Review: Promising Story Line But Fell Flat
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 02 5, 2014
Recently I selected Little Joe by Michael E. Glasscock III from my To Be Read pile looking for a charming, hopefully intriguing characters, and a lighter tale than I have read lately. When I selected Little Joe, I realized it was Book One of a Four-Part Series. Reading Little Joe hasn't charged me with the will to read Book Two.Growing up in Nashville, TN, which is near the region Glasscock uses as his central geographic point, I was impressed with the accuracy of his descriptions of the Hwy. 70, the impact of fog along its narrow lanes and shoulders, and the intensity of rain storms and the amount of water drenching highways.The depicted region is captured well so I anticipated good character development and emotional read based on this nine-year old boy's sudden transition from his parents to his grandparents. Not having had grandparents who were still alive when I was born, I always enjoy a book with beautiful grandchildren/grandparent relationships.Nothing could be farther from the situation in Little Joe. Although his grandmother is a strong Christian woman and is quite pleasant to those among her community who are African-American, she is quite bigoted when it comes to Catholics. I waited for the author to tell me why, but he never expanded on this. Perhaps it will come in Book Two.Under the circumstances of his parents' sudden death, I expected a softer heart from the grandmother and not such harsh judgments and punishments. I did not like her character at all.During a time when emotion could have filled paragraphs and perhaps pages, it was sadly lacking. I did not feel that Little Joe was given an opportunity to grieve for his parents as a child should and like would have, nor did I get the sense that, other than with his two young friends, was he allowed to be a boy child.All in all, I was sorely disappointed with this book and have a difficult time recommending it to anyone else to read.Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. The opinions expressed here are solely my own.