Skip Horack

Every so often I need to take a step back from my usual genres and pick up something completely different. Skip Horack's new book, The Other Joseph, offered up a great opportunity to do just that.

Roy Joseph has lost most of his life - his beloved older brother Tommy died in the Gulf War, his parents are both dead and he lives within the narrow confines of a life constricted by a felony conviction. He's chosen to live in a remote area with only a dog for company and he works an isolated job show more on the oil rigs. Roy has exiled himself from life.

When a young woman contacts him and say that his brother Tommy was her father, he sees a chance - a chance to reconnect with life again, to redeem himself, to perhaps be happy.

Roy's journey physically takes him from Louisiana to San Francisco. He visits locales from their childhood and calls on those who knew his brother along the way. Broken and wounded characters litter the road between Louisiana and San Francisco.

Horack's prose are rich and powerful. They are stark and spare, underlining Roy's solitude. I was overwhelmed by Roy's life - his broken, isolated existence. It was just so very, very sad. I wasn't able to read the book straight through - I simply had to read in small doses. I wanted so badly for the the trip to be Roy's redemption. And of course you're asking - was it? It's hard to say - the ending is not what I wanted at all - Horack did surprise me. I'll have to go with an ambiguous yes and no answer.

The Other Joseph was a moving, eloquent read - one that will leave echoes with you after the last page is turned show less

This novel presents a fascinating story of a man born in Africa, sold into slavery, who escapes his owner in America and flees to Spanish-owned Florida in the early 1800s, where he encounters a fort manned by runaway slaves intent on defending their freedom. However, this effort is undermined by opposing American forces and leads to disaster for many of the former slaves. While this novel offers a vivid picture of nature, history, and the events, the writing failed to truly draw me into the show more story and care about the fate of the characters. A good story, but I did not find it to be an engaging one. show less

Well-written short story about climate change and the whims of those with excess.

A brilliant collection of short stories by first time author Skip Horack. All the stories take place over a one year period and are all set somewhere on or about the post Katrina and Rita Gulf Coast. This time and proximity is the only connection between the varied and richly depicted characters in their diverse lives, situations and social classes. An all too real snapshot of these post disaster Southerners as their lives continue. Well worth your effort to find and read. I certainly hope show more Mr. Horack has a novel in him working its way out! show less