Review: 5* for excellent story; 2* for modus operandi
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 7, 2012
Desolation Road: a short story, Straightline  Press, an e-book by Andrew E Kaufman is exactly as described -  a short story. In accord with an increasingly popular procedure to provide "a book length publication" , the author has included an excerpt from his "#1 Bestselling novel, "The Lion, the Lamb, the Hunted".This is a very enjoyable short story that provides a real `kicker' of a climax. The format is reminiscent of, and as well done as, the form employed by several  authors who were popular many years ago when magazines like Colliers and Saturday Evening Post existed and routinely had large distributions. There were many of these stories that the reader looked forward to with anticipation. Here, a similar story is used as an interesting and excellent marketing tool for one of the author's books.As an avid reader, I have, in the recent past, set forth a question about this procedure.(See my review of Symbios by Joe Kimbell.) Granted, the author has stated that he was providing "a short story". As such, the potential reader has the choice of buying, or not. However, as an author, I wonder if presentation of a "short story" this short is fair to my potential readers, even if costing only a few pennies? In other words, is it fair to ask the reader to pay for marketing my book?  Obviously, this is a strictly personal opinion, but I believe it is a thought that might enter the mind by each reader. If so, will it tend to make the reader more wary? But, perhaps this may be relegated to a random thought from an old guy whose first book was published in 1950. Reviewed by John H. Manhold, award winning fiction/non-fiction author.