I
just received some fabulous news, and I’m bursting to share it.
As
I mentioned in an earlier post, this year I submitted the final version of the
upcoming print edition of A Journal of
the Crazy Year to Kirkus Reviews
for an indie review. The results of
that came in a couple of weeks ago, and as I told you in a previous post, the
review was excellent.
Yesterday
I received an unexpected email from Kirkus.
It said: “I just wanted to
let you know that your review for A Journal of The Crazy Year was
selected by our Indie Editors to be featured in Kirkus Reviews 12/1
Issue. Congratulations! Your review appears as one of the 20 reviews
in the Indie section of the magazine which is sent out to over 5,000
industry professionals (librarians, publishers, agents, etc.) Less than
10% of our Indie reviews are chosen for this, so it's a great honor.”
I
won’t say I fainted dead away at this point, but I did get palpitations.
But
wait. There’s more. Kirkus
Reviews issues its widely-respected magazine twice a month. But the December 1 edition is special. It features “The Best 100 Nonfiction &
Best 50 Teen Books of the Year.” No, my book
is not in that section (it’s neither teen oriented in particular nor
non-fiction) but the fact that it is contained in a high-interest edition of
this nature is an added bonus.
 |
| Detail screen cap from Kirkus Reviews Magazine |
As
those who’ve been following me on my journey for the last couple of years know,
in March of 2013 I did what they tell you never to do: I quit my day job to pursue a dream. More specifically, I left a perfectly good
job as a TV news director and awarded myself a two-year sabbatical, with the
full support of my lovely wife, to try to reinvent myself as a fiction writer
and, later, as a radio talk show host as well.
I had reason to suspect I might be a decent writer of news, having won
or shared credit in 90+ professional journalism awards over a 33 year career in
television and radio. But I had no idea
whether I would be any good as a writer of fiction. Making this decision was a bit like jumping
off a cliff in the dark, not knowing if anything would be there to catch
me. Well, nearly two years later, I’m
starting to believe I can write. My
first novel, Messages (which one critic described as a “masterful exposé of TV news”) received good critical
and reader reviews, and now, so has my second, the sci-fi apocalyptic novel A Journal of the Crazy Year. And now Kirkus
is showcasing its fabulous review of that second novel in a really cool way. (The radio show is getting great local reviews, too!)
 |
| Cover detail (new cover coming in January!) |
A Journal of the Crazy Year falls into the zombie genre, but
it is not your father’s zombie novel. For
one thing, the victims are not “dead” (which sets up all kinds of problems for
the protagonists). For another, it’s
actually not a far leap of the imagination to say that the events in the story
really could happen. The novel is inspired
by a very real pandemic that hit at the beginning of the last century, and then
mysteriously disappeared without a cause ever being identified, and was largely
forgotten. Some of the victims were affected in a manner
not too different from what the novel describes. What if the disease were to come back in more
virulent form? There’s absolutely
nothing to say that it couldn’t. A Journal of the Crazy Year tells the story
of a world gone mad.
Arguably,
the scenario laid out in the novel is already unfolding in real life. The book is as fresh and as relevant as this
morning’s headlines—and even a casual glance at those shows that something really
frightening is happening to human sanity on a civilization-wide scale at this
very moment. As Kirkus put it in their review, the novel is “A great case made for the idea that the end
isn’t nigh—it’s already here."
The review also compares my writing to Kurt Vonnegut—a
high honor indeed, since that is one of many authors whom I admire and who have
influenced me. A previous review compared the novel to one of Stephen King’s books. Getting mentioned in the same breath with
those icons is not a bad thing, and was far more than I had a right to expect.
A
Journal of the Crazy Year will be published in print on January 12. I will post the appropriate announcements at
that time. Meanwhile, the Kindle version
is available now, and it’s a good cheap read (just $3.99). If you don’t have a Kindle, a free Kindle
reading app is available for just about any computer or mobile phone platform known
to man at this link. Trust my new friends at Kirkus—if
you have any interest at all in realistic sci-fi, or are curious to know what
the end of the world might look like especially from a mass media standpoint (written
by a news veteran who knows what that experience would be like) A Journal of
the Crazy Year will be time, and a small bit of pocket change, well spent.
You can find purchase links and also a free sample
chapter at this link. The full Kirkus Review
is below.
TITLE INFORMATION
A JOURNAL OF THE CRAZY YEAR
Carr, Forrest
CreateSpace (276 pp.)
ISBN: 978-1500300951; January 12, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
A pandemic helps humanity destroy itself in this wry apocalyptic thriller. In 2015, John Cruz wakes up in a hospital in Las Vegas. He’s surprised when a pair of orderlies quickly restrains him, as if he’s capable of violence. He soon discovers that he’s one of only three patients at the mental hospital, and Dr. Marcia Keenan tells him he’s been there since his 2011 attack on a co-worker. The facility is largely empty because most mental illnesses seem to be vanishing. A disease called Sudden Onset Psychosis Syndrome has been on the rise, however, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesn’t have any answers. When John befriends fellow patient Scooter, he learns that frequent gun massacres have swept the United States, and the planet teeters toward World War III. Once he’s deemed stable, John goes home with his loyal wife, Maria. From there, they watch TV media dispute what’s causing the spread of SOPS—which propels many victims into bloodthirsty rages. The gigantic Comet Filipov, streaking past Earth, is a cause that seems preposterous until it’s argued that comets have heralded doom throughout history, and science can’t fully explain the universe. Author Carr (Messages, 2013) does an exemplary job portraying the media circus surrounding the comet and the possibility of flesh-eating mobs; when asked about zombies, a leader from the CDC says the organization “vehemently rejects that term, and would strongly condemn any news reporter...using it in reference to victims of this crisis.” Early on, Carr employs jet-black humor reminiscent of Vonnegut, as when Scooter says: “I’ve got about another two months to live….Wanna play checkers?” But John becomes less sympathetic as the narrative progresses. Chaos envelopes the city, so he takes charge, telling Maria that he wants no “backtalk, no argument, no questions.” Later, the flight from civilization is handled well, and a truly unconventional ending makes for a worthy trip.
A great case made for the idea that the end isn’t nigh—it’s already here.
###
A JOURNAL OF THE CRAZY YEAR
Carr, Forrest
CreateSpace (276 pp.)
ISBN: 978-1500300951; January 12, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
A pandemic helps humanity destroy itself in this wry apocalyptic thriller. In 2015, John Cruz wakes up in a hospital in Las Vegas. He’s surprised when a pair of orderlies quickly restrains him, as if he’s capable of violence. He soon discovers that he’s one of only three patients at the mental hospital, and Dr. Marcia Keenan tells him he’s been there since his 2011 attack on a co-worker. The facility is largely empty because most mental illnesses seem to be vanishing. A disease called Sudden Onset Psychosis Syndrome has been on the rise, however, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesn’t have any answers. When John befriends fellow patient Scooter, he learns that frequent gun massacres have swept the United States, and the planet teeters toward World War III. Once he’s deemed stable, John goes home with his loyal wife, Maria. From there, they watch TV media dispute what’s causing the spread of SOPS—which propels many victims into bloodthirsty rages. The gigantic Comet Filipov, streaking past Earth, is a cause that seems preposterous until it’s argued that comets have heralded doom throughout history, and science can’t fully explain the universe. Author Carr (Messages, 2013) does an exemplary job portraying the media circus surrounding the comet and the possibility of flesh-eating mobs; when asked about zombies, a leader from the CDC says the organization “vehemently rejects that term, and would strongly condemn any news reporter...using it in reference to victims of this crisis.” Early on, Carr employs jet-black humor reminiscent of Vonnegut, as when Scooter says: “I’ve got about another two months to live….Wanna play checkers?” But John becomes less sympathetic as the narrative progresses. Chaos envelopes the city, so he takes charge, telling Maria that he wants no “backtalk, no argument, no questions.” Later, the flight from civilization is handled well, and a truly unconventional ending makes for a worthy trip.
A great case made for the idea that the end isn’t nigh—it’s already here.
###
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