Author J. Marc Harding announces the release of his latest
work of contemporary fiction, Painkiller Ghosts.
Painkiller Ghosts follows the reclusive Thyme X Exler, thirty-something and under motivated,
as he fights to reclaim his life from hard drugs after the overdose of his longtime girlfriend.
Thyme moves back home to his childhood home to search for serenity and sobriety while living
with his single and outgoing mother, Suzanne. Thyme fights his addiction to illegal drugs, only
to find himself on prescriptions drugs as the result of an injury. He becomes an accidental
witness to a deadly incident which changes the direction of his life. His mother, in the
meantime, is being stalked by a man who was once a coworker, which results in Thyme taking
the matters into his own hands, with kitchen utensils.
Thyme attempts to solve his mother's problems aggravates the situation more, and the man
begins showing up in the lives of Thyme's female friends, often with disturbing consequences.
At the same time, Thyme is being followed by the jingle of a dog's collar which he cannot see,
but which sounds like his dog that died months ago. Thyme beings a cycle of wondering if he is
going crazy from medication and loneliness, or if he is in fact seeing and hearing ghosts; he also
beings a journey of recovering from all of his addictions and lost relationships, while it seems
life is getting darker and darker around him, both in his personal life and the world at large.
About the book:
Painkiller Ghosts, by J. Marc Harding
ISBN: 978-1-4500-4213-0
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
Date of publish: March 2010
Pages: 208
S.R.P.: $19.99
Painkilling Prose (lit blog): http://jmarcharding.blogspot.com/
About the author:
J. Marc Harding graduated from James Madison University with a concentration in creative
writing. He lives with his wife and daughters in Richmond, Va. Along with playing the double
bass in various bands in Richmond, his resume ranges from public relations writer to bowling
alley photographer, from dog groomer to banker. His fiction and poetry has appeared in
Washington, DC's WordWrights magazine, Richmond, Va's Throttle magazine, and James
Madison University's Gardy Loo! magazine.
I was very depressed by this book.
Well first things first, I thought the plot sounded great. Thymothy has it rough. His girlfriend and dog both die. Thymothy is into drugs and has just had a hard life recently.
He moves back in with his Mother to try to get some balance and stability in his life.
When he does go back, he starts to hear ghosts, which he calls Painkiller Ghosts.
I really thought this plot sounded great. There was just one problem.
The Author flashes back sooooooo many times, I couldn't keep up.
He switches back to when the girlfriend, Maria was alive, then Thymothy years in the future, then back to when Maria was alive but three years earlier then the last time, etc.
It really took away from the story. I understand when flashbacks are needed in some stories, but there are many ways an Author can make the transition much easier. Separate chapters is my favorite.
~~All opinions expressed are 100% mine. I was not paid for this review. I did receive a copy of the book to read thanks to Bostick Communications~~
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