After beginning this blog, I was asked by one of my boyhood friends if I would review his book. I wrestled with this request because when I looked for his book, I found it for $17.99 on Amazon.com. This was a lot more than the mission statement of this blog allowed, so for several months I mulled over how I was going to get his book to read it and give a review. Luckily I searched Amazon.com again a few weeks ago and found the paperback price had dropped to $1.28. This made my decision to purchase the book an easy one. Before giving my review and as a matter of disclosure, Kipling Peterson and I are friends. We grew up together and we remain in contact today. I asked him when I started this blog to read my reviews and provide me feedback and he has provided me comments via email.
Bouncer is in the fictional genre of fantasy set in the current day. It is the story of Georgell Butler who has worked several years as a bouncer and at the outset of the book is the head bouncer at Club Momentum. Because of a tragic trauma at this club, he develops the ability to see apparitions which he coins guardians and protectors. These apparitions can be either good (protectors) or evil (guardians). He also finds out that a former bouncer from Club Momentum and his friend has come under the influence of one of these evil guardians. The story tells of Georgell's attempts to learn more about his ability to see these apparitions and to understand how these apparitions work. The story is further colored by the scrapes and fights associated with bouncing at clubs, and dealing with evil guardians when they appear at his club.
While reading this book, I had some nostalgia because I recognized traits of characters derived from people I knew and grew up with. I also saw elements of setting from our childhoods. The story was filled with colorful descriptions that set the mood of night club life and the bouncers that work in it. The author has a knack for bringing as many senses into the telling of the story as possible. His sensory descriptions filled my mind with the locations he was describing. Further the characters were well developed and I felt I knew them and some of their concerns in their lives. I had a good feel for each main character's personality. While the plot has religious overtones, the author doesn't try to push personal religious beliefs on the reader. He frames the story as a battle of good verses evil. I heartily recommend Kipling Peterson's first foray into writing and look forward to his next novel.
