Spirit
Andrew Feder
Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Pages: 356
Author Site: http://www.andrewfeder.com/spirit.html
My Rating: 1/5
Source: Received for review from The Cadence Group
Synopsis:
[from http://www.goodreads.com/]
Randall Lender was a Wanted Man. He was wanted by the Clergy of the Major Organized Religions, the Governments and the New World Order, but that was the least of his problems. After going out of body (astral projection) Randall Lender suddenly found himself in such a paradox where the surrealism meets dilemma. Within this phenomenon of Looking Through the Hour Glass he unfortunately after leaving his physical body ended up into another's. This was his paradox. This was his dilemma. This was his surrealism. And regrettably for Lender this was the real quantum problem. Randall Lender found himself on an unexpected journey with its twists and turns until he realizes that he must die to live for his return to his former body. And now the elixir of questions remains: What? How? And Why? Then you'll ask why me? Why him? And What If?
Review:
First off let me say that the synopsis of this book is what got me to say yes when I was approached to review this book. I haven't read a lot of books on astral projection but it's an interesting topic; one I definitely wanted to see explored. Not only does the blurb speak of astral projection but it delves further by asking 'What happens if one's soul gets lost after leaving the host body?' Randall Lender may have bitten off more than he could chew when his spirit landed in a wanted criminal who just committed a murder. (No spoiler there...it's on the back of the book) Anywho, with all my interest in the topic of the novel I was very disappointed with the execution and had to even put the book down a couple of times to keep from giving up all together. *sigh*.
Let me start by saying that I always finish a book I start...even if I have to put it down for a little while like I stated in the previous paragraph. I respect and admire every author who has written a book. I know how precious the novel can be to its creator; like a baby. So while I respect and admire Andrew Feder for all his efforts I still don't know how his book got published. I know, I know...that was harsh. But I seriously doubt an editor even looked at the book. While there is definitely promise in the premise of the story, its characters, and even the background world Feder creates, the writing itself is like eating something that you refuse to acknowledge is inedible. The style can leave one in a state of confusion where they simply ask "What did I just read?" There were many times that the writing was good. Then there were times when it was simply okay. Other times it seemed Feder's overeagerness to create his "novel baby" got the best of him and he sort of just wrote or typed without really thinking of how it fit with the rest of the page/chapter/or entire book.
There is a lot of repetitive writing as well and the constant switch from bold, italicized, and capitilized words is a real distraction from the story. It seemed Feder wrote a statement or a description and then in the next sentence or two had the exact same statement or description with maybe one word difference. Also the dialogue was a bit sketchy for a lack of a better term. I had a hard time connecting with the characters because of their interaction with each other.
I didn't hate the book. I loved the idea of it and I love the fact that Feder made an effort to express his ideas even if I didn't enjoy the way he did it. He has a highly orinigal story that was just put together a little too funky for me. My 1 star rating is definitely a more personal rating. I wasn't really feeling it and it just wasn't the book for me.
