Book Review~Quentin Canterel’s Bunyan’s Guide To The Great American WildLife

Bunyan’s Guide to the Great American Wildlife

Written by Quentin Canterel

Blurb:

What happens when the Manhattan zoo empties its cages?

John, part radicalized anarchist, part ticking time bomb, is haunted by a particular story, that of Willow, a 9-year old mute who flees to New York after her brutal rape. The only way his girlfriend, Felicity, can stop the clock counting down is by disentangling the riddle of their pasts , before their entwined futures are blown to pieces.

Quentin Canterel’s second novel presents a collage of voices, dead and alive, in a unique and unnerving novel that experiments with form, structure and language. Truly a mystery shrouded in an enigma.

Guest Reviewer, James Peters has written this review, and I was by his side every time he yelled out, “Are you serious?”  and “WTF just happened?”  It was great. Thank you James, for reviewing this for me. Love you.

 

This is fiction, or is it? Sometimes its hard to tell. Author Quentin Canterel weaves a fancy basket of Americana in a partial folklore and partial love story romantic, with modern rom-com characters.

From what I can make of it, John is an angel who experienced his untimely passing at a young age. In doing so, left behind a manuscript called “The Guide”. His male roommate starts his narration by threatening to publish John’s guide via OUIJA board chat.

Our story includes two very distinct voices. One that is Willow, a nine year old girl in Georgia who lives with her grandfather. She is referred to as elective-ly mute, as it is understood that fear is the only thing that prevents her from communicating with her voice. Her grandfather spends his time woefully drinking and praying for her to one day use her voice.

In an attempt to explain the mysteries of life he shares with her whimsical characters of the forest. Some are relatively well known, like a Leprechaun, yet most often unheard of. Both she and he refer to them as the “Fearsome Creatures”, and a character named Broady draws Willow pictures to support the concoctions.

Charming in itself, this side of the book has a pleasant country tone, and the font that the author chooses for this part enables you to easily recognize the child’s voice. Before too long you are enveloped in Willows life and your heartstrings are pulled this way and that.

Having lived in the south for some time, ( Texas, rather than Georgia), I can picture the scenes and “goings-on” quite clearly and rather than offer a spoiler to you I will say that there is a lot of heartfelt moments that get yer’ eyes all teared up.

Then, in juxtaposition to Willow, we have John’s roommate and Felicity, his female counterpart tromping about in the big city with a (90’s) gothy-emo type 3^rd wheel relationship. John continually plays the dedicated swooning victim to entertain Felicity. As Zulficar (the narrator), witnesses to the cat and mouse touch ass moments of emotional fancy. John apparently has a “Romantic” ire that keeps his friends entertained and in doing so he is often the unwilling center of attention.

The three tend to spend a majority of their time repulsed by what they see around them. The city, clubs, fake people of the scenes they haunt, and in doing so there is a kind of non committal innocence that surrounds them. Yes, hearts get broken, and the moral is that ****** ****** **** …oh wait, I promised no spoilers. But I will say that in an archetypical since there are great parallels to “Dante’s Inferno” to the point that Felicity could easily be named Beatrice, and John, Dante.

Truly this was a pleasant reading experience with all kinds of personality and charming characters. I give it a 4 stars, but also mention to the reader not to try to take this lightly, as the contrast in story lines is easily missed and one could find themselves having to go back and review often for the sake of catching up. P.S. There are a lot of WTF moments.

This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review. Thank You.   I have included links below, but it does not mean they work.  🙂

Paperback, 262 pages

Published October 7th 2016 by Acorn Independent Press

ISBN

1911079476 (ISBN13: 9781911079477)

Edition Language

English

Other Editions

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Book Review: When We Touch by Heather Graham

Spoiler Alert! 

Sometimes the ability to find the good and the bad in any book means digging deep into your own subconscious and pulling out some sort of justification for what you just read. Although, I had a hard time finding it.

Originally this came out as a Shannon Drake book. Same title in 2004.

Here is the Blurb from the Drake title:

MIRROR, MIRROR, ON THE WALL…
Men! If they aren’t accusing Lady Maggie Graham of witchcraft or murder, they’re marrying her off to old men who drop dead at the altar. And now she’s going to have to save her unruly stepdaughter from a band of thieving, lustful street ruffians (men, again) with the help of the most infuriating man of all…Lord Jamie.

WHO IS THE MOST SEDUCTIVE…
Women! They conduct themselves in a completely inappropriate manner — enjoying risqué amusements in secret theatres: running about disguised in the seediest parts of the city — and then they call you vile names for coming to their rescue. And no woman is more wicked, more cunning, more intoxicating than Lady Maggie.

…OF THEM ALL?
Amidst the pageantry, rampant desire, and very real dangers of Queen Victoria’s London, a bevy of lovers is about to stumble into a spectacle of sin and scandal, where appearances are deceiving and anything can happen when desire is pulling all the strings.

Here is the blurb from the new version from Heather Graham:

Queen Victoria’s London is a teeming metropolis of pageantry, forbidden desire, and danger—especially in the East End, a hotbed of vice, witchcraft, and murder. What widow Lady Maggie Graham does there more than greases the rumor mill. When she agrees to wed the Viscount Langdon, there are those who would act upon their suspicions . . .

Experience has taught Lord Jamie well. He has seen his fair share of women behave inappropriately—enjoying risque amusements in secret theaters, running about disguised in the seediest parts of the city—and then they call you vile names for coming to their rescue. And no woman is more shameless, more cunning, more intoxicating than Lady Maggie . . .

Humm………

Heather Graham/ Shannon Drake is a well known, well loved author. I have never read anything by her, but I have a few paperbacks of hers that I am going to pull down. She is a very good story teller. When We Touch was full of suspense and energy. I enjoyed the murder mystery very much. Using real people from history made this an interesting read.

It’s the romance part of the book that just about gave me hives. Lady Maggie Graham, a widow to a commoner (shame,shame on her for marrying  a policeman!) is content with her life. She lives with her party animal brother, and she has absolutely no ability to reason out that he is spending money like it grows on a tree out back.  She doesn’t even think to keep an eye on things.

 

Instead of having any concern at all for her brother’s philandering, friendships,gambling habits, or for his well being,  she spends her days with her artist/writer odd-fellow who lives in her attic.

Why is there a man living in the attic? That is an interesting question. Who is he to her? Someone she cares for obviously. But not romantically, although I seem to believe he might have had a few feelings for her.  Apparently he was a good friend of her husbands.  I was hoping that Mireau (attic man) would suggest someone keep an eye on her brother, but I guess he was too busy.

Together these two go out into the east side. The worst parts of London, to work with the poor and the prostitutes. Her main goal in life is revenge. For what? Not for someone killing her husband, but for taking advantage of her while she was mourning.  They took some of her money in a seance. She found they were fakes, and that is the reason she risks her life.  Because the few pounds these people take from the rich apparently is appalling to her. There are worse crimes. Just sayin’.

So, finding and debunking mesmerists, and helping put them in jail or getting them deported is her lifework.  I am sure that some people probably knew they were hoaxes and enjoyed inviting these actors to their parties for entertainment. She wishes to spoil everyone else’s fun by ruining a perfectly good parlor trick for the rest of us. Thanks Maggie!

So, she would rather focus on doing charity work and snooping than keeping her brother from making a complete idiot out of himself.  Hindsight is a bitch.

 

Justin, Maggie’s brother also loves to tramp around the East Side. (It must be a popular place for this family) He gambles and whores and drinks until he can’t see straight. He is a regular prince charming. Supposedly he is trying to keep up with the illusive bisexual Prince Eddy. Apparently Prince Eddy loved shenanigans and Justin was willing to gallivant around with him, not caring about how much debt he put himself in.

 

 

So as they go about their biodegradable existence, things get dire. And that is when Uncle Anus (Angus) steps in.  He is going to set things right, as he sees fit, because both Maggie and Justin are pretty weak minded people, and I think Uncle Anus knows this.

So, he tells them both that one of them must marry for money, and the sooner the better unless Justin wishes to be thrown in debters prison.  Maggie agrees that Justin should marry. But… That is not at all what Uncle Anus is suggesting.

Maggie needs to marry. WHAT? she says, but then, after it is irrationally explained to the weak minded female that she needs to sacrifice herself. She decides that she will do it.

Maggie is soon to find out a man has already inquired about her.  A wealthy man, who can solve all their problems and Justin, the dear boy won’t have to go to prison. Here’s the catch, Maggie dear. He is around 80 years old. (I kid you not.) The man is a great,great grandfather. This is the perfect solution to all of the problems of the world. Marry a lecherous old man.  Why didn’t I think of that?  Thank you Uncle Anus!

My hives began at this point.  I started to itch. I started scratching my earlobe, and I am doing it again, just trying to justify the fact that an 80 year old man asks for a 24? year old widows attentions, and she,her uncle, and her brother have sat around and decided this is for the best. Now here is where this story gets tricky.  Why is this Maggie’s fucking responsibility?

Does she blow them out of the water by telling them they can suck her left tit?  No, Maggie decides to meet the man. At this point, my mouth starts to get that sour look to it. I continue, because , hell I don’t know why, but I am wishing at this point I had something to drink that was stronger than coffee.

He is invited over, of course he brings hotter than Death Valley asphalt in July,  Jamie Langdon. The Great, Great Nephew of the man who wants to marry Maggie. ( yeah, I did say Great, Great). Jamie does not approve of what his Great,Great Uncle is doing. Not for the reasons that you would think, oh no. He is worried that Lady Maggie will take advantage of his sweet old uncle. (The itching at this point in the book has become unbearable and I start looking for Whiskey.)

When she meets Great,Great Uncle Charlie, she decides he is a sweet man. She also meets the hot great,great nephew. The great,great part has me now at a frown. A solid one. Of course she is attracted to hot Jamie. Maybe because he is actually her freakin’ age!

Jamie Langdon is affronted by what his great,great uncle is doing. More so, he is more upset that there is a young lady who wishes to take his dear uncle for a ride.  Has he looked at his Uncle lately?  There is something deeply wrong with this entire thing. Screw his uncle and his feelings or that he might be taken advantage of. Hell ya he is being taken advantage of. Flipping DUH. The man will get to put his hands all over a girl who should be his great grand daughter. Jamie should realize that he will be more than happy to pay for that poontang.

This entire thing makes me ill.  This is what I would have said. And yes, Wonder Woman is fitting, if it was me.

Does Maggie decide to take the high road and refuse gramps attentions?  No!  She does not. She agrees to marry him!!!  Agh!!!   I had to put the book down for 4 hours to absorb this.

Now, If I can get past this part and into the real story, It is very involved and interesting. It brings the stories of Jack the Ripper, Queen Victoria, The way that people demanded justice for the women who were getting murdered and how the police were trying to handle it. It also touched on some very interesting behavior from some of the elite of society and I found myself happy to read about it.

I had begun to accept this relationship between Charles (Gramps) and Maggie. Not really accept, that is not the right term, but hope that he would die before he touched her. That is a little closer to the truth.

Of course what happened was that Jamie and Maggie started liking each other. I started hoping that gramps was actually matchmaking his Great, Great Nephew and was really not interested in Maggie. That  would have been the awesome outcome.

What happened instead was what you would imagine would happen. Jamie and Maggie slept together the night before the wedding. Now, this bothered me also. Really badly. Yes, she felt that this was her last chance to be with someone who didn’t have saggy skin, and she was really attracted to Jamie. But… she was getting married the next day. I was expecting a bit of loyalty.  She made the decision. She should at least stand by it.

Jamie expected the same. He wanted her to call the wedding off the next day. She didn’t. So, what happened next was entirely her fault and as horrible and uncomfortable as I felt during these next few pages, I felt she made that bed.

The images above  pretty much sums up what happened.    This is only the beginning of the book.  There was a very good story in here, after we get rid of the Lecherous old guy.  But still Maggie does not really begin to make me like her. I don’t honestly like anyone in the story. I can’t really think of one character in the entire book that I liked.

There was a few times when Maggie became remotely redeemable, then she would do something else that would make me question her as a good person. She made incredibly bad decisions that put people in dire circumstances. She seemed uncaring about anything but her lust for Jamie, and her determination to solve something that COULD HAVE BEEN SOLVED IF SHE WOULD HAVE JUST TOLD JAMIE.

This book has a lot of spunk and I really did enjoy the murder mystery parts of this story. I hated the romance, and I even skipped the sex, because usually it happened at the most unromantic of times.

I am going to read some of Heather’s older books, and see if I like them. Also she goes by the name Shannon Drake, of which I have quite a few of those too.  If you love murder mystery, you may really enjoy parts of this book, heck, you may even enjoy the whole thing. Maybe it is just me. Maybe I am the one being too judgmental.

 

*I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank You.

 

Seeing The Hat Man ~ Our Immortal Souls and the Shadow People

Today is Sunday, My husband had to work, it is not at all usual for him to be working today, but, there it is.  When you fire someone, you have to take over for them. Nuff said.  So, unlike a usual Sunday,I had time to think about something that had been rolling in my cluttered brain for almost exactly a year.

My sister passed away in October of last year.  She was a year older than me. We are both November babies. She was my protector, my teacher, and I felt her and I had a soul connection. Ying and Yang.  She was an alcoholic and a drug addict. She also had many other things she battled because of those two things.  It is a long sad story, and it is not the point.

When she died, actually moments maybe before she did, I was hundreds of miles away, In Texas.  She was in California.  She lay in almost comatose form, my mother and aunt,my nephew and his child and wife, nearby.

I lay in bed, and a pounding,rumbling rang in my ears. It was loud and becoming louder. Cowboy boots walking down a dusty deserted street in an old cowboy movie, was what came to focus in my brain. He was walking. Dressed in black with his long duster flowing about him. His hair long & black, shielded his face. A cowboy hat sat upon his head.

The sound of him coming at me, coming closer was almost deafening. But he still came until he was upon me. Then a louder  sound, he grabbed something bright, and then he turned and walked back the way he came, the sound becoming less and less until he disappeared. I thought it was odd, but I was very stressed out, and my mind was in pieces.  It was not more than an hour later, that I got the call that my sister was dead.

I wrote down what he looked like, thinking it would make an interesting beginning to a book, then started looking for images to help piece what he looked like. Maybe a tortured soul.  I found that other people had seen him, or the likeness of him all surrounding death. Like he was the Grim Reaper. And I ask, was it?

Did I witness my sisters soul being taken into the depths of hell?   I let it go, but honestly, I had never seen or heard any of those stories before it happened to me.

Some people call them The Shadow People.  Some people call him The Hat Man. The point is, I am not the only one who had seen him, and that freaks me out.

It was a few weeks later that my mother and I had dreams of my sister. The kind where they tell you how happy they are. In the dreams, Andria was always helping a young girl, keeping watch of her. I don’t know what that means, or if it means anything, but I do know, she always had to get back into the water after she talked for a moment. It was some kind of pool. Granted, my sister always loved water, but a pool? We were River and Ocean kids.

Then I read about the Helliquin in a book, a story of redemption. And they mentioned a pool of sorrows or something like it. It makes me  think about the others I have spoken to in dreams. Carl, he was in a park sitting on a hill.  He was not exactly a saint, and he told me he was very happy and content.

Is there a some truth to this oddity, and isn’t it strange that others have seen this creature? Or was it just my perception of the reaper? Did the devil steal my sisters soul from under my nose?

Now I have a headache. Deep thoughts are a buzzkill.

• I pulled all these images off the internet. Looking for my man in the hat. I was more than a little surprised when I found that others had also encountered this person. What I am telling you is no joke, or any tale. I am being honest in this blog. It is nice to put it on paper. I did write a little story about it, but it ended up being more of a romance between a tortured soul of the hat man and a young girl who could see him. It is called “Blood” and it sits with my other unpublished works.