Review: Youth Encounters Adversity
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 19, 2013
This novel combines elements of suspense, humor, and youthful desperation. It starts off with a scene of insanely violent action that startles the reader and raises the question of why did that happen? No explanation is offered, so the question hovers for many chapters before it can be answered by the story. What comes after that first loud bang is a jump into the head of the novel's main character, Calvin, a young man like someone you may know. He is a recent graduate of a good though not prestigious college, saddled with debt, working as a teaching assistant, unable to gain a foothold in his intended career. Worse, he rooms with a dotty aunt who repeatedly makes bad investments, ignoring his advice, and obviously disrespects him. The American dream is not only eluding him, but seems to be slipping away altogether.Opportunity of a sort knocks in the form of a scheme cooked up by Scooter, his cousin of dubious history, character, and sound judgment. Since Calvin has few other options, he hooks up with Scooter and soon encounters a large cast of characters, many of them oddballs--ex-militaries, politicians, villains, and more.The story is told mainly from Calvin's viewpoint, though other character viewpoints (e.g., heavies) are used at strategic points. Most of the novel consists of dialogue, giving it momentum. Among its subjects are corporate greed, political corruption, immigration, human trafficking, governmental mischief, international intrigue, murder, and revenge. A good read.