****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
A Facebook friend recommended this book, so I thought I’d give it a look. My expectations were modest. I mean, come on... from the “You Can’t Go Home Again” subtitle and the blurb, it sounded a bit trite. An updated Rip Van Winkle? *yawn*But Mr. Clayton surprised me. He avoided the trap of getting bogged down in just HOW the protagonist (Van Ripplewink) managed to emerge after his 48-year sleep (or whatever it was), healthy and, though foggy, of pretty sound mind—to do so would have moved the tale into the realm of either the supernatural or science fiction—but his intent was clearly to portray through an innocent’s eyes just what has transpired in American society, mores, and values over the last half-century, not to create new physical laws.He uses well-crafted and diverse characters to present their worldview and values, and shows Van’s perplexity, then questioning, and then evaluation and assessment of the world in which he finds himself.I’ll skip providing a synopsis of the story; it’s not needed. The interaction of the characters and their various arcs, both positive and negative, kept the action going for me. I found myself involved with them in their daily lives with the pressures and challenges they faced. I read the entire book in three sittings, as once I got into it I didn’t want to stop. When it was over, I was sorry there wasn’t more. I found myself thinking about it when I was doing other things. To me, that defines a 5-star book.That doesn’t mean it could not possibly have been better. But I felt it well worth the $3.99 Kindle price, and recommend it.One other comment: An earlier reviewer stated, “Many errors in spelling and grammar.” As a regular proofreader for many authors I generally notice typos and “glitches” that many others don’t, and I found exactly ONE instance of a missing word, and ZERO spelling errors. That reviewer was either worried about ungrammatical dialogue or internal monologue—thoughts— (which is the way many/most people speak in casual settings), or he was reading a different book.
