Book Review - Handbook to Higher Consciousness by Ken Keyes, Jr.

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Book Review - Vanessa by David L. Howells

VANESSA

When my husband asked me to review this book, I was totally in the dark about the subject matter or the Author. The author, David L. Howells, sent us a series of five books and when I saw them I thought to myself, what has my husband gotten me into? 

The cover on the soft back version of Vanessa is about as unappealing as any I have ever seen. I would never have given this book a second thought in a bookstore, but a promise is a promise so I plunged into the story.

After a short confusing beginning, in which we meet all of the main characters and have absolutely no idea how they may tie together, the meat of the story starts to present itself. It does take a little getting used to switching between the Civil war and 2047, however once you get that rhythm down this is a truly intriguing story. 

The characters are wonderfully written and soon you are cheering for the band of do-gooders. The Fitzgalen family, as they are called, are a unique group headed by Ryan who was somehow magnetized by the Navy in Pearl Harbor (yes I know, but trust me you will believe ) and it appears that he will live forever as a young man. His sidekick is the truly delightful ghost Vanessa who was his wife and to whom a truly wicked sense of humor must be ascribed. Ryan’s staff is composed of Gustav and Marianne. We also have his great grandson Allen and Allen’s mother Rachel, who quickly becomes fast friends with Marianne to the delight of the reader. Eventually they add the taxi driver Ralph, and Allen’s (reformed from a snob) girlfriend Melissa to the gang. I’ve never found such a collection of different personalities in a book, maybe in a TV sitcom, but I must say I truly came to care about each and every one of them.

I found the story a bit difficult to follow because it took me awhile to discern what was happening to the real characters and what was happening to the not so real characters, the dead who have not quite gotten over to the other side. I think “Vannessa” is a real comedy/suspense/thriller that is hard to put down. The action is set in the Civil War and is very graphic. The “Villain”, for want of a better term, is Mad Annie and by the end of this book you can feel nothing but empathy for a character that you start out hating. 

The writing is quite good, but there are places where the older characters make side references to cliché’s that Allen does not understand. When this happens someone always explains them to Allen, but not to the reader. Some of these are obscure and I will admit to still wondering what some of them mean. I wanted to know what Allen was being told. 

There were times that I laughed out loud and at other times I was on the edge of my seat. It’s not often that so many different emotions are evoked in me by a single book. Overall, I found this book to be quite enjoyable and look forward to reading Vanessa: The Family Tree, which is the next book in the series.

Kathy Lund