richly expansive adventure story:
This is a detailed and evenlypaced story that shows how desperation and urgency can lead a man to dark deeds.
Highly detailed and precise in narrative delivery, we see a man on the precipice of despair willing to risk everything and paying the worst possible price for crossing the line.
A devoted father, John, finds himself in extreme financial difficulty, With his business failing and his precious daughter in need of expensive medical care, John becomes involved in a drug smuggling operation with Wanda, a rough diamond who herself is trying also to look after her child in difficult circumstances.
The events of/have stunted the trafficking of drugs, leaving Wanda struggling to provide for herself and child, The events of/have also left Johns travel agency business in dire straits, leaving him in the same predicament with his own daughter.
Already partnered in a fashion with the sadistic Jamel, Wanda makes a hesitant workingrelationship with John to bring drugs into the country and earn the money they both need.
An uncommon relationship is formed, in which they both use their particular skills to make the business arrangement profitable,
John is driven by desperation, and reluctantly agrees to the complex plans he and Wanda form, But everything they do must be kept secret from Jamel, Wandas former business partner, if they are both to succeed and stay in one piece!
This is a novel that gives us a vivid insight into the sordid operation of drugtrafficking a novel which has either been wellresearched or simply the product of a vivid imagination and much kudos to the author for making me wonder which.
Its also a story of heartbreak, struggle, and how far a parent will go to protect its child,
I thoroughly enjoyed the gradual unveiling of this adventure, the tense particulars of each step of John and Wandas planning, and the shocks and twists which illuminate the plot line.
This story sucks you into a seedy world, complete with its inherent dangers, and above all the frightening consequences, The most innocuous events early on in the book are tied up with a slamming twist at the end, in which the cruellest ironies are revealed.
Recommended read.
The novel starts towards the ending and then delves back into the events that led up to the scene of a car crash.
John Manning has had an accident, his young daughter Lucy's soft cries heard to his fastfading consciousness, The scene is now set to deliver the proverbial path chosen the one of good intentions and rightful reasonings,
Reading the subtext of the many and varied scenes, the reader will find that choices made against better judgement can only end differently than planned.
Update SHADES of GRAY is now a BestSeller on Amazon with tons of fivestar reviews, Get your copy today.
"Debut novelist Andy Holloman speeds us on a journey with punch, twist, and emotional dilemmas straight from our worst fears.
Shades of Gray is a colorful, rollicking ride from start to finish, "
Franz Wisner, New York Times bestselling author of "Honeymoon with My Brother" and "How the World Makes Love"
"Wow! Holloman delivers on a taut thriller that will keep you turning the pages far into the night.
This book should be at the top of everyone's reading list for"
S, Burnham, PeakCityPublishing. com
How far would you go to save your child's life Could you break the law
What if your travel business was suddenly in danger of going under because of/
A single father decides to partner up with woman from the opposite side of the tracks.
Can their partnership deliver the cash they BOTH desperately need
Could they fall in love
And will they survive to see the Summer of
Start with "Breaking Bad", add dash of "Cops", and stir in a darker version of the "Love Boat" and you get all the right flavors for "Shades of Gray".
I received this book for free in a Goodreads First Reads giveaway,
Mr Holloman caused me to get nothing done that I needed to on my days off due to the fact that I couldn't put this book down.
FINALLY someone has written a book with a fresh story concept, characters you can't help but like and best of all, he did all this by omitting the "boring" that so many authors tend to let slip into their novels.
This is a great book, check it out. While I enjoyed the plot, I did not enjoy the read, I question giving away the climax at the beginning of the book, leaving the anticlimax all I had to look forward to.
I also found there to be a lot of dialogue, which was often difficult to follow, I had to work back several times to make out who was doing the talking, I hope the author continues to write and takes this criticism as it is offered, constructively, I will read his next offering when it comes out, Creepy, wonderful. Loved the book. Loved the writing. Hated that the first chapter was the Shades of Gray's own spoiler, If only this author had stayed chronological, I would have thought it was suspenseful, intriguing, Instead, giving us the ending at the beginning, it was merely a slow dribbling descent to an area we had already visited.
A bit more fleshing out of secondary characters would have been nice, as well, People said they were reading Shades of Gray but this is not the one they were reading, I'm thinking this was better, Suspenseful and entertaining The writing was good. I read the entire book but the end just devastated me, It was so emotional. It really isn't a book I'd normally read, The title, Shades of Gray, was never more appropriate to a story as it is in Hollomans tale of good versus evil, which shows how good people can get caught crossing a line that becomes blurred by crisis.
Holloman grabs the reader right from the beginning with action but the humanness of his characters is what keeps you turning the page.
Having once been the owner of a travel agency, I related to the seamless way he wove in the workings of the agency and its relevance to the story.
I found it difficult to assign a genre to this story, It is a page turner, and it has some very suspenseful moments, but its also thought provoking like a good southernlit novel.
If you enjoy somewhat dark suspense novels that hit a chord of realism, you should definitely add Shades of Gray to your elibrary.
Ahoy Fellow Fathomers! Today in The Locker I introduce to you the latest book I read, Shades of Gray by Andy Holloman.
Goodreads Andy Hollomannot to be confused with the other Grey book floating around out there
After I read Andy Hollomans Shades of Gray, I realized the feeling I had at the conclusion of the book reminded me of a long ago time in a high school class.
A teacher proposed the Heinz Dilemma to us, in hopes of a spirited debate, If you are unfamiliar with the Heinz Dilemma, Ill digress away from my review for a moment, Lawrence Kohlbergs theory of six stages of moral development is a modification and expansion of Jean Piagets simpler two stage theory, Kohlberg used the “Heinz Dilemma” short parable if you will as a way to explain each of his six theorized stages,
Heinz Steals the Drug
“In Europe, a woman was near death from a special kind of cancer, There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her, It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered, The drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him to make, He paidfor the radium and charged,for a small dose of the drug,
The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he could only get together about,which is half of what it cost.
He told the druggist that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later, But the druggist said: "No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to make money from it, " So Heinz got desperate and broke into the man's store to steal the drugfor his wife, Should the husband have done that" Kohlberg,, "
Kohlberg was not as interested in the answer as he was the reasoning each participant in the discussion gave following the story.
At the time my teacher presented this exercise to my blossoming mind, this particular dilemma challenged my hypersensitive, small town morality and made me think twice about the concrete beliefs of right and wrong.
Most situations in life are not black and white, but rather, shades of gray, hence how I tied the book to this psychological theory, Please, I
encourage you to read more about he six stages, if this subject intrigues you, I personally find it fully fascinating and engaging, Kohlberg's Moral Dilemma and the Six Stages
Now, back to the reviewHolloman pens a creative, heartwrenching tale of a father forced to do the unthinkable in order to help his sick child, Lucy.
This page turner raptly held my attention until the very end, The story shifts from a terrible auto accident, back to the details leading up to said accident, The introduction to the main protagonist, John, is thorough and sets up the pivotal relationship he has with his younger halfbrother, Travis, also a major character.
The author weaves the plotline together very well and introduces each player, explaining their role in the story, Holloman describes the geographic areas used in the story and inside details of the travel industry to further give the tale plausibility.
Some of the specifics are so methodically explained it made me wonder if Mr, Holloman has the inside on conducting illegal activity, Just kidding, Andy smile. As I read each page, I wondered how far I would challenge my own morality for the sake of the "right" reasons.
As well as Holloman pens this manuscript, I did find some slight mistakes, A couple of which are more my personal preferences than may be largely held opinions, There is a name discrepancy with one very minor character, and a few grammatical errors which I chalked up to editing slips.
Unfortunately, this occurs from time to time, and even in NY Times bestsellers Ive read,
To me, it felt like Holloman rushed the last third of the book, Although he eventually covered the answers well enough, I would have liked to read the story unfold, and not “be told” what occurred to get from point a to b, c, and d, etc.
He definitely possesses the talent as a creative taleweaver, and I would have liked more of the particulars to develop as I read.
Toward the end, in one scene, Travis spends time with his niece, Lucy, and overuse of the endearment, “darling”, pushed me to the point I skipped through most of their few pages of interchange.
I believe the continued use of “darling” is to emphasize Traviss love for Lucy, However, Holloman explained it very well throughout and he really did not need to overstate it by a repetitive word usage,
Shades of Gray ends with hopefulness for Johns future, but, not in the way I expected, It is not a black and white happy ending once again, shades of gray and I felt sadness for John when I turned the final page.
This book is light enough to be considered entertainment, yet, also compelled me to wince at times in anger, disappointment, and sorrowall good indicators of successful fiction.
Considering everything, I give Shades of Gray Purchase Link four and I look forward to more books by Andy Holloman.
If you want suspense, intrigue, and creativity, I believe you will enjoy his inaugural book,
.