People die every day. They choose a life of crime, love the wrong person, see things they shouldn’t, or maybe they simply grow old. There’s no escaping it. Death comes to us all eventually, so there’s no point in running. But be encouraged; death is not the end.
Behind every death there’s a story of life, love, and sometimes tragedy. I’d like you to meet Cara, Rachel, Tony, Marco, Sarah, Samuel, Loreli and Wren…this is their story. Come on in and I’ll tell you all about them. Sit down and have a piece of pecan pie and a cup of coffee, or maybe a glass of sweet tea. We’ve got sandwiches if you’re hungry. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, just ignore that nasty smelling mist you see creeping along the ground. And don’t worry about the screams, they’re not here for you.
In a cross between hard crime fiction and a spiritual parable, The Waystation takes you on an odyssey from the darkness of this world, to the serenity of the afterlife. It carries you from the ugliness of the drug business, racism, abuse, and murder, to the joy that comes when all that ceases to matter anymore. Existing as a stopping point on the journey between life and death, The Waystation is a place to rest and prepare for your real life to begin.
The blurb of the book may be a lengthy one, but it did
intrigue me. Some theories state that there is indeed a threshold that we need
to cross before we ‘cross over’ to the afterlife. Having a plot set up in that
threshold, or ‘waystation’ as the author puts it, made me wonder what it would
be like.
I liked the way the author introduces the readers to the ‘Waystation’.
It was quite interesting and had the hook in it. The concept of caretakers of
the waystation also seemed quite appropriate. It fit. The book then moves on to
tell us the stories of a few characters - Cara, Tony, Rachel, & Marco.
Their lives are their own yet their stories are forever entwined. It is through
their stories that the author raises quite a few social issues on the side as
well, like abuse.
I will get one of my quirks out of the way here. I really do
not like titles with a colon in it. It makes me think that the title isn’t
enough and the author wants to convey more, yet unable to do it with just the
title. I know it is a stupid quirk, but you know how we bookworms can get about
our quirks.
I absolutely enjoyed the premise of the book. The way it was
handled kind of resonated with me. And the cover image kind of resonates with
the setting as well. The characters in the book felt real. They had both good
and bad in them making them more relatable. In a way the stories of these
characters in the given setting is what makes the book tick. The author’s
narrative is inviting, which adds to the book’s charm.
There are two particular points that I would like to point
out. One, you do not have to be a spiritualist to enjoy this book. Second,
there is some violence in this book that may be trigger for some.
This book IS different. It is unlike anything I have read
before and as a result I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Review Copy received from the Author
Thank you so much for the lovely review Debdatta. It makes me happy knowing you not only enjoyed the story, but you also "got it."
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