99¢ BOOK OF THE WEEK

ABANDONED DREAMS

‘til Sept. 21st at

https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003DS6LEU

Have you ever wondered what dreams you might have fulfilled

if life hadn't got in the way?

What if you had an opportunity to try again?

At twenty-seven years-old, George Fairweather is “the voice of his generation”, a poet whose talent has garnered him accolades from the literary establishment and homage from the disenfranchised “hippie” youth of the late 1960’s.

George is the embodiment of the times with his long hair, rebellious attitude and regular use of mind-expanding psychedelic drugs.

Then the sudden and tragic death of Fallon, his friend, his muse and his lover shatters his world, his sanity and nearly ends his life.

Katherine is the one person who stands between George and destruction. A hanger-on, a groupie, a go-for, she’s a woman George never considered – for anything. Katherine idolizes George and makes it her personal mission to keep him alive, doing whatever it takes, twenty-four seven.

Because of Katherine’s sacrifice and devotion George slowly begins to mend his soul and rebuild a life. But guilt and gratitude make it a much different life then he’d previously led.

Thirty-seven years later, George Fairweather is a husband, father and grandfather and a successful copywriter at an advertising agency. Another death, his wife Katherine’s, is about to change his life again.

Can dreams be resurrected? Can a live abandoned be taken up again?

Will they let him?

Is it worth it?

"Literary and artistic matters including the drive for fame and creativity, as well as cutting citicism, are refreshingly realistic and provide illuminating insights into the minds of writers and artists.”

Judge Number 54, The 26th Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards 

★★★★★ "A well told, fascinating and powerful story. Highly recommended."

★★★★★  Lovely premise, well-delivered
 "...offers an unflinching look at how circumstance, both disastrous and mundane, can shove youthful ambitions aside...excellently insidious character development, where every individual springs from the page."

- Mary Keefer, Amazon Verified Purchase

The Seeker of Abandoned Dreams

He is not now, nor has he ever been

the person you think you know.

What you see is a complex compromise

of demons, dreams, desires,

the blunted spear of passion,

the dull edge of intellect,

an over-talked argument, the last guest

at a weary gathering.

Extraneous stuff slips away,

the affairs of friends hold little interest

and the lack of things in common

make conversation the killer

to his preferred silence.

The focus has narrowed, the journey closes,

the lack of purpose becomes

defined.

He’s going out there now

to slough off conventions,

become what wind, sun and rain would have him be

beyond different.

He’s taking with him

something vague and inarticulate,

less than a memory, tinged with warning.

He’ll travel with no expectations

only to be

uncomplicated, uncompromised,

unknown.

WATCH THE VIDEO TRAILER AT

https://animoto.com/play/V5Yvza9cf8kHiiGlTPCHxA

ABANDONED DREAMS

Free ‘til Jan. 19 at

https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003DS6LEU

Have you ever wondered what dreams you might have fulfilled

if life hadn't got in the way?

What if you had an opportunity to try again?

At twenty-seven years-old, George Fairweather is “the voice of his generation”, a poet whose talent has garnered him accolades from the literary establishment and homage from the disenfranchised “hippie” youth of the late 1960s.

George is the embodiment of the times with his long hair, rebellious attitude and regular use of mind-expanding psychedelic drugs.

Then the sudden and tragic death of Fallon, his friend, his muse and his lover shatters his world, his sanity and nearly ends his life.

Katherine is the one person who stands between George and destruction. A hanger-on, a groupie, a go-for, she’s a woman George never considered – for anything.  Katherine idolizes George and makes it her personal mission to keep him alive, doing whatever it takes, twenty-four seven. 

Because of Katherine’s sacrifice and devotion, George slowly begins to mend his soul and rebuild a life. But guilt and gratitude make it a much different life than he’d previously led.

Thirty-seven years later, George Fairweather is a husband, father and grandfather and a successful copywriter at an advertising agency. Another death, his wife Katherine’s, is about to change his life again.

Can dreams be resurrected?

Can a life you’ve abandoned be taken up again?

Is it worth it?

Will they let you?

Abandoned Dreams - Free 'til Jan. 19, 2021at

https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003DS6LEU

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#booklovers #newfiction #readers #read

Talk about a wild ride! 10-out-of-10, will listen again! This was amazing. The story was sad and heart-wrenching, yet hopeful. This made me cry.

Xiomara is a teenage girl trying to navigate life with so many things pulling her in different directions. It spoke to so many teenagers living similar lives. There are parents who try to live their lives through their children, parents, who think they're doing what is best for their children, but are actually putting them in cages to live the lives they want for them rather than letting their child just live, forcing instead of guiding. It was so sad and it upset me so much as a parent. The ending was hopeful, because the family as a whole sought outside help to deal with their issues, which so many families need to do, but do not. It gave me hope that while things would never be perfect, they could get better.

I am so very glad that I bought the audibook version of this book, because hearing the author's words, in her own voice made it more powerful and profound for me. This was excellent and I look forward to reading/hearing more from the author.

Not too much to say here except this was kind of middling. This was one of the earlier Connelly books and he ended up inserting these characters into the larger Bosch world novels later on. They definitely worked better in a Bosch book than a Jack McEvoy book. I think it's because I honestly did not care for Jack. Some of his insights as we find are incorrect. He ends up doubting everything and everyone and is focused on not getting pushed out of the investigation. I also have to call BS that a reporter would even be allowed into a FBI manhunt for a serial killer but of course it makes sense when you get to the ending. 

"The Poet" follows Jack McEvoy who is left reeling after his twin brother's suicide. When Jack starts digging though, he ties his brother's investigation into a cold case to links to other suicides of police with cases they could not solve. When Jack stumbles upon a probable serial killer, he is pulled into the FBI investigation. He meets Special Agent Rachel Walling and her boss/supervisor Robert Backus along with some other FBI agents. Connelly also explores another point of view in this story, we follow William Gladden who is a pedophile that a link to the cases that Jack and the FBI is trying to solve.

The character of Jack, eh. I really didn't care for him. Comparing him to Bosch he was definitely just okay. Having an entire book about him and his hunt for the truth was kind of boring. I think mostly because Jack's reasons for staying involved with the case were not really noble. He says it's for his brother, but really it's for the story and glory of what he is getting involved with. His "insights" into things was laughable too. He goes and pesters people and starts notes, but when he is working with Rachel and others, they are the ones who are putting things together. I also didn't like the relationship with Rachel, probably because Jack was questioning it and her almost immediately about what did it mean and were they together. He seemed to be written in a way to fit whatever Connelly was trying to do and not really as a developed character. The Jack we meet at the beginning of the book didn't really seem the relationship type.

The other characters are so-so with regards to development. Gladden was developed very well and his sections were hard to read. I think the book would have worked better if we didn't see inside his head though. Just make the focus be on Jack like it usually is on Bosch for the Bosch books.

The writing was all over the place. I have to say certain things didn't make sense and the flow didn't help things. Jumping from Jack to Gladden was a lot to wade through (this book was 528 page) and I was glad to be done.

The setting of the book jumps all over and I can't even recall the cities/states right now. The ending didn't really work. Things get resolved with regards to the Poet in "The Narrows" though and I liked that one much better, I gave it 4 stars. I will read the next book in the McEvoy series soon, that's called "The Scarecrow." 

This one dragged a bit. Jack seems impulsive and not that bright when you get to the end and see how much he messed things up. I’m curious what the standalone novel being published this year shapes up to be. 

Loved the introduction to Special Agent Rachel Walling.

The two storylines going on didn’t mesh for me right away until Connelly showed the connections. Until then the flow back and forth between Jack and a convicted pedophile wasn’t working for me. It took me a bit to warm up to Bosch so I’m not surprised I’m fairly warm to a new character written by Connelly.