by Gene Doucettepaperback, 329 pages
Publish October 2010 by Hamel Integrity Publishing
ISBN 9780984568512
Read September 2011
Find it: Goodreads, Amazon
I met Gene Doucette at the Indie Book Event at the end of July. During a break in the talks, I got to talking to him about his book. I was skeptical whether the book would be for me. At the time, I felt overwhelmed by the number of books I had to read and was trying to limit the books I was taking on to ones I knew I would like reading. But I also like discovering new books that are different than what I typically read. Anyways, Gene took a chance and gave me a copy of Immortal. I promised that even if it turned out not to be my kind of story but that the writing was good, I would still give a good review. I assure you that the writing was superb. I know a lot of people are hesitant to pick up indie published books because of quality concerns. I would say that it even has some literary merit. Immortal is one of the best written books I've read.
But what about the story line? Did I like it? If you follow me on Twitter or Goodreads.com you may have seen my updates. My comments about the vampires, dragon, pixies, etc partly were just to pick at Gene. I was worried because it seems we were being introduced to a new creature with each chapter and I wasn't sure I could handle that every chapter for the rest of the book. They were actually a small part of the storyline. The book is much more a sci-fi type novel than supernatural. All the "supernatural" beings seem to have some natural origin - they've just evolved to this.
It was the sci-fi aspects that really sparked my interest in the book. The teasers at the beginning of most chapters were maddening. I so wanted to know what was going on with Adam. I wanted to know what was going on in the laboratory. The flash backs into history were interesting, though may have been too detailed on occasion (this might just be my perception, because I was impatient to see what was happening in the present).
When I read the last pages last night, I was sad to see the end. I didn't want to say good-bye to the characters. They had endeared themselves to me. Particularly the pixie Iza. To be carefree, worry-free. Gene could have went the ditzy blonde route with the pixie, but instead he was able to capture the purely innocent nature. While there is some conclusion to the story, there are plenty of questions left unanswered and possibly some answers left unquestioned. I look forward to more great work from Gene Doucette. If he isn't already on your radar, he should be.
Note: New edition available from The Writer's Coffee Shop as of March 2012.
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