Genre: Thriller/Suspense
Approximate word count: 130-135,000 words
Availability
Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: NO Smashwords: YES Paper: YES
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store
Author:
Allan Mayer has a “first class honours degree in English Literature and Theology and a Master of Philosophy degree in Biblical Criticism.” He manages a service for people with “profound and multiple disabilities.” All of this figures into this book. (Okay, maybe not the Biblical Criticism part.) For more, visit Mayer’s website.
Description:
Martin Peach takes a job caring for people with disabilities, not because he cares, but because he needs the job. Starting at a hospital that is slated for closure, and then transferred with a handful of patients to a small community bungalow, Martin finds the job is more difficult than he’d imagined. In addition to taking care of the patients, no easy task, he also has a strange new manager who appears to have a history with some of the people in his care.
Appraisal:
Tasting the Wind has two things going for it. The first, and most obvious, is the thriller storyline. Were it not for blurbs and occasional glimmers in the actions and dialogue of a couple of the patients, you might not realize for a good portion of the book that this is a thriller. The mystery slowly builds. Coming down the stretch, however, the action and suspense pick up and it becomes very apparent.
The other thing I liked is more subtle. One is the exposure to what it is like working with people who have what the author describes on his website (talking about his day job) as “profound and multiple disabilities.” (I’m sure there is a term some would deem more politically correct, but I’ll stick to the old standby here.) It takes a special kind of person to do well working in this environment. Those who don’t care about their patients (or clients) won’t do well.
FYI:
The author lives in the UK and uses spelling and slang appropriate to his native country.
Format/Typo Issues:
No significant issues
Rating: **** Four stars
1 comment:
This sounds incredibly interesting. I know a few people who work with people with a wide variety of mental disorders, and it is certainly not an easy job. Adding this to my "to read" list!
Post a Comment