OnlineBookClub.org

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Green Mountain Road" by Leif N. Gregersen.]
Green Mountain Road is a work of fiction by author Leif Gregersen, which takes place in British Columbia, Canada. The book is written in the third person and follows the lives of Steve and Colin Hansen. These two brothers have a close relationship until their bond is altered after Steve finds out his girlfriend is pregnant.

Much to the dismay of his parents, Steve decides to skip college to support his new family. He works towards becoming his own boss and pursues this goal until tragedy strikes. His fiancée is brutally attacked and suffers terribly after she is assaulted. Enraged by the injustice, Steve decides to seek revenge and develops a laser focused determination to make the perpetrator pay.

Unfortunately, I did not like Green Mountain Road. It is difficult to read and it lacks balance. The author spent a lot of time writing about the characters instead of letting them talk and interact with each other. Many of its sentences are too long, and there are numerous spelling and grammatical errors. In some instances these errors made it difficult to follow the storyline. The majority of the book focuses on Steve’s life, and then abruptly switches to Colin’s experience. After the focus of the story changes, the author rushes to report Colin’s side of the story in the last few chapters.

Steve, supposedly the hero of Green Mountain Road, comes across as a cold and callus person. This was mainly because the author did not take the time to fully develop his personality. It is evident that the author did not work very hard to develop any of the characters. Many of them are one dimensional and they did not do or say anything extraordinary to make me remember them.

In addition to poor character development, the author did a poor job of moving his characters from one scene to another. One example of this awkward transition occurred when the brothers went through a terrifying ordeal. Not long after the traumatic scene, Steve and his girlfriend have sex. I thought the author needed to tell more about the aftermath of the brother’s ordeal before this intimate scene was mentioned.

Even though I did not like this book, there are a few parts that are well written. The authors writing skill seemed to improve a little bit toward the end of story. There are instances where the author managed to make me a bit curious about the fate of the characters. A few scenes made me cringe and the story brought certain images to my mind. I also liked the fact that the story made me think about how people react when they are faced with difficult situations. It is unfortunate that the book was poorly written because the author did attempt to make profound statement with this story.

The author tied up most of the loose ends of the story but it wasn't too hard to guess how this story would end. I was disappointed because I did not learn anything new while I read it. By the time I started reading the last chapter, I was glad that the book would soon end.

When I finished reading Green Mountain Road I thought it was an unfinished manuscript instead of a book. This story desperately needs to be edited. I felt that it was a piece of wood and that the author needed to use a hammer and chisel to turn it into a work of art. I’m sad to say that the author missed the opportunity to completely mesmerize me with his words, so I give it 1 star out of 4.

***
Buy ""Green Mountain Road"" on Amazon

Hi there. I thought this was a brilliant review and really learned from it. Green Mountain Road was my first attempt at writing a novel and I felt very complimented by some of the things you said. In the new version of the book, which underwent massive changes and two professional edits, the whole story of the younger brother has been omitted, and a very different ending was written for the first half. Once again, I thank you for your time and trouble in reading my work and invite you to check out the changed book, which is now a novella with four other stories attached and now titled, "Green Mountain Road and Selected Stories".

viking308 wrote:Hi there. I thought this was a brilliant review and really learned from it. Green Mountain Road was my first attempt at writing a novel and I felt very complimented by some of the things you said. In the new version of the book, which underwent massive changes and two professional edits, the whole story of the younger brother has been omitted, and a very different ending was written for the first half. Once again, I thank you for your time and trouble in reading my work and invite you to check out the changed book, which is now a novella with four other stories attached and now titled, "Green Mountain Road and Selected Stories".

I’m glad that you learned a lot from my review. I was blunt because I read a lot. I’m used to reading good books that have a solid story line and have been edited properly. I will send you an email to tell you more about what I like and disliked about the book. Don’t worry I won’t be harsh.

thanks miztree, although it is sometimes difficult, I feel not only that I have not done my job in entertaining you enough and that it is incredibly useful to get an honest review. People that tell me my writing is really good are doing me no service when in fact it falls short. There is nothing in the world I want more than to be a good writer, and it was great to hear that there was something in my work that had potential. If you would like a copy of the latest edition of "Green Mountain Road" in ebook or paperback, message me under my name on Facebook and I would be more than happy to send you a copy.