REVIEW and EXCERPT
Seven Threads
by Jason Atkinson
Seven Threads by Jason Atkinson is currently on tour with Enchanted Book Promotions. The tour stops here today for my review and an excerpt. Please be sure to visit the other tour stops as well.
Description
In this collection of seven short stories from Jason Atkinson, follow a man accused of murder, a runaway girl on a train, a scientist at the heart of a government conspiracy, and more! Full of twists and turns, Seven Threads offers a selection of fast-paced stories full of heart and excitement.
Book Video
Excerpt from "The Runaway Tracks"
The train was almost full, and the platform outside was starting to thin out. Looking at his watch, Pete proclaimed it was just about time to depart. His new friend sitting across from him, nervous but ever so determined, would not be backing out now; if anything, she was in for the ride regardless.
“Your ticket will be validated soon. And when you’re caught up here, the porter will direct you to where you should be instead.”
She just looked at him. Sure enough, at that moment she heard the voice of the grim reaper himself. He was calling for tickets not too far away, and he was approaching their section.
Thinking about hiding, she frantically looked around for somewhere to disappear, as that seemed to be her specialty. The only place was behind the bar, but that was not going to be well managed, and if caught there, she feared an even worse punishment.
“Pete,” the conductor said with a comfortable level of familiarity, “Are you making this trip again? What is this? The fifth time now for you? They should get you a punch card.”
“If they gave me a punch card, you’d be going out of business, my friend.”
As she sat there watching this incredible scene unfold, it appeared apparent that these two knew each other.
“And who’s this with you? Is that your niece you’ve told me about?”
Seeing an opportunity, she held out her hand.
“Hello, yes. Pleased to meet you, I thought it was about time I went on this trip, too.”
“Ah, yes indeed. Well, it’s nice to meet you, Selena.”
She just smiled and then sat back in her seat. Pete and the conductor exchanged a few more words, and then he was gone. Pete, sitting back in his seat now also, looked at “Selena,” and chuckled.
“How did you know he hadn’t seen a picture of my niece already?”
“Well if that were the case, why did he ask if it was me? We must look somewhat alike if he had seen a picture.”
“Well played, ‘Selena.’ He hasn’t seen a photo, but I have talked about her coming on this trip a lot. And you probably noticed he didn’t even check our tickets.”
“I did notice. I also saw that I could have saved myself a chunk of change and gotten on for free,” she gruffed, and Pete just laughed.
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Praise for the Book
"In these stories, the author gets right to the point without adding any extra information or time between situations. But, the stories still include depth and description to offer the reader emotion and visuals into the character's situation. Since most of these stories offer sadness, the author has to convey these emotions without being too wordy and he does so succinctly." ~ Stacie Gorkow
"All the stories are different but they do connect in a way, through the common theme of humanity and compassion. [...] Fans of short stories should give this collection a shot." ~ Majanka
"This book is so good I'm really enjoying it." ~ Deborah M.
My Review
This is a collection of seven
short stories, based on the themes of hope, compassion, friendship, and the
kindness of strangers. The stories are divided into mini-chapters, making them
suitable for non-readers, people with
short attention spans, and those who may choose not to read a whole story in
one sitting.
In "The Gentle Man", Jim struggles to come to terms with
the death of a friend.
In "Life is a
Rummage Sale", a homeless man's life
turns around after doing a good deed.
In "The Coffee Shop", Adam meets Rebecca, and it's love
at first sight until someone comes between them.
In "Classified", a scientist is caught up in a
government conspiracy.
In "The Runaway Tracks", a girl runs away from home and
encounters a kind stranger.
In "Mr. Dean Brant -
The Lost Brother", Dean visits his dying brother.
In "A Miracle in
Aisle Four", Jill helps a needy
family at Christmas time.
In the author's bio, he
states that "he is not much of a reader." This is beyond obvious, given the mundane storytelling, boring plot
lines, unrealistic dialogue, unbelievable
behavior of the characters, and the anti-climactic resolution of each story. Foreshadowing
at the end of each "chapter" makes you think there's going to be a
big twist, but there never is. In addition,
the writing is overly emotional and melodramatic, yet fails to evoke any
emotion in the reader.
There are also numerous editing issues, including:
a mixture of past and present
tenses, randomly switching point-of-view, an overabundance
of clichés, poorly constructed sentences, incorrect word usage, lack of logic, and
continuity errors. In a recent interview, the author himself states, "When I am self editing, I do not put too much effort into
it. I realize that can sound somewhat lazy, and perhaps one day I will change
my approach, but for now I don’t want to
focus too much energy into the editing
portion. There are people out there that are much better editors than I will
ever be, and I would rather make mistakes but get a better story, than edit everything and second-guess my every
sentence." Sorry, Mr. Atkinson, writing a book just doesn't work that way.
Very disappointing.
Jason Atkinson is a 32 year old, who lives in the Midwest with a wife of 10 plus years and one adorable toddler. Jason loves to write. Oddly though, he is not much of a reader. But that's why he wrote Seven Threads for people just like him. If you want to read a story, but don't have time for a novel, this book is perfect for you. Seven Threads is a book of seven shorts that are perfect for the light reader. If Jason can read it, he knows you can too!
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