
any matter it touches) proceeds, Alice finds herself in the center of
a tumultuous struggle that calls upon her newfound strengths, powers,
and yet-new sense of self and purpose. Her efforts to make the
blossoming Community of Beauty successful against all odds places her
in increasing positions of self-awareness and connection that hold
important lessons for the rest of the world.

Albo's attention to psychological development and detail create just
as compelling a story as its predecessor. The direction, purpose, and
consequences of failure are clearly outlined to Alice: "Humanity has
two futures. One is love, compassion, and the arts. The other is
unenlightened self-interest that results in human misery for the
majority, abundant worldly pleasures for the few, and the destruction
of natural beauty. The conditions for success have never been better
and the repercussions for failure have never been worse...You and your
world, society, and technology are at a crossroads. Either come
together around a common purpose or remain fragmented in selfishness.
This is your last shot for change."

The tension, action, metaphysical encounters, and social and political
descriptions are very nicely done, creating a story that will appeal
to a wide age range, from teenagers to adult readers, and across
genres, from fantasy to fiction. Its multifaceted approach makes
Beauty Abides a winning read that operates both as a stand-alone story
and as a fitting addition to the series, ending in a cliffhanger to be
continued in the next story.

Death, the Pharmacist
D. Ike Horst
https://horstbooks.com
Atmosphere Press
www.atmospherepress.com
9781639882274, $16.99

https://www.amazon.com/Death-Pharmacist-D-Ike-Horst/dp/1639882278

Death takes many forms in different stories, but in Death, the
Pharmacist, Death runs the "ever-white way station that was his
pharmacy" and caters to beings who "...appeared day after day to pick
up their daily dose of life essence, and it was a single-minded
pursuit that required nothing but the innate desire to continue one's
existence."

If you are not just taking but distributing life, your perspective
about those around you is different. It takes a miracle to change that
certainty about life and death. It takes Robinette, a human who breaks
into Death's worldview and purposes, to change him. She sees through
him with a clarity that astonishes even the seasoned Death, who has
presumably seen and heard everything in life and death. As he embarks
on a journey to explore unnatural alterations, nature, and his other
self, readers move through Death and a life that revises his view of
mortals as relatively mindless beings. Perhaps he owes more to them
than doling out demises.

As readers emerge from the sheltered and set world of Death's pharmacy
into the greater world with Death and Robinette, they receive a
delightful blend of philosophical inspection and insights that
traverse immortal and mortal concerns alike. Readers will enjoy the
special brand of psychological and philosophical inspection that may
assume the form of Death, but ultimately rises to become something
very different.

D. Ike Horst creates a fine story of a paradigm changing series of
events to show that even a centuries-old perspective set in stone can
be changed. His is a thought-provoking read that injects
contemplative, novel circumstances with a sense of fun and
self-inspection to create a delightful interplay between fictional
exploration and spiritual and social inspection. Death, the Pharmacist
simply delights. It is highly recommended reading for anyone
interested in an uncommon opportunity for a figurehead of demise to
"be a better vision of himself" against all odds and definitions.

Asterisk: A Wildcard Character
Booth Milovnik
Fulton Books
9781639857968 $32.95 hc / $8.49 Kindle

https://www.amazon.com/Asterisk-Wildcard-Character-Booth-Milovnik/dp/1638607745

Synopsis: In January of 1983, fourteen-year-old Cindy found out that
she was pregnant. Her faith-filled mother was crushed. She ended up
giving birth and naming the baby Matthew. Cindy ended up calling
Matthew her little asterisk. As Cindy tells us the story of her life,
Matthew seems to be a footnote to everything that happens. But Matthew
is not just an asterisk in his mother's story. Family members and
friends also share their stories, and Matthew seems to be an asterisk
in all of them.

Who is Matthew? Who is his father? Just how important is Matthew to
everyone he encounters as he grows up? Read stories that are raw and
emotional. Sometimes funny, often sad, but always compelling. Enjoy
this unconventional look at someone's life through the eyes of many
different people, including Matthew himself.


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