Monday, May 2, 2016

A Foregone Fatality

In celebration of Lucid's release, witness a review courtesy one brave, anonymous Publishers Weekly employee roped into judging the 2013 Quarter-Finals bracket in the now defunct Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award:

There’s a distinct identity crisis with this very long teen thriller. It starts off as a slice-of-life drama, with small town girl Lucy McCall expecting the arrival of her older sister Maddy, now a famous actress, and Maddy’s husband Jack Ford, a Hollywood superstar, as they come home for the premiere of Maddy’s newest movie. Controversy arises over Maddy and Jack’s memberships in the cult/religion Lucentology -- clearly a stand-in for a certain other “-ology -- with Maddy’s father worried for his daughter’s mental health. Despite this, things run fairly smoothly until the night of the premiere, when Lucy is kidnapped and held for ransom, before being exchanged for Maddy, who goes missing in the process. From that point on, it’s a convoluted tangle of conspiracies, murders, and mayhem, featuring no less than three climaxes and resolutions as one plan feeds into the next. What could be a nuanced exploration of Hollywood faith systems, a culture clash between small town and worldwide fame, or a grim exploration of obsession and betrayal, ends up being none of the above. The writing itself is solid, and the characters, including the intrepid Lucy, her ex-boyfriend Sherman, and down-to-Earth megastar Jack Ford, are engaging, and there’s certainly a lot to enjoy, but this is one story that needs to tighten its plot and figure out just what it wants to do.

Re-reading Lucid while prepping it for e-conversion, I can't argue vehemently with certain bits of the review other than the contention it isn't a "grim exploration".  It's fairly grim if not descending into outright horror in places.   
But I'm the author.  It's my perfect in every way baby.  And objectivity is a foregone fatality once the first draft is done.


   
    
Lucid preview and pre-order available at Smashwords and  Amazon.     


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