Reviewing Books since 2009
The SufferingAuthor: Dan MayerGenre: Fiction - Horror Date Published: January 1, 2018 ISBN-10: 1612969623 ISBN-13: 978-1612969626 Click here to read a sample GoodReads Rating:
3.71 |
Dan Mayer’s novel “The Suffering,” published by Black Rose Writing is a story of a man who suffers repeated personal losses and through it all loses his relationship with God. It is a book about redemption and “spiritual hollowness.” Mayer’s dark theme touches on the state of human brokenness and how it can fracture our relationships, our loves and ourselves. Bill Johnson lived an idyllic life in Galway, Ireland that is suddenly shattered when his beloved father, William, dies. Bill's father was a well-liked and respected carpenter in the town of Galway. Bill was not only William’s son but also his able apprentice. He revered his father and their relationship was very close. They worked and spent much of their time together and his father’s sudden death was emotionally devastating to him. Overwhelmed by sadness, Bill withdraws and turns to alcohol to ease his pain. He finally decides that a move to America might give him a fresh start. It turns out to be the right move. He finds success, a wife and is blessed with two boys, Billy and Henry. Then suddenly, his life is once again interrupted by death. His wife is taken by cancer and Bill once again turns to alcohol to relieve his grief. Billy and his little brother Henry are now forced into raising themselves. The boys are mostly left to their own devices and are seldom apart. Billy is adept at navigating the strange world he lives in and looking after his brother. He is also aware that something is terribly wrong in his life, he feels that something is missing inside him. He feels this spiritual hollowness and he realizes that his father suffers in the same fashion. Billy finds himself often visited by repugnant evil visions of him hurting others, even people he loves. They are debilitating visions but in some twisted way, these dark moments provide pleasure and relief to Billy. Mayer’s story delves into the great sadness, the terrible burden of grief that often accompanies and follows a deep loss. He writes about the universal desire to escape the prisons of our own minds. “The Suffering,” asks questions about man’s belief in God; should we acknowledge our weakness and ask God for help when our world crumbles and our first thought is where is God and why did He allow these horrors to happen? Is great sadness part of the human condition? Billy is aware of the evil that is festering within him, but at times crippled by its power over him. Billy's biggest struggle is with himself. Will he find the will to suppress the need to cause harm? You will have to read “The Suffering,” to find out. |
Dan Mayer lives in Delhi, Ontario, Canada. He likes to talk, write and talk about his writing. He is an outdoorsman, who fishes, hunts, travels, scuba dives, and rides a motorcycle. He has four grown children, two beagles and a red-fox lab. Working as a millwright funds his many adventures, that fuel his imagination.
