TITLE: Praise of Motherhood 
 
AUTHOR: Phil Jourdan
 
PUBLISHER: Zer0 Books (imprint of John Hunt Publishing)
 
GENRE: Memoir
 
PAGES: 125



THE RUNDOWN

Praise of Motherhood is a memoir about the life and death of Phil Jourdan’s mother, who stood by him throughout his tumultuous childhood. As much as the book is about his mother, it is about him: the hallucinations and violent urges that hospitalized him and defined his youth. To me, the book is a psychological study. On the one hand, we have a well-read, analytical narrator who seems to have his wits about him. On the other hand, we have a psychotic young man who simultaneously hates and loves his mother. The reader must ask, how can these two people be the same?

There is a self-indulgent quality to the prose in Praise of Motherhood that is so honest in its presentation that I, the reader, assumed the same tendencies. I read the book at a frenzied pace and had to fight to put it down. The book is unusual and intoxicating, with an intentional lack of attention to time or reality. The narrator, Phil Jourdan, is so unreliable in his storytelling that I wanted to label it a novel, not a memoir. And yet, it read unlike any novel or memoir I have ever read.

Praise of Motherhood lacks the ABC plotline that defines mainstream books. Other than some tangents that were slightly longer than necessary, the lack of direction in Praise of Motherhood didn’t slow me down. I would describe the contents of the book as philosophy, not story. Phil Jourdan is well-read, citing Freud, Oedipus, Kafka and other great minds, challenging their thoughts and applying his own. His writing is introspective and honest and there are more than a few gems sprinkled throughout the text. With his spellbinding stream-of-thought narrative, which revolves around the life and death of his mother, Phil manages to gain my respect despite the fact that I acknowledge his experiences as unreliable at best.


THE RECOMMENDATION

Readers who enjoyed The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath will eat up Phil Jourdan’s book. It is not a light read, but it is a quick one. Something that you will devour in a short period of time and digest for years to come. If you are looking for a new perspective, a dark twist on reality, pick up Phil Jourdan’s book. Additionally, anyone with a close friend or family member who is suffering from mental trauma or psychosis may gain some understanding of their loved one’s predicament by reading Praise of Motherhood. There are some mature moments which may not be suitable for a younger audience.

Find Phil on Facebook
Visit Phil's blog, Slothrop


If you enjoyed this review, you can subscribe to the Underground or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

TITLE: The Dewey Decimal System

AUTHOR: Nathan Larson

PUBLISHER: Akashic Books

EDITOR: Ibrahim Amhad

GENRE: Post-Apocalyptic Fiction

PAGES: 251

THE RUNDOWN

Perhaps the fatal flaw of The Dewey Decimal System is the title itself. Never have I had to so adamantly defend a book from curious bystanders who said, “Wow, that sounds boring.” But despite the title, The Dewey Decimal System was one of the most engaging, fast-paced and entertaining novels I have read in a long time.

Dewey Decimal, our hero, is an OCD librarian-wannabe and part-time hit-man in post-apocalyptic New York City. The novel is told in a refreshing and entertaining voice as Dewey gets himself into trouble time and time again. Dewey is addicted to “little blue pills” and Purell hand sanitizer, and believes that his memories were implanted in his brain to replace who he used to be.

We don’t learn much about Dewey’s skills as a librarian, but we do learn that he’s not a very good hit-man. He quickly finds himself tangled in a death triangle that resembles a love triangle: Before the novel is out he has been assigned to kill the man he used to work for by the man he was originally assigned to kill, and has fallen in love with the woman that both men want dead. Throughout most of the book, he is dragging himself, wounded, from one danger to the next. I couldn’t put the book down, afraid that in my absence Dewey would be shot and killed.

While I enjoyed the book in the beginning, it’s a good thing I took some time between finishing The Dewey Decimal System and writing a review. If I had written the review the day afterwards, it would have been a long string of expletives. Looking back, a book that can incite so much passionate anger and frustration must be a good one.

I can’t fully explain my rage without giving away the ending, but I will suffice it to say that I read the book on the edge of my seat, waiting for answers about questions from the past. Some of the answers never came, and some of them were blatantly destroyed by Dewey himself. This left me tortured and wondering and very, very angry. That being said, I’ll be waiting with baited breath for the sequel, to see if Dewey will unearth some information and redeem himself from such a frustratingly stupid move.


THE RECOMMENDATION

Want non-stop action and a unique voice that keeps you turning pages long into the night? Want a post-apocalyptic scene that is unique and mysterious and chaotic? Pick up The Dewey Decimal System. Want an explanation for the current state of post-apocalyptic destruction, or at least some semblance of closure at the end of the book? Well, you might hold off until the sequel comes out, and hope that Nathan Larson has something good hidden up his sleeve.

TITLE: Lycopolis

AUTHOR: Ali Luke

GENRE: Fiction, Contemporary Fantasy

PUBLISHER: Self-published through Aliventures

PAGES: Unknown - only available as an ebook


THE RUNDOWN

After finishing Lycopolis, I found myself wary to go to sleep, afraid I might be plagued by the same nightmares that haunted the characters in Ali Luke’s novel. Lycopolis is a fast-paced adventure that revolves around seven people who accidentally summon a real demon through an online role-playing game. The novel follows each of them as they struggle with their own greed, anger and fear… the emotions that the demon feeds off of.

Ali writes clearly and concisely, without letting too much prose get in the way of her plot. There isn’t a slow spot in Lycoplis: it starts with action and ends with action. She gets into her characters’ heads and brings out their individual personalities so that we learn to love every single one of them. Of course we love protagonist, Kay, who is a misfit Oxford student and the only one strong enough to stand up to the demon. But even Seth, the antagonist and the mastermind behind the summoning, has his redeeming qualities.

The narrative switches often from real life to the imagined online world of Lycopolis. In this alternate fantasy world, the seven main characters have different names, different appearances, and even different personalities. While I enjoyed Lycopolis thoroughly, I did wonder if some people might get confused by the online gaming foundation. I am familiar with online text-based role-playing, but I found myself wondering exactly how the game worked, and an in-depth explanation of the game isn’t provided until halfway through the book. 

The ending of Lycopolis did not disappoint. It was a fast read and made the perfect weekend escape. The plot was original and refreshing, and although some of the sub-plots were left on a loose end, I finished the book with satisfaction. Lycopolis is the first book of a planned trilogy, and I look forward to reading the sequel.


THE RECOMMENDATION

Online gamers will find Lycopolis to be a riveting, fun read. This is definitely a book for the younger generation, although tech-savvy adults will enjoy it as well. The content is clean enough to be labeled Young Adult, but the characters, which range from high school students to married adults, are eclectic enough that readers of all ages should be able to find a main character to identify with.


THE LINKS
Lycopolis on Amazon.com
Official Lycopolis webpage


If you enjoyed this review, you can subscribe to the Underground or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

The Tesla Formula is the second book in the Patrick Carlton adventure series. In this installment, Department of Justice prosecutor Carlton stumbles on a seventy-year old murder mystery while on vacation in Hollywood. In quick order, he becomes enmeshed with Islamic terrorists, global intelligence agencies, law enforcement, and, perhaps most dangerous of all, lawyers. He discovers radical Islamasists and European bureaucrats are conspiring to bring America to its knees by destroying its economy and cornering the world oil market. Only one thing stands in their way: a secret formula to produce limitless electricity, invented over half a century ago by famous inventor Nikola Tesla.

Not far into The Tesla Formula I found myself humming the Warren Zevon tune Lawyers, Guns and Money. Tesla’s unique blend of lawyers, guns and money are what supercharge this novel and set it apart from other action thrillers.

First, let’s talk about the guns. Bullets fly from beginning to end, but action is the least-powerful element of this otherwise strong book. Kublicki is faithful to the action genre, almost too faithful. While the action keeps readers on their toes, in several places it feels slightly overdone. The good news is this book has a lot more going for it besides action.

Tesla’s hero, Patrick Carlton, is a former Navy combat veteran, wears cowboy boots and is deadly with a Glock, but is a lawyer at his core. However, his underlying respect for the law makes him a different kind of action hero and gives this novel a depth lacking in most thrillers. Carlton is repeatedly frustrated by the barriers the law throws at him, but he always finds a way to get the job done legally. For example, in one of the book’s best scenes Carleton convinces a reluctant federal judge to issue a search warrant using an ingenious twist on eminent domain. Carlton is the thinking man’s action hero.

But Carleton isn’t the only lawyer making Tesla hum along. The most terrifying weapon in this thriller is a contract wielded by a very nasty law firm employed by the terrorists. While this book starts with a race to find Tesla’s formula, the climax is Carlton’s race to keep this contract, the legal equivalent to an atomic bomb, from being signed. Tesla is like Law and Order meets Sum of all Fears.

Where there are lawyers, there is money. While Carlton combats the bad guys with military and law enforcement, his allies do battle behind the scenes with computers, phones and dollars. Kublicki vaults the reader on a journey through international banking and finance behind the world’s turbulent energy markets.

With his masterful blend of lawyers, guns and money Kublicki reminds us the War on Terror is fought not only on the battlefield, but by dedicated law enforcement, legal and financial experts working with little fanfare. This thoughtful balance gives The Tesla Formula its element of realism. I also like that Tesla paints these professionals as they should be – as heroes. Nicolas Kublicki convincingly weaves law and economics into the modern action thriller and makes it work. For that, The Tesla Formula earns an electrifying 90 out of 99 cents.  

You can find The Tesla Formula here. 

If you enjoyed this post, you can follow Brian on Facebook or Twitter. You can also subscribe to the Underground.  

Title: Sarah Of The Moon

Author: Randy Mixter

Genre: Fiction, Romance

Pages: 232

Summary: In the aftermath of the war with Afghanistan, we are taken back in time to the longest war in US history. It is a time when Paul McCartney’s Yesterday played in juke boxes and two fingers held up in a ‘V’ formation became the official peace sign. Author Randy Mixter paints a vivid picture of the Hippies in the summer of l967 San Francisco.

After graduating from high school, Alex Conley waits for his draft notice while working as a part-time reporter at the Baltimore Sunpapers. Alex’s father sermonizes that his son will, by God, serve his country like he did in World War II. He also needs little prompting to give his less than admirable opinion of the lazy, druggies who call themselves Hippies.

Against his father’s wishes, Alex accepts a temporary assignment in San Francisco to write a weekly column about the Hippies. Alex’s boss hooks him up with his nephew, Chick, who lives in the infamous Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. Men, women and children occupy the small home, their sleeping quarters divided only by sheets draped from the ceiling.

When Alex meets Sarah, the beautiful girl who dresses in white and dances under the moonlight, he knows he has seen her in past dreams. As they begin to fall in love, Sarah tells Alex that her parents speak to her from beyond the grave and tells her of the future. And when Sarah encourages Alex to wear tennis shoes instead of sandals that become key to saving a child’s life, he becomes a believer. Alex’s columns give insight into the thoughts of those committed to world peace.

Alex and Sarah’s love affair is not the fickle flirtatious love of youth, but the kind of deep emotional love, laced with respect and acceptance, that lasts a lifetime.

Quote: “Someone said something to Sarah and she laughed. It was a beautiful sound. He knew then, in that moment, he had found a place where beauty truly existed. A place where a child of the moon danced on a summer hill in a sun washed breeze. A place where the laughter of a girl dressed in white and a windswept song not only shared the same moment, but also had the exact same sound. “

Opinion: Sarah Of The Moon is a beautiful, well-written story that offers much more than just a love story. It is also a fresh, insightful view as to the reasoning of those opposed to the Vietnam War. Randy Mixter gently peels back the layers of the emotional and psychological trauma surrounding the era. Mr. Mixter not only tells the story of those dedicated to saving their own generation, but of those committed to fighting for their country.

With over l9 years of US involvement in the War, and statistics stating that 58,148 American soldiers were killed in Vietnam, 61% younger than 21, even if opposed, the counter-movement is not difficult to understand.

Sarah Of The Moonis a heartfelt premise of those present day Baby Boomers once referred to in their youth as ‘Hippies.’

Recommendation: Mr. Mixter’s ability to communicate in a thought provoking way is a rare find. Not just a novel for Baby Boomer’s, but for anyone who would enjoy an ‘up close and personal’ novel about the hopes and dreams of youth.

Rating: 5 Stars

You can find Randy Mixter on Facebook and Sarah of the Moon here. 

If you enjoyed this post, you can follow Kimberly on Facebook. You can also subscribe to the Underground.

TITLE: My Memories of a Future Life
 
AUTHOR: Roz Morris

GENRE: Literary Fiction

PUBLISHER: Self-Published through CreateSpace

PAGES: 366


THE RUNDOWN

My Memories of a Future Life is a story about Carol: a pianist who has lost her ability to play due to a medical condition. When her best friend turns to a hypnotherapist to cure his panic attacks, Carol thinks he's delusional. That is, until she reunites with Gene, a childhood friend who is able to put her into a trance against her will. Her relationship with Gene is more of a power struggle than a friendship, a struggle which Carol consistently loses. Every time Gene hypnotizes Carol, she experiences her life as a future incarnation as herself... but even though Carol doesn't believe in the hoax, she finds herself addicted to the hypnotic sessions, longing for them against her better judgment.

The first half of My Memories of a Future Life reads like a rainy Sunday. At first, I was spellbound by Roz's writing, but soon found myself drifting off, itching for something more. Carol spent too much time complaining about not being able to use her musical talent, and the plot meandered along in no discernible direction. At one point, I looked at the pages in front of me and wondered if I would be able to slog through the rest of the book.

However, about halfway through the book, the rain cleared and I was thrust into dazzling sunshine. The plot thickened and a brilliantly conceived, futuristic world was laid before me. I was alongside Carol, doubting the legitimacy of her futuristic visions, and yet spellbound. I wanted to push Carol away from her power struggle with Gene, who began showing dangerously sadistic tendencies... and yet, like Carol, I yearned for more. I read the second half of the book with urgency, unable to put it down. And the ending did not disappoint.


THE RECOMMENDATION

If you're willing to put the time into the beginning of the book, and you're ready to suspend your disbelief a little further than usual, My Memories of a Future Life will be a worthwhile read. The novel has the feel of a modern-day witch-trial with a tense romance thrown in the mix. It has a mild amount of sexual and/or violent scenes suitable for ages 18 and up.


THE LINKS
Roz Morris's blog, Nail Your Novel
Roz Morris on Twitter
Buy My Memories of a Future Life on Amazon.com


If you enjoyed this review, you can subscribe to the Underground or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Literary fiction novels can be pretentious. Sometimes, they are dark and self-absorbed. These days, they are often just plain bad. The Vagabond King by James Conway is none of these. This novel is the masterpiece that almost was. It is like a comet that comes close to blazing glory, but then fades short of its true potential.

Through the eyes of teenage angst, The Vagabond King wrestles with the grandest questions of all: life, death, love, and what it all means. Vagabond is about being emotionally and spiritually lost and how we struggle throughout our lifetimes to find our place in the universe. If The Vagabond King sounds deep, well, it is very deep. It is not light reading by any measure.

At the core of this novel is the teenager Christopher, a child of wealth and privilege. He struggles to come to grips with his mother’s death, his emotionally distant father, and his own self-identity. Angst-ridden, brooding, self-absorbed and often irritating, he is not a likable character. He suddenly leaves home and school and, through various circumstances, comes to live with Magda, a poor waitress, and her elderly Hungarian father.

Magda, a dark beauty approaching middle age, is a waitress with a Ph.D.’s knowledge of ancient mythology. She sets the undertone for the whole book. Christopher pines and lusts for her while she fills his head with tales of ancient gods and heroes.

Over the course of many months, Christopher spends a great deal of time with Magda’s father, whom Christopher dubs the “Vagabond King.” They drink beer and listen to the Blues while the old man recalls his youth growing up under communist oppression in Hungary.

Conway brilliantly uses Magda and her father to shape Christopher’s perspective on himself and the universe. But Magda and her father are more than characters; they are reflections of universal forces symbolized in ancient mythology. (I warned you it was going to get deep). If, however, the reader takes Conway’s characters strictly on face value they will come to the same conclusion I did - they are masterfully written and purely original.

I haven’t finished a book so quickly in a long time because these characters were so intriguing. There were times I had to put the book down and simply reflect on how talented this author is. Conway’s dialogue and narration are often mind-blowing. Unfortunately, this is as close to becoming a masterpiece as this book gets. There are several noteworthy flaws that rob this novel of its true potential.

Conway often gets lost while telling this tale. First, he is overly repetitive. Vagabond could have easily been 100 pages shorter. Also, it had more than a fair share of simple mechanical errors a good editor could have easily fixed. These flaws, however, didn’t keep The Vagabond King out of my Top Picks.

What kept this novel out of my top picks was how often Conway departs the narrative and ceases all character voice. It’s as if the story goes on pause and Conway himself begins to ramble. It felt like I was watching a play and one of the actors quit reciting his lines and began talking directly to the audience. It slowed the book down and often left me wondering whose perspective I was currently dealing with.

Overall, however, Vagabond is beautifully written, often brilliant, and suitable for ages sixteen and up for mild sexual content. It is because of Conway’s astonishing characters that I recommend this book to anyone interested in literary fiction. However, as currently written, I can only give The Vagabond King 85 out of 99 cents. The good news is with further editing it could be so much more.

99 Cents worth of James Conway links:
James Conway's website
The Vagabond King on Amazon

If you enjoyed this review, you can subscribe to the Underground or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.