Official Review: A Vagrant Story by Paul croasdell
-
Lovely_Ink
- Posts: 225
- Joined: 21 Jan 2014, 19:45
- Bookshelf Size: 15
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-lovely-ink.html
- Latest Review: "Olympian Passion" by Andrya Bailey
Official Review: A Vagrant Story by Paul croasdell
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "A Vagrant Story" by Paul croasdell.]
Share This Review
A Vagrant Story is a work of fiction by Paul Croasdell. It is the story of 4 homeless individual brought together by life’s circumstances, who bond together to save the life of a stranger. The exact time period that the story takes place during is not readily apparent, nor the exact geographical location. The setting for the story is similar to many large cities in that there is your suburban area with affluent people, an identity-less population of homeless people that are looked down on by the more fortunate, and a corrupt underclass determined to destroy all the good intents of the working citizens.
Croasdell tells several overlapping and interchanging stories in this book. First there are the four main characters; Sierra, Rum, Henry and Alex; all brought together by their troubles and bonded by their need for shelter and camaraderie in Middle Park, their chosen homeless haven. Each of these characters has a story to tell, the intricacies of their lives before they fell on unfortunate times is strangely woven together in ways that they don’t even recognize. Throughout the book, these characters have an opportunity to think back on their lives and find redemption from the circumstances that caused them to give up on life.
The next overlapping story is that of John, the stranger with his own demons that the band of homeless characters is introduced to. It becomes their mission to find John and stop him from making a catastrophic life choice even though they have no real means to help him or change the course of his life. Although there is reluctance by some members of the homeless quartet to get involved, it is agreed that helping John may turn into a way for each of them to find forgiveness for their own personally perceived wrongs. Along the way to helping John, the homeless quartet bears witness to a corrupt system run by greedy for-profit entities that is destroying the very fabric of the city. As they journey throughout the city they see the places that they once know run down and changed in ways that make what they formerly knew unknown. These changes in landscape usher in the change of convictions and perceptions that the four have about their individual circumstances.
To further complicate matters, there is a serial killer on the loose. Unbeknownst to the four, the serial killer has terrorized key figures in the story that would help them reach John faster. On several occasions, the four have had chance to encounter the killer and in a plot twist, those encounters have set them up for an adventure that none of them anticipated. It is through their final battles with this killer that the story finds resolution. Beware, it’s not the ending one would expect but it does tie the story together.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. Overall this was a good story. I do like how the author tied all of the characters together and gave them their own battles to overcome as they worked together to meet the needs of another. There are lots of twists and turns that require careful reading in order to keep up but they all add flavor to the action of the book. Technically there are a few off-putting things to be mentioned. The author uses lots of imagery that bogs the story down at key points instead of moving it along. In addition, there are places where the characters become confused. A story that goes with one person seems to be interchanged with another character at one point in the book. The book is a long read and takes some patience to get through but the overall tale is worth reading.
***
Buy "A Vagrant Story" on Amazon
Share This Review
Croasdell tells several overlapping and interchanging stories in this book. First there are the four main characters; Sierra, Rum, Henry and Alex; all brought together by their troubles and bonded by their need for shelter and camaraderie in Middle Park, their chosen homeless haven. Each of these characters has a story to tell, the intricacies of their lives before they fell on unfortunate times is strangely woven together in ways that they don’t even recognize. Throughout the book, these characters have an opportunity to think back on their lives and find redemption from the circumstances that caused them to give up on life.
The next overlapping story is that of John, the stranger with his own demons that the band of homeless characters is introduced to. It becomes their mission to find John and stop him from making a catastrophic life choice even though they have no real means to help him or change the course of his life. Although there is reluctance by some members of the homeless quartet to get involved, it is agreed that helping John may turn into a way for each of them to find forgiveness for their own personally perceived wrongs. Along the way to helping John, the homeless quartet bears witness to a corrupt system run by greedy for-profit entities that is destroying the very fabric of the city. As they journey throughout the city they see the places that they once know run down and changed in ways that make what they formerly knew unknown. These changes in landscape usher in the change of convictions and perceptions that the four have about their individual circumstances.
To further complicate matters, there is a serial killer on the loose. Unbeknownst to the four, the serial killer has terrorized key figures in the story that would help them reach John faster. On several occasions, the four have had chance to encounter the killer and in a plot twist, those encounters have set them up for an adventure that none of them anticipated. It is through their final battles with this killer that the story finds resolution. Beware, it’s not the ending one would expect but it does tie the story together.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. Overall this was a good story. I do like how the author tied all of the characters together and gave them their own battles to overcome as they worked together to meet the needs of another. There are lots of twists and turns that require careful reading in order to keep up but they all add flavor to the action of the book. Technically there are a few off-putting things to be mentioned. The author uses lots of imagery that bogs the story down at key points instead of moving it along. In addition, there are places where the characters become confused. A story that goes with one person seems to be interchanged with another character at one point in the book. The book is a long read and takes some patience to get through but the overall tale is worth reading.
***
Buy "A Vagrant Story" on Amazon
Latest Review: "Olympian Passion" by Andrya Bailey
