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A KEVIN R. TIPPLE BOOK REVIEW: The Will To Defy by Ken Myler
The Will To Defy By Ken Myler Acme Publications http://www.acmepublications.com 2006 ISBN #0-9774636-0-5 Paperback 339 Pages
Ben Pearce has the perfect family life. Broker for Aston Cleary and Co., he is looking forward to taking his adoring wife and lovely children west when they move away from the rat race of living in New York City. Everything is under control and the future knows no limits at all. The clock is ticking and he can’t wait to get everyone back to South Dakota where he believes they all belong. Family is his world and all that matters. As he reminds his best friend, Howie Doyle, who works on the trading floor with him, “’Some day you’ll know the joy of a family, Howie.’” (Page 10)
Ironic that while he preaches the joy of family to his friend he will accidentally destroy another family and put his own in jeopardy. Soon, he will accidentally kill the daughter of mobster Victor Dracken during a moment of driver inattention. The same cell phone that distracted him while he drove through the expensive neighborhood will be his only hope to get help for the young girl. Her death will bring a mobster to near madness and his threats will cause Ben to gamble his and his family’s future on a simple document.
Hopefully, it will cause Victor Dracken not to make good on his threats. After all, the police know who and what he is and can’t stop him. That is Ben’s plan and on paper it works. Plans are well and good but not every contingency can be planned for and money can make folks a little crazy as Ben will soon find out.
While an excellent premise and a strong tale; this could have been a really good novel. As the pages went by though, I began to notice more and more fundamental errors that, in my opinion, should have been caught before the novel was released. My copy had a number of typos as well as numerous instances of missing punctuation. When I read lines such as, “’Hey this is our exit.” Howie shouted. “You awake?’” (page 14) I get distracted. My hands itch and I want to reach for a correcting pencil.
I could give more examples, but you get the point. Someone along the line should have fixed these issues long before the book was released. The problems did distract me from the read and therefore I can’t be as positive about the book as some of the glowing reviews I have recently read elsewhere.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2007 |