Genre:
Speculative Fiction/ Contemporary Fantasy/ Young Adult/ Comedy
Description:
“Master
of a thousand hobbies, but jinxed from birth with horrendous luck,
Murphy Drummer has developed some eye-popping abilities. When Murphy
goes in search of a luck-free zone where the world might be safe from
his puzzling disorder, charmed Joy Daley stumbles into his
whammy-charged path. Churning out both miracles and mayhem, Murphy
whimsically upends the lives of everyone in Joy's life.
At first,
Murphy's victims question who he is; at last, they'll be questioning
who they aren't. A comical love story of wood-tapping proportions.”
Author:
“Benjamin
Laskin grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. He has traveled extensively and
lived in a number of countries, including many years in Hamamatsu,
Japan, where he taught English and wrote. Benjamin can now be found
sauntering through the maze of narrow, stony alleyways in the ancient
and legend-rich town of Safed, in Israel's upper Galilee, where he is
currently at work on his next novel.” For more
information, please visit Mr. Laskin’s website or stop by his
Facebook Author page.
Appraisal:
I don’t
read a lot of Literary or Speculative Fiction, however this was fun.
It included just enough fantasy to keep me interested and the
wordplay was entertaining. Poor Murphy feels like he is cursed and he
has separated himself from society as much as possible for what he
perceives as the greater good for all concerned. He has built his own
sanctuary in and around his house. He fills his time learning new
hobbies and writing about them in his syndicated newspaper articles.
He also corresponds with his readers. When his devoted grandfather,
who raised him from infancy, passes away he sees no other choice than
to quit his job and move to an even more secluded environment. Of
course he doesn’t make it very far before disasters start happening
around him again.
The
sequence of events and characters introduced into the storyline are
unique but not out of the ordinary. They are all much more realistic
than any of Murphy’s neighbors were in his old neighborhood. (They
were all a lot of miserable people looking to place blame on anyone
besides themselves for their misfortunes.) When Joy Daley, a
journalist, encounters Murphy, she is intrigued and puzzled by what
she sees happening around him. Joy is unlike anyone Murphy has ever
met and he isn’t quite sure what to make of her. However, he
finally accepts her kindness, and Joy is able to slowly bring a fresh
perspective into Murphy’s life.
I
loved Joy and Murphy's journey as much as I relished the
well-developed secondary characters of Brock Parker, Joy’s
straight-laced police detective fiancé, and the misty-eyed tarot
card reader Freya who states, “The Universe works in mysterious
ways…” as Brock’s world is turned upside down. I found this a
relatively quick, light read with skillful levity in all the right
places.
FYI:
A small
amount of adult language, hardly worth mentioning.
Format/Typo
Issues:
I found
this well edited.
Rating:
***** Five Stars
Reviewed
by: ?wazithinkin
Print
Length: 252 pages
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