Genre: Dark
Comedy/Satire/Paranormal Romance
Description:
“Have you ever had one of those days? You know, the kind of day when
things just don’t go your way. Like when your botched suicide attempt and
claims of supernatural powers get you hauled to the emergency room, placed
under observation, then transferred to a locked-down psych facility.
The girl who thought she was Death had failed miserably in her efforts
to shed the troublesome human body in which she was trapped. The result?
Finding herself surrounded by nutjobs, locked in a mental ward ruled by a
humorless doctor with a Napoleon complex and a penchant for sleight of hand.
Sure, she did technically bring it on herself, but how was she to know that trying
to off herself in public and using her outside voice to proclaim she was Death
incarnate would result in a psych ward lockdown?
With that problematic little blunder behind her, the concerns now
vexing her were pressing. Escape, both from the mental hospital, as well as
from this plane of existence, was vital, but equally so was addressing the
other issue haunting her. The big one. The one that could end the world. The
issue that with Death missing, people would rather inconveniently no longer die
like they were supposed to. Eventually, things would hit critical mass. She
just didn’t know when.
The situation was, well, grim, to say the very least. An irony not
lost on the girl claiming to be the Death.”
Author:
“A native Californian, Scott Baron was born in Hollywood, which he
claims may be the reason for his off-kilter sense of humor. Before taking up
residence in Venice Beach, he spent a few years studying abroad before settling
into the film and television industry, where he has worked off and on for some
time. Scott not only writes, but is also involved in indie film and theater
both in the U.S. and abroad.”
Appraisal:
The girl who thought she was Death is having a very bad time. She has
no idea if she has done something wrong to be banished to a human form when she
awakens on a dirty carpet in a low rent motel with a foggy memory. She has
tried to off herself in different ways and fails miserably each time to die.
Her last attempt was the most horrific and landed her in a not so modern psych
facility that needs patients to maintain their bottom line. It often frustrated
Doctor Vaughan, head of the institution, to work inside certain reputable
guidelines. He assigns the girl who thought she was Death the name of Dorothy
who is an escapee from a facility out west.
The cast of quirky characters inside and outside of the institution
are well developed and diverse. The story is unique, mostly entertaining, and a
bit dark. There are a few times non-vital information was repeated, which made
the story quite wordy. I felt like Randy and Andrea were cheated by being used
as pawns in the story. And who the hell was Curtis? Was he a pawn as well,
being used by a higher power to teach a lesson to Death? As you can probably
feel by now I was a little disappointed in the way the story played out in the
end. But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad story. This is just my opinion.
FYI:
There are a few F-bombs.
Format/Typo
Issues:
A small number of proofing issues.
Rating: ***
Three Stars
Reviewed
by: ?wazithinkin
Approximate
word count: 95-100,000 words
No comments:
Post a Comment