Dark Comedy / Contemporary
Date Published: February 28, 2014
After
a solar eclipse, nineteen people were found dead in a remote area of
the California National Forest. They were lying in a circle, holding
hands and wearing plastic fairy wings.
Years
later, on the other side of the country, no one in the southern city of
Jefferson is concerned about fairies or fairy-worshiping suicide cults.
Except for Candy. She might not have proof, but she’s damn sure it’s
going to happen again.
The
problem is, Candy is a coke-dealing stripper and the only person who
will listen to her is an alcoholic mall Santa named Hank, who’s only
listening because, well…she’s hot.
There are seven days until the next eclipse.
My Review:
I really enjoyed the mix of humor and seriousness. There was a lot of quirky fun, but also some really strong tugs at your brain. You start to laugh then realize there's some deep thoughts going on..very clever.
The characters are all pretty nicely done. They aren't cardboard cut outs to fill in space, they all matter and tie together. Usually it gets pretty dicey when writer's try to switch perspectives and viewpoints, but Ms. Biddle does this very well!
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Stories like this can get either really dark or really preachy, and this one found a very nice balance. The sense of humor and the thought provoking qualities never got heavy handed, and for that I recommend this.
AN EXCERPT FROM
HANK: the alcoholic mall Santa
Hank spent the
drive convincing himself that being a bouncer would be an awesome
job. Girls, drinks, drunks, late nights. Really, he was being paid to
do exactly what he would be doing if he wasn’t working. Maybe they
would give him a gun. No, they wouldn’t. But maybe they would give
him a bat to keep behind the entrance, just out of sight. Or a Taser.
There was a lot of fun to be had with a Taser.
Hank frowned at
his five-o-clock shadow in the rearview mirror, trying to look tough.
His gap tooth added to the effect. Actually, he looked like a damn
good bouncer. As he drove, he imagined using the self-defense moves
and choke holds that he’d seen in movies. The more he thought about
it, the more he realized that this new job was a perfect fit. He
decided that he should try to get a full-time position bouncing and
quit his shenanigans at the mall.
By the time Hank
arrived at the strip club, the sky had lost its reds and purples and
was assuming a murky shade of city gray. The front of the club was
just as drab in the twilight as it had been in the dark and rain on
Sunday. Its plain cinderblock walls stood silently, with a single
metal door in the middle. Hank had always found the dichotomy between
the inside and the outside of strip clubs amusing. Hidden in back
alleys and tucked away behind supermarkets, strip clubs were the
Narnia of a grown man’s world.
Amy Biddle
Born
and raised in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, Amy now spends half of
her life at sea and the other half wherever the hell she pleases. An
avid traveler and dangerous daydreamer, she is most at home when
surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains or the great blue sea. In her
spare time, Amy co-runs Underground Book Reviews, a website dedicated to
finding and reviewing quality, independent novels. Her short fiction
and poetry has been published by a smattering of online publications
including Every Day Fiction and Revolt Daily.
AN EXCERPT FROM
HANK: the alcoholic mall Santa
Hank spent the
drive convincing himself that being a bouncer would be an awesome
job. Girls, drinks, drunks, late nights. Really, he was being paid to
do exactly what he would be doing if he wasn’t working. Maybe they
would give him a gun. No, they wouldn’t. But maybe they would give
him a bat to keep behind the entrance, just out of sight. Or a Taser.
There was a lot of fun to be had with a Taser.
Hank frowned at
his five-o-clock shadow in the rearview mirror, trying to look tough.
His gap tooth added to the effect. Actually, he looked like a damn
good bouncer. As he drove, he imagined using the self-defense moves
and choke holds that he’d seen in movies. The more he thought about
it, the more he realized that this new job was a perfect fit. He
decided that he should try to get a full-time position bouncing and
quit his shenanigans at the mall.
By the time Hank
arrived at the strip club, the sky had lost its reds and purples and
was assuming a murky shade of city gray. The front of the club was
just as drab in the twilight as it had been in the dark and rain on
Sunday. Its plain cinderblock walls stood silently, with a single
metal door in the middle. Hank had always found the dichotomy between
the inside and the outside of strip clubs amusing. Hidden in back
alleys and tucked away behind supermarkets, strip clubs were the
Narnia of a grown man’s world.
Born
and raised in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, Amy now spends half of
her life at sea and the other half wherever the hell she pleases. An
avid traveler and dangerous daydreamer, she is most at home when
surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains or the great blue sea. In her
spare time, Amy co-runs Underground Book Reviews, a website dedicated to
finding and reviewing quality, independent novels. Her short fiction
and poetry has been published by a smattering of online publications
including Every Day Fiction and Revolt Daily.
Website/blog: www.amyrbiddle.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/amyrbiddle
Book Blog: www.undergroundbookreviews.com (review site for indie books!)
BUY LINKS
Amazon: Buy Here
Barnes and Noble: Buy Here
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19139574-the-atheist-s-prayer?from_search=true
Barnes and Noble: Buy Here
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19139574-the-atheist-s-prayer?from_search=true
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