Tag: Literary Suspense

The INCIDENT by Avis M. Adams – Teen and Young Adult Dystopian Fiction, Teen and Young Adult Literature and Fiction, Teen and Young Adult Suspense

In The Incident, Avis Adams’ creative young adult novel, two teens face the precarious events and consequences surrounding a natural disaster while ultimately realizing the true value of friendship and family bonds.

Nearly seventeen, Josh Woolf has recently lost his beloved grandfather and is now concerned that his Dad wants to sell the family farm. While his father is away at a conference to address climate change and the potential of “El Primo,” a violent storm system predicted to wreak havoc across the country, Josh and his Mom batten down the hatches in preparation for a severe weather front headed their way. Amidst the tumultuous mayhem of dropping trees, shattered glass, and unhinged window screens, Adams finely details the storm’s intensity. She masterfully captures the fear of the unknown as Josh is forced to deal with a significant medical emergency then later defend his family’s property against encroaching ne’er-do-wells.

Meanwhile, Emma Tate is at odds with her own Mom and ventures out of the house to attend a downtown climate change protest.

With worsening weather conditions, she gets caught up in violent winds but luckily finds shelter with Lilli and Jade, the quirky owners of an artsy tattoo establishment. Jade’s comment, “It’s been a long year today,” truly captures the essence of time’s slow passage during the continuing days of hurricane chaos. This new trio of “sisters of the storm” soon form an unlikely bond, depending on one another in their efforts to help Emma get back home. In the aftermath of continuing storms, Adams creates an atmosphere with an apocalyptic feel. Suddenly the streets are filled with zombie-like wanderers, dogs appear wild, and looting and shooting define daily life experiences.

The book’s chapters move easily between the difficult journeys of Josh and Emma’s coming-of-age narratives.

While each story encapsulates their personal experiences, Adams unexpectedly leads their teen paths to cross, allowing readers to recognize the similarities of their circumstances. Themes about the desire for parental approval, and family love and pride, are aptly woven within a narrative laced with newfound friendships, violence and upheaval, and budding amorous interests.

Whether showcased through Emma’s nervous habit of chewing on the end of her ponytail, a Grandmother’s Danish plate collection that withstands the wrath of Mother Nature, or Josh’s finding solace in playing his violin, such added intricacies all serve as calming elements in a storm. While the opening prologue also serves as an audience draw indicative of a central character’s precarious situation, Adams purposefully returns to the scene later in the story to reveal a fortuitous meeting.

Readers familiar with violent environmental events will recognize the chaos and casualties Adams showcases. The Incident clearly offers a message about the inability to escape a hurricane’s path and the web of destruction and feelings of fear and helplessness it often leaves behind for those in its wake.

Adams leaves us with a contemporary tale that brings two storylines into a clever joining. As the present state of global warming forces its way into our consciousness, with a bevy of well-crafted characters facing the rising tensions of a planetary dilemma, Adams’ The Incident provides a quality and thought-provoking read.

January 5, 2022
JOEL EMMANUEL by J.P. Kenna – Mystery, Coming of Age, Pacific Northwest Literary Fiction
Set in the Pacific Northwest in the 1970s, Joel Emmanuel by JP Kenna rewards its readers with the story of a boy coming of age and how he understands the changes around him. Kenna’s style echoes the English novels of the 19th century.

Young Joel Emmanuel Webber, named for a Wobbly executed long ago in 1915, lives with his mother, Nance Raindance, in a cabin on the Skagit River near Seattle before it was a technopolis. Their world is antiquated even for the 1970s and defined by farming, fishing, and basics like a woodburning cookstove, kerosene lamps, and candles. Joel calls his mother by her given name, doesn’t know his father, and lives an open life free of school and, even occasionally, clothing. He is sensitive and easily succumbs to tears.

His small world includes a nearby septuagenarian farmer who is the cabin’s landlord; an Indian from “the Rez” named Billy Sampson and his daughter; and Bruce, a suitor of his mother’s who has become the town’s hustling (and overextended) entrepreneur. This unique upbringing affects how Joel sees the world, as he comes face-to-face with adult matters, while other children his age are happy and oblivious to the difficulties of adulthood.

As the world away from rural Washington slides from President Carter to President Reagan, young Joel’s life changes when his actual father, George, shows up unexpectedly at his ninth birthday dinner.

Of course, George has past transgressions, as we all do. Still, the boy bonds with his father, assisting in his coal business while his mother’s relationship with Bruce becomes complicated. The family takes an apartment in town as Nance moves from selling vegetables at a roadside stand to helping run Bruce’s real estate office. Joel is content with his time on boats and bicycles and at ease with hard work such as splitting wood. However, the interactions between the men in his mother’s life warp his understanding of the world.

Bruce’s precarious financial position – or perhaps his non-Native capitalistic thinking – leads him to repossess his old fishing boat from Billy’s cousin Gerald. The repercussions of this one decision pit Native Americans against townies, and forces Joel to choose sides in the subsequent murder trial.

Kenna weaves his literary suspense like a true master, making farms and equipment come alive, all while using them to represent the flow of change and time. Each place, each scene, each vehicle, and each tool is imbued with meaning. Kenna’s characters have strong relationships with their place in the world, which makes it easy for the reader to internalize. In fact, Kenna captures a way of life that seems impossible today, focusing on the human story and systems of the time, and makes them universal and accessible to contemporary readers.

J.P. Kenna’s story of changing and butting cultures beats at the heart of Joel Emmanuel, and readers will surely enjoy it. Joel Emmanuel won 1st in Category in the Somerset Awards for Literary Fiction and the Clue Awards for Suspense Fiction.
July 16, 2021

Tag: Literary Suspense

The INCIDENT by Avis M. Adams – Teen and Young Adult Dystopian Fiction, Teen and Young Adult Literature and Fiction, Teen and Young Adult Suspense

In The Incident, Avis Adams’ creative young adult novel, two teens face the precarious events and consequences surrounding a natural disaster while ultimately realizing the true value of friendship and family bonds.

Meanwhile, Emma Tate is at odds with her own Mom and ventures out of the house to attend a downtown climate change protest.

The book’s chapters move easily between the difficult journeys of Josh and Emma’s coming-of-age narratives.

JOEL EMMANUEL by J.P. Kenna – Mystery, Coming of Age, Pacific Northwest Literary Fiction

Set in the Pacific Northwest in the 1970s, Joel Emmanuel by JP Kenna rewards its readers with the story of a boy coming of age and how he understands the changes around him. Kenna’s style echoes the English novels of the 19th century.

As the world away from rural Washington slides from President Carter to President Reagan, young Joel’s life changes when his actual father, George, shows up unexpectedly at his ninth birthday dinner.