Truth is stranger than fiction

  Book Review Title: The Cleveland Heights Author: Doug Henderson Genre: Sci fi/Fantasy      The Cleveland Heights is an interesting story within the story.    Every Thursday We have our protagonist twenty-five-year-old Ben-a gamer who lives with his family in a basement. He is your regular guy who is warding off his mother’s pestering questions and nursing a broken heart. He also suffers from a low self-confidence. The only place where Ben feels confident is Readmore-a store of comics and games. Every Thursday night, he and his friends get together to play a game-filled with dungeons and dragons. Things begin to take a sudden turn when the parallels between the real life and fantasy one become stronger.     The Cleveland Heights is a quick read with some interesting characters. They are people you instantly connect with. Ben is openly Gay along with other characters. He is nerdy and enjoys spending time with his cat. He longs for a real rela...

Book review Title: The Mermaid of Black Conch Author: Monique Roffey Genre: Fiction Based on legends, The Mermaid of Black Conch tells the story of a woman named Aycayia who is cursed by jealous women to live as a mermaid. We have David who sings to himself on his boat. Aycayia is drawn to the guitar and his music. Their rendezvous is brought to an end with the appearance of American fisherman who capture this mermaid. When David rescues here, it results in a great amount of transformation. Along with this transformation comes a lot of challenges.  The story is set in the Caribbean islands. The language is lucid and vivid with a great deal of imagery. There are doses of poetry thrown in between. Characterization is one of the strongest aspects in the book. It’s amazing how the author cuts across a wide range of characters- the mermaid, David, David’s landowner, the police chief and the greedy fisherman.  Another interesting aspect of the book is how the mythical element of the...