Fool's Errand
Shortly after my wife gave me my Kindle Paperwhite for my 50th birthday, she had me sign up for a few different online services. One of them was called Book Bub, and the other was called Pixel of Ink. Basically, these services scour the Internet for cheap deals on digital books and then consolidate them into a daily email for you. Since that time, I have been buying quite a few books at the $1 and $2 price point to have ready on my Kindle.
The problem is, I am a quite slow reader, so if when I buy one or two books a day, I eventually end up with many more books than I can actually finish in a reasonable amount of time. The good news is, I am getting faster at reading, and in the case of "Fool's Errand" by Jeffery S. Stephens, I was able to finish the book in less than a week.
Probably not a big deal for a lot of people given the fact that it is only 256 pages long, but for me, that is a big accomplishment, and I think it speaks to how well the book is written.
Based on the description, I expected this book to be about an epic transworld treasure hunt, and while there were some elements of that, what it really turned out to be was a gritty although touching story about a father, son, and their relationship. While the book takes place in a more modern setting, the majority of it is set up in a time after World War II with flashbacks and memories of the main characters childhood.
His father "Blackie" is a larger than life character with a fascinating history that even the main character doesn't realize the extent of until later in life.
The characters themselves are written very well with some of them eliciting a visceral response when they introduced to you as well as each time they re-enter the story.
There is a scene at the beginning of the book that is somewhat reminiscent of the famous Thanksgiving episode on "The Bear". If you know, you know.
The book does a good job of drawing you into the story right away and it becomes fairly easy to connect with the main character. Each bit of apprehension, elation, and various other emotions are pretty easily mirrored by the reader.
Although like I said, this is mostly a book about a father son relationship, there is a treasure that looms in the background and proves to be the catalyst for the story.
With elements of the mob hot on his tale, the main character takes a whirlwind trip across the globe that not only brings him closer to the treasure, but closer to a side of his father that he never really knew about.
I gave this book five stars on my Good Reads account because I felt it was more than worth the value for the money. The story kept me engaged and excited to see how it wrapped up. One of the other things I loved about this book is that it is a stand alone novel.
Many of the books offered by these services are first in series, so they give it to you cheap to get you hooked, then you have to hit up a library for the other ones or pony up the money. That's not the case with Fool's Errand.
If you are looking for a quick and interesting read, I highly recommend this one!
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