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Comments/Reviews
I read your book in two days…I became so involved in the characters. Tragic, real, honest feelings, and grabbing at life for meaning. The characters stick in my mind and I find myself still wanting to know how they are doing. The book handles a subject matter than many people deal with daily. Beautifully said and handled with grace. The story allowed the reader to accept and recognize similar feelings, without shame, that once they may have considered. Congratulations, David. Don’t stop. You are a fine author that deeply touches the soul. (Melinda Foote)
Oh boy. I started reading Randi right after I got the proof copy last fall, but just couldn’t conquer my queasiness over how much art imitates life.
I have to tell you that I picked up the book on Saturday afternoon to just look at it and ended up not being able to put it down..finished it at midnight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I absolutely loved it.. Can’t wait for book club. The ending threw me and I want to hear what everyone else thinks. (Sharon Gilbert, Sacramento.)
(Interesting post from a 21 year-old reader.)
Okay, since the last book I read was Harry Potter (and before than I can’t even remember!) people warned me that Resurrecting Randi would be too dark or too “mature” for me. Well, I started it on a flight to California and have to say that after about 10 pages of the book I was completely hooked. Truthfully this book was amazing. It made my three and a half hour flight literally fly by. The entire time I was thinking, “wow! This is really, really good, this will be my girlfriend’s favorite book.” I mean I don’t want to go into detail but the imagery was great, and the characters were explained in such detail that at the end of the novel I couldn’t believe the enormous transformation. This would make a killer movie and I have been pestering my girlfriend to read this book because I want to talk to her about it but she said that she is saving it for when we go on a trip in the middle of this month. She is only 18 but I guarantee she will love it! (Mark Tapanes, L.A.)
I started reading Resurrecting Randi and finished it in one day - the story is so captivating it was hard for me to put it down. (Shepherd) is a great writer and storyteller. I loved that the novel was set in Austin. I could totally visualize the buildings... (Stacy, San Francisco)
I’m emotionally exhausted after reading the book. I don’t normally read much fiction, and I’m not totally convinced I did here. All of the characters rang true and made me care about them. Except for Captain Tommy Lee Smith. They each, both individually and as a group, took me on a roller coaster ride. Except for Captain Tommy Lee Smith.
I especially liked the brief visit by 444-Gail.
Travis, Travis, Travis. I wish you could have heard my warnings. What a wonderfully complex life you allowed us into. Your friends and the situations you found yourself in were equally surprising and believeable.
And Ben, you know that last message to Travis should have been delivered face to face. It’s ironic that as his best friend you didn’t realize that.
As a been there, done that, just past middle-aged male I recommend this book. The skill with which David poked at way too many of my personal sore spots left me uncomfortable at times, but he always held my attention. I read Randi in one day. And I’m going back now for a more contemplative journey through the pages. Maybe a chapter a day in order to better appreciate each thread of this intricate tapestry.
What a talented writer is David P. Shepherd. If there is justice in the literary world Resurrecting Randi will be the first of a string of his entertaining and thought-provoking novels. (Don Adams)
The ending puts the question on the individual reader. How has Travis grown from his experiences? What doors opened or closed for him? What type of thinker is the reader? Can the reader relate the experiences of Travis to any of their own. If they are reading the book - they have survived or are in survival. A truly thought provoking ending. The discussion of the book will create insights beyond the words printed on pages. The sign of a good book. A thought provoking book. A book that stays with you. A book that may reveal a different attitude for the reader and his associations to life events. (Melinda Foote)
I feel that an excellent writer makes a book that is only as good as the reader. One that creates an experience that catapults the reader into examining their own lives and experiences through the characters and their journey throughout the story. It becomes a personal experience rather than a fictional walk with the author. A mirror viewed through a kaleidoscope of possible lenses. A shared journey down a familiar path with creative opportunities for thought along the way…David Shepherd is that writer and his writing allows this opportunity…
In this book, Randi can be viewed as the reader’s deepest feeling, thought, regret, hope, experience, etc silenced deep from within that is allowed the opportunity to be Resurrected or re-experienced for a moment in time with a different audience, the characters in the story.
As I read the reviews for Resurrecting Randi, I see that a reader simply cannot put the book down once they begin to experience the story. Another common association, “Avid Readers”, write the bulk of these reviews filled with themes of “Hope”, “Thought”, “Emotion”, and an overwhelmingly positive mark for the Author.
I concur.
P.B. Neathery
Loved the book! The characters really came alive. The ending was a surprise and I thouroughly enoyed the story. I can’t wait for your next novel. (Melanie, Phoenix.)
After attending the book signing in Denver on Monday I decided to suspend my TMI (too much information) fears to try again. I finished it on Tuesday. LIke others, I couldn’t put it down. Great characters, elegant writing, intrigue, unanswered questions & sex. Can’t do better than that! Thanks for a great read. (Lynn Williamson, Denver.)
Wow! Really an amazing journey. Towards the end I put it down only because I didn’t want it to end! Then I read the last two chapters and was left speechless. Riveting. Looking forward to your next one. BRAVO! (Dalia Berlin, Miami.)
I finished reading the novel last night at 3 a.m. I couldn’t put it down. A very gripping and haunting work. I thought about the characters long after the reading had stopped. It is such a beautifully tragic, yet somehow redemptive story. (Owen Temple, Austin.)
I just finished Resurrecting Randi, a very compelling read. I found it very unsettling, disturbing…compelling, edgy, visceral. The characters layered and complex. Didn’t know where the characters of Travis or Layla were headed. He was almost as disturbed as she was…even in trying to set boundaries, he was clueless. Very poignant moment: Travis’ breakthrough…when he remembered the details of Randi’s death. Powerful (for the reader and for both of them).
He was so blinded by his love for her…couldn’t separate his sexual feelings from his feelings of compassion.
Ending…disturbing that she was (considering) going to live w/ her father who was still drinking…can’t help but think she’s headed for trouble..AGAIN! Another book, perhaps??
Travis lost everything…but did he? Certainly a lost soul..tragic Travis.
Kathryn.. I knew from the start that wasn’t going to work. She was his alter ego..the part of him that wanted stability, boundaries, a comfortable life. Surprised that she stuck w/ him as long as she did…that was a pleasant, softer side of her that emerged…allowing us to get a peek at her vulnerability.
Why did Travis allow Layla to go through all his stuff (his life that he had packed away)? Why did he let Layla resurrect his past? He seemed to thrive on Layla’s unpredictability and saw in her a wisdom born out of her wounded tragic life. He allowed himself to be vulnerable w/ her…but it wasn’t enough.
In summary, this is a powerful book…
Carma (Michigan)
I just read the book - in fact couldn’t put it down - it’s quite a page turner. I thought Shepherd crafted it VERY well, hinting at what was to come, going back and forth between past and present, then tying it all together. The narrator was reliable and very well portrayed. His psychological struggles with both past and present were totally believable. I liked him. He was a little evocative of the narrator in “Lolita”. Their issues with younger women were somewhat different, but getting into both their minds was hypnotic. I’m waiting for the next one. (Jane Joplin, Houston)