Review by Jonte_fonsi -- A Good Boy by Anthony Andre

Jonte_fonsi · Post by **Jonte_fonsi** » 04 Apr 2018, 05:38

[Following is a volunteer review of "A Good Boy" by Anthony Andre.]

4 out of 4 stars

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A Good Boy is a well-narrated novel of the adventures of Wesley Aames, a new preacher in the town of Asheville, North Carolina. But Mr. Aames is not your typical pastor; he is a man then a pastor. That, I think, really is the entire narration encapsulated. Here we’re talking about a pastor that drinks and postulates that Christ really has little issue with that; teaches Islam at the local University; and cusses a lot, just to highlight the accusations leveled against him when a week into the job, a sizeable chunk of his congregation has decided they could do just fine without him.

Behind these perceived imperfections, however, is a formidable and admirable character that seems to intricately understand his inherent humanity. What’s more, the writer strives to keep Mr Aames’ ingenuity subtle and prefers to rather build characters around him who help him strive. Gary Meade, John Tutweiler, Simon Jenkins, Doc Kirby are all witty and charming characters who amazingly strike well with the new pastor. Not forgetting his avuncular predecessor Charles Loftin who elegantly appreciates that Wesley is what he could not be. But I’m not going to let you be fooled that A Good Boy is all about happy little moments with interesting fellows here and there. It is thought-provoking, compelling and introspectional. But more importantly, the book is a community of real people grappling with even realer issues: a failing church, a struggling teen population and dysfunctional families just to mention but a few. Wesley, for one has a very dark past that he’s almost afraid to marry with what he is becoming. The death of Jamie Lee, a sixteen year old girl, sparks the events of the story. , a conflict whose height comes to the fore when her callous and generally puzzling mother agrees to act the part in an upcoming TV show being spearheaded by another grumpy local, Red Mortenson. This threatens to be the downfall of an already struggling church, Rosa Lee’s church, New Covenant Church in Asheville. Also, Wesley gets to volunteer for a suicide hotline, which if you track, is rather telling about the little town of Asheville.

One thing that is impossible to ignore about the novel is the masterful character development. Each character is described skillfully and hence distinguishable, which is something of a rarity. You hear about Mamie Black the first time and you instantly recognize that you won’t need her to be named the next time. And as the pages turn toward the end, all of them are interlaced to steer the intended resolution. However, it’s something of a teaser to me that potentially great sub-plots such as Mr Aames befriending Jennifer Brown or the busking violinist; assisting Thad realize his real ability; Gary Meade doing a thing about his health are all muted. Perhaps, it reflects on what Wesley finds hardest to believe, that there is only so much good that can happen or be done.

You realize many writers yield to the allure of basing entire stories on the protagonist - antagonist model, and that can at times get trotted out. Luckily, A Good Boy reduces it to the very basic core. Conflicts here are hardly driven, human ambitions simply clash and that gives the books an added smooth flow and allows both the writer and the reader to focus all their energy on the act of enjoying a story. A lot goes on the conversations between the characters, it’s the zone Anthony Andre has cleverly deployed to propagate his ideas, his arguments, his viewpoints. This and in italicizing to show thoughts going on in the minds of his characters has worked to tremendous effect. It felt very real and relatable, and leaves the reader feeling that the characters really understand the issues of their little church and town. Notably too, there is a concerted effort to create a pull for a teen audience through slang (especially over the suicide hotline) Thad’s person and deliberate insertions throughout the plot.

And the story is packed with lots of good humor; Wesley almost turns all his committee meetings rapturous; lunch with the Old Biddies; his two “sermons”. Believe me when I say it’s quite a thing have a laugh about a church having no money. Susie, for instance, during Aames' first lunch meeting with select members of the church, jokes that The Israelites traversed the wilderness forty years because Moses and Aaron told god they did not need a map. I particularly liked Wesley's musings to himself.

I hate this part because this was a thoroughly enjoyable read. Some conversations, however, seem to bump into each other or into sections of the plot. I guess that sounds strange because the writer dutifully used the asterisks. But I still got that feeling somehow. The book could do with better defined transitional elements. Also, the events might seem a bit crammed up when you realize the events of the book have taken place in only two weeks.

It seems to me that a good amount of editing went into the production of this book as I hardly noticed any grammatical or spelling glitches. Nothing pisses you off the flow. I recommend this book for anyone who loves to read really, and especially the readers who revel in an almost perfectly scripted character. If you love someone iconic swarming in your head as you turn pages, you should grab this book off a shelf. Also a great read for people with an interest in human relations and the lighter side of religion.

I rate this book a perfect 4 out of 4 stars. I fully appreciated that the author took the effort to develop Wesley Aames as a fully-fledged character. The only second-guessing I did was that this was my first encounter with a book of this genre so I think the enthrallment was inevitable.

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A Good Boy
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