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From Away eBook Phoef Sutton

Download As PDF : From Away eBook Phoef Sutton

From Away eBook Phoef Sutton

It pains me to write a negative review for an accomplished author like Phoef Sutton who has some serious credentials to his credit. But his ghost story, From Away, will never be one of them. Ghost stories should be full of dread, not dreadfully boring. His was the latter.

The story is told by a twenty-something erstwhile video store clerk to his four year old niece, written as a sort of diary to her to read on her twenty-first birthday. They both share the ability to see ghosts, or “spooks” as he calls them. One spook who haunts them is a little girl named Jellica. Though the narrative is neither scary nor suspenseful, at least the backstory involving Jellica was interesting.

But with few exceptions the chapters beginning mid-way through the book and beyond describing bad dreams, an instructional manual for mediums, Mrs. Day’s philosophy of life, the behavior of ghosts, and the book as a whole were a struggle to finish. I lost the struggle and gave up at 74%.

Although Chapter 24 in particular was very well written, I skimmed the remaining 26% of the book hoping the story would come to an unpredictable conclusion. It didn’t.


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From Away eBook Phoef Sutton Reviews

This is one of the most well written books I’ve read from Book Bub. I used to watch the tv series “Medium”, but “From Away” takes that concept to an entirely new level. Maybe the fact that it’s written in the first person, and that that person is so very human, is what captured my imagination. Or maybe it’s just that I hope there are people like Sam out there. Whatever the case, you won’t be sorry if you take the time to read it. And if you can pass some kindness along to the living people you encounter in your own life, it may go a long way towards making their (and your) afterlife (if there really is such a thing) a little happier than it might otherwise have been.
There are more things in Maine that go bump in the night than can be found in places like Derry or Castle Rock.

Welcome to Fox Island.

Phoef Sutton's latest is a thoroughly satisfying read, combining the crisp and often laugh-out-loud dialogue with a very well-thought out and properly moody story of the living, the dead, and the relationship between them.

Sam Kehoe, our everyman protagonist, has a problem or two he has commitment issues, trust issues, and I'm going to assume several piles of back issues of Fangoria Magazine in his life. He lives alone, works at a video store, and is grounded in the world by a Sister and a Niece, whom he loves beyond the telling of it.

He is also visited, regularly, by spooks.

Most of them harmless.....

And one....decidedly not.

Yes, this is a ghost story, and it's a damned fine one; I can think of a few others that have engrossed me as completely Straub's GHOST STORY was one; and Koontz's ODD THOMAS is another.

Sutton's protagonist is not exactly comfortable with the idea of these hauntings in his life; he stuggles with the ideas that he is hopelessly different and thus alone in the world, and that he cannot understand why the spooks come a'callin', and how he can make it stop....his only comfort is his family, in particular his Niece, who seems to also be able to interact with these spooks....

The novel is a hero's journey; a knight-errant, seemingly lost in the wilderness and cursing the darkness, who seeks the wisdom of the elders (in the form of a seemingly harmless local medium), and through that meeting finds the strength and courage to step up and be the person he is supposed to be.

For there is always a dragon.

This is some of Phoef Sutton's best work. If you've never read him, start here. If you are familiar with his work, you will enjoy the hell out of this.
First, I have to say I am long-time fan of Phoef Sutton's works (as you can see from my previous reviews of his novels). The thing about a writer like Phoef, is that with his ability to craft thoroughly three-dimensional characters, he can pretty much conquer any genre. And his record of doing this continues with FROM AWAY. We already know he's mastered comedy with CHEERS, thrillers, action and suspense with his CRUSH novels. It is with his books like this one, and his 15 MINUTES TO LIVE, that the characters define the genre, and this is a great thing.

I won't go into reiterating the details of the story, as others have already done that here and probably much better than I, but I found this book to be as engaging as all his others. I really liked being around these characters and the story unfolds in many unexpected, non-cliche' ways. He also opens a window on the lives of characters who might ordinarily be perceived as "pure evil", but rather shows us that, while there are no excuses for their behavior, they are human and capable of falling into the trappings of evil any of us might end up in, given the circumstances. You'll have to read the book to know what I'm talking about here ;-)

This is a beautiful book. Great characters and a good, solid, compelling story.
I have read all of the three Crush novels, that is, Crush, Heart Attack and Vine and Colorado Boulevard. All three deserved 5 starts on . As it were, the first one received 3-1/2 (a travesty), the second 5 stars (Yay!) and the third, 4-1/2 stars (still ok).

This book was very much a departure from those novels, a real ghost story. There have been ghost stories that have been deemed classics which I have read (and I don’t want to list them here because I don’t want to make disparaging remarks about particular books). However, they simply did not live up to the hype.

This was a stand out. It was scary but also extremely moving and very, very funny. This is, without question, a five star book. Somehow, I doubt that there will be a sequel but it would be very welcome!
It pains me to write a negative review for an accomplished author like Phoef Sutton who has some serious credentials to his credit. But his ghost story, From Away, will never be one of them. Ghost stories should be full of dread, not dreadfully boring. His was the latter.

The story is told by a twenty-something erstwhile video store clerk to his four year old niece, written as a sort of diary to her to read on her twenty-first birthday. They both share the ability to see ghosts, or “spooks” as he calls them. One spook who haunts them is a little girl named Jellica. Though the narrative is neither scary nor suspenseful, at least the backstory involving Jellica was interesting.

But with few exceptions the chapters beginning mid-way through the book and beyond describing bad dreams, an instructional manual for mediums, Mrs. Day’s philosophy of life, the behavior of ghosts, and the book as a whole were a struggle to finish. I lost the struggle and gave up at 74%.

Although Chapter 24 in particular was very well written, I skimmed the remaining 26% of the book hoping the story would come to an unpredictable conclusion. It didn’t.