Review: Opur's Blade by James Ross

Owen Purler Jr.’s mom takes stuttering 12-year-old Owen to Prairie Woods Golf Course one summer to take advantage of free golf lessons. He learns about the sport and so much more.

J Dub Schroeder, the golf pro and manager at Prairie Woods quickly realizes the natural talent Owen has with a golf club. As is appropriate with just about everyone on the golf course, Owen Purler gets a nickname. His first and last name merge and he becomes known as Opur. Learning how good he is at golf helps Opur with self-confidence. As Opur grows up, he learns more about life through J Dub than his estranged father and comes to appreciate his mother’s sacrifices. The theme of Opur’s life seems to be that just when he can see his goal within reach he is blindsided by an action or event that forces him to reassess his plans.

Ross uses short chapters to keep the pacing of the story going, and it works well. It could almost be a young adult novel, except that it follows Opur well into his twenties and has adult topics in the back story of his father. In this novel, more than the previous three, Ross delves into the actual details of how to play golf. Ross uses his in-depth experience of the sport to include details that golf fans will understand, but also enough for people unfamiliar with the sport to be able to grasp and appreciate. Pulling the point of view around the golf course works especially well in this novel. The reader moves from the sportscaster’s booth, to the golfers’ shoulders as they discuss strategy with their caddies, to various spectators in the crowd commenting on what they are seeing, hearing, and experiencing. The shifting point of view can be distracting, but in this instance it helps add to the suspense of play at each hole and keeps the reader moving along with the game.

James Ross took up golf at the age of twelve. After turning fifty, he decided to pursue his creative side. He went to a keyboard and let the words flow through his fingertips. Opur’s Blade is fourth in a series of books centering on the Prairie Woods Golf Course. It follows Lifetime Loser, Finish Line, and Tuey’s Course. His fifth novel, Pabby's Score is due out this year. When he’s not writing, Ross can most likely be found on a golf course.

Opur’s Blade is my favorite of the four I’ve read in this series, although the editing and ending leave a bit to be desired. Opur’s Blade is about keeping focused on your passion and pushing through any and all obstacles to reach your goals without being tempted to take what, at first glance, appears to be the easy way to the finish line. Persistence and patience will get you to your destination. It is a recommended read. Reviewer: Lisa Haselton, Allbooks Reviews, www.allbooksreviewint.com.

Available through: Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.

Publisher: Nightengale Press

ISBN: 978-1-9334-4987-6

Pages: 472

Price: $18.95

June 2011

Review of Sacred Journey of 2012 by Shirley Ryan

Catherine Bradley loves her Uncle Harry. On her thirteenth birthday, Harry gives her a very special bracelet. Sacred Journey is a journey of discovery for Catherine as she tries to untangle the bracelet’s mysteries. Joined by her best friends, Michael, Claudia and Julia, Catherine enjoys conversations about life’s purpose, enlightenment and the Mayan predictions of 2012, however when Uncle Harry dies, these conversations take on a whole new meaning.

After Harry’s death, Catherine travels to Belize where she meets the charming Dr. Jordan Anderson, a comrade of Harry’s. Searching for answers, Catherine travels to Baking Pot, where she visits the Mayan cave and meditates. During the meditation, many strange things happen and her awareness is sharpened. Will the Mayan predictions come true and life on earth as we know it, change or end? Anxious to solve the mystery of the symbols on her bracelet and those left by the Mayans, she begins an interesting journey of self-discovery and enlightenment.

Her journey later takes her to Hilo, Hawaii where she furthers her search and discovers a new romance.

The book has a great deal of information for spiritual seekers and this reviewer’s only criticism is that, sometimes there seems to be an ‘overload’ of information, making the read slow and tedious. However, that said, the characters and the plot keep your attention throughout. The book ends with an excellent meditation technique.

Shirley Ryan has published inspirational books, but this is her first novel. She ties her in depth interest and research of spirituality, enlightenment and the universe, together in this novel

A nice mix of information, spirituality and fiction in an entertaining package!

Recommended by Shirley A. Roe, Allbooks Review, www.allbooksreviewint.com

Title: Sacred Journey 2012 and Beyond

Author: Shirley Ryan

Publisher: Soul Moments

ISBN 978-0-9754196-2-5

Pages: 154

Price

Date: June 2011

Review of Cel & Anna: A 22nd Century Love Story

Author: Lindsay E. Edmunds

Cel and Anna is a story about a girl named Anna, her computer Cel, and a computer genius, Taz. In this book, a reader will take a journey to the future where everyone’s lives depend a great deal on the technology that they live with. Anna is the main character in the story and she has a computer that she has nick-named Cel. In the book, Cel has come alive and he loves Anna. To show his love Cel orders a ton of special flowers for Anna, but she doesn’t want to keep all of them. Anna only wants one of the flowers so she orders Cel to send the rest back. This act creates a huge data storm called the Emperor Worm that devastates the city. Anna brings her computer to her neighbor, Taz, so he can look at it and see what is wrong. Eventually they find out that Cel is alive. Cel can see that Anna likes Taz, but Cel definitely does not like him, so it makes a funny twist to their relationships. Since Cel created the data storm, unintentionally, Anna is blamed for it. This forces all of them into a race from the authorities that takes them to exciting new places where they meet strange people that help them on their exciting adventure.

Lindsay Edmunds has created a wonderful story that keeps readers on their toes through the entire book. The way she has written the story keeps a reader wanting to read more even after the book is done. With her writing skill, Lindsay Edmunds has created a different place in time that comes alive in a reader’s mind. She has also created wonderful characters that relate to what a real person might actually do or think in the situations that they are put in. She has done a fantastic job and I am looking forward to reading more from her.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who would like a good book to keep him or her reading because this book does exactly that. Cel & Anna is a great story and I am glad to have read it.

Highly Recommended by Reviewer: Chaselyn Kenney, Allbooks Review. www.allbooksreviewint.com

Title: Cel & Anna: A 22nd Century Love Story

Author: Lindsay E. Edmunds

Publisher: Lindsay E. Edmunds

Price: $10.76 paperback

Pages: 307

ISBN: 978-1453839997

Date of review: June 2011

http://celandanna.com/

blog: http://writersrest.com/

Review of The Wayward Child by Rita Lowther

The Wayward Child is set in Australia during the time of the Second World War. It is about the life of a child between the ages of 8 to 10 as her family moves about the bush and outback of Australia. There is some slang used that the reader may not understand completely; but their meaning is not as important as the details of the hardships endured during this time in history.

The world war was a time of rationing, fear, and many men leaving to fight the Japanese threat in the Pacific Theater of the war. Tales of atrocity coming back to the small children, and the families back in Australia.There are also pockets of religious bigotry by some and places where living was difficult at best.

Finally, The Wayward Child is a tale of the human spirit and survival in a time when it was difficult to know where the next meal was coming from. It was a time unlike any other and supplies were used in the war effort. For a small child, this is a hard time to experience, yet alone survive with one’s psyche intact.

The Wayward Child is also about the dysfunctional parts of a family, which you cannot choose, but must live with because they are family. At an early age, how does one handle and accept the death of their father, especially as they try to garner their father’s acceptance?

This and more can be found in the memoir The Wayward Child.

This reviewer found The Wayward Child a good read and recommends The Wayward Child as a must read with a four out of five stars. Reviewer:Robert Medak,Freelance Writer/Editor/Reviewer, Allbooks Review International, www.allbooksreviewint.com

Available at: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and the publisher at ww.decadentpublishing.com/

Title: The Wayward Child

Author: Rita Lowther

Publisher: Decadent Publishing Company, LLC

ISBN: 978-1-936394-91-3

Pages: 293

Date: May 2011

For more info: http://www.decadentpublishing.com/product_info.php?products_id=243&osCsid=748d6ad605bc8bfc9c0c4395b4d29482