Torn from Normal: My Review

I am sure that if you know who I am, you probably know who Martin Bartloff is. Martin and I have a history where his book is concerned. But during the month of November, while we werre both participating in NaNoWriMo, he had some doubts as to whether he could finish his. So I made a deal with him, if he made his 50,000 words, I would read his book by 12/16/2010. You can see by the date of this post, that I have days to spare.

Now, don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to read his book because I didn’t think it would be good, I had explained to Martin several times, that it just wasn’t my type of book. I had chosen not to read it for very personal reasons. Martin now knows those reasons, but it seemed very important to him that I read this book, so I did.

I finished it today. It was exactly as I expected it to be. I had some issues, but all techinical. Below you will find my very honest review of Martin Bartloff’s TORN FROM NORMAL. Would I recommend this book? you ask. Absolutely. It is a wonderful book, just be prepared. LOVE STORY ain’t got nothin’ on TORN FROM NORMAL when it comes to emotion.

“Martin Bartloff has taken a horribly complex topic and developed a beautiful story from it. TORN FROM NORMAL is by far one of the most emotional books I’ve ever read. Bartloff uses his warm voice/style to tell readers a stirring and evocative tale of teen angst. Broaching the most difficult of topics, from adoption, grief, and teen suicide, Bartloff takes readers into the very hearts and souls of his characters as they deal with each of these things. Martin Bartloff has the spirit of a remarkable storyteller and should be applauded for his deft handling of such darkness.”

On a different note, if you read my Blog on any kind of regular basis you know that one of our Echelon authors is going through a horrible time right now. We are all saying lots of prayers for Dave Anderson (author of KILLER COWS), but Martin took things a step farther. Martin has committed to donate all his profits from his Kindle sales through Christmas to Dave and his family. You can check out the info on Dave’s condition by visiting his page on The Caring Bridge. But you can also help Dave and his family by purchasing your copy of TORN FROM NORMAL by Martin for Kindle.

Torn from Normal:

Torn from his normal life by a double tragedy, Andy Riley finds himself living on the beach with street kids. When a robbery goes wrong, the kids attack him. A blue Porsche races to the rescue—driven by the man his friends tried to rob.

Danny has had many foster brothers over the years and knows his father won’t leave a kid bleeding in an alley all alone. They bring Andy home and discover a boy in the depths of despair. Danny welcomes Andy as a new brother, eager to soothe his own loneliness and offer his help and friendship.

An abusive aunt, eager for the government check to support her nephew, demands custody of Andy. The loss of his new family is more than he can bear. When he disappears, Danny and Marvin hurry to find him, before it’s too late.