Review of The Delco Years

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MsTri
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Review of The Delco Years

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[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Delco Years" by Bill Owens.]
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3 out of 5 stars
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Dystopian and postapocalyptic stories, especially those involving pandemics, have been all the rage for quite a few years now, and The Delco Years by Bill Owens is the newest entry in the subgenre. Taking place after an accidental release of Anthrax-836, resulting in worldwide fatalities, the book is ostensibly about the building of a new village by some craft beer drinkers, the only people who survived the catastrophe.

"An interactive graphic novel by Ned Buntline," this tale starts with the logical setup then takes a meandering path to get back to the main plot of the story. In fact, it seemed to me that more of the book took place in the past than in the present with a lot more space given to the lead-up rather than the fallout.

During the middle part of The Delco Years, the focus was on the inciting incident, and while it was absorbing enough, I was not expecting so much space to be devoted to it. I also was not expecting all the explicit sexual situations and scenarios involved; I actually wondered if I'd accidentally downloaded pornographic material! At the same time, I did learn far more than I ever wanted to about certain sexual matters, but it was still intriguing and something a person could use while playing Trivial Pursuit, perhaps. I'd be remiss if I didn't also warn about one instance of "hell," though I didn't find any other profanity in the tome.

Once the story got back on track, I found it to be only marginally interesting. The main thing I noticed was that there was no real conflict, so I had trouble staying engaged. I also didn't particularly care what happened to any of the characters due to the lack of any real stakes. Whereas we veered into porno territory before, this section felt more like a travelogue than a cohesive story. The author would be wise to insert some strife during this portion, and there are ample opportunities for doing so.

One thing I did love about The Delco Years was what I surmise was the "interactive" part. The author included many links throughout the novel, so I was able to read about the real events that inspired the incidents in the yarn. Since this tale was supposedly loosely based on real experiences, it was great getting to read about said occurrences. This book also included illustrations, which I think were another interactive facet, and I enjoyed looking at them even though some of them didn't quite seem to match the text.

Unfortunately, this book also had many grammatical errors, including issues with punctuation, an occasional misspelled word, and problems with verb tenses. Additionally, the author had a bad habit of failing to change paragraphs when a new person spoke, thereby leaving to several confusing moments.

Due to the aforementioned errors and failure to fully hold my attention, I am rating The Delco Years 3 out of 5 stars. Even though I wasn't 100% impressed, I have no problems with recommending this tale to fans of travelogues, readers who enjoy salacious material and facts, and people who like simple tales roughly based on actual events.
This story is true except for the parts I made up.
-Bill Owens, The Delco Years

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The Delco Years
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