G953 Book Review of the antelope play by Boyd Taylor

Name of Book: The Antelope Play

Author: Boyd Taylor

ISBN: 978-0-9894707-0-4

Publisher: Katherine Brown Press

Part of a Series: Donnie Ray Cuinn

Type of book: Velda Texas, water rights, healing, grief, legal, "terrorists", small town, people, friends, work, politics, suspense, drug cartel, death

Year it was published: 2013

Summary:

When Austin native Donnie Cuinn accepts a job as an associate in a Texas Panhandle law firm, his boredom and disdain for Velda, a sleepy Texas town, is forgotten when he gets caught up in a struggle over water rights, possible radioactive contamination of the nation's largest underground fresh water supply, and the violence of an invading Mexican drug cartel. Along the way, Donnie learns to respect the local rancher, whose brother is at the center of the troubles, and to come to terms with the violent death of his young Mexican wife.

Characters:

In this book the characters are certainly more memorable than in previous one; first is Donnie who is the main character. He has recently gone through bad times and can't seem to snap out of his funk. He is best described as lucky and unafraid and resourceful. There is also Jake, Donnie's previous employer who is more worried about the public rather than doing the right thing, and, of course, Bridger who seems to have a crush on Donnie as well as the sheriff and his wife who make homemade meals for the prisoners and the twin sisters; one working for Jake while another one working for Donnie.

Theme:

Nothing is what it seems

Plot:

The story is in third person narrative from Donnie's point of view. Its interesting to note that Donnie changed a lot from the first book in this one, and the author didn't write the change as it happened, but in fact wrote of what happened after the change. Also as well, I sensed some humor in the story in terms of Donnie's deeds. Although its not a mystery, I did feel that its a bit of mystery because Donnie was trying to find out what happened and why one brother pressured another to sign away the rights.

Author Information:
(From iRead Book Tours)

Buy the Books:
Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble
Add to Goodreads
Meet the Author:

BOYD TAYLOR lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and their Havanese dog Toby. Necessities is the fourth novel in the Donnie Ray Cuinn series. In a former life, Boyd was a lawyer and a corporate officer. A native of Temple, Texas, he graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in government and an LL.B. from the law school.

​Boyd's first novel "Hero" was prescient in its story about fake news. His second novel, "The Antelope Play," dealt with drug trafficking in the Texas Panhandle, an unfortunately accurate forecast. The third, "The Monkey House", involved commercial development of a large green space in the center of Austin, all too familiar to Austin residents. Whether his upcoming novel "Necessities" predicts future events with the accuracy of the earlier books remains to be seen.

Connect with the Author: Website ~ Facebook

Opinion:

In my opinion, the novel is better developed than the previous one; the characters are quirky and memorable, and I for one grew to like Velda and its inhabitants. What I wasn't sure about was whether or not its a mystery because I thought it might be mystery, and the book stands well as a stand-alone novel, in other words the reader doesn't need to read the previous book to enjoy this one. I do think that a character list or sheet could have improved the story because there are a lot of characters to keep track of.

This is for iRead Book Tours

BOOK REVIEW TOUR SCHEDULE:

Jan 3 - Library of Clean Reads - tour kickoff / spotlight all 4 books / giveaway
Jan 4 - Library of Clean Reads - review of Hero / giveaway
Jan 5 - Literary Flits - review of Hero / giveaway
Jan 8 - Svetlana's Reads and Views - review of Hero
Jan 9 - Olio by Marilyn - review of Hero / author interview / giveaway
Jan 10 - Library of Clean Reads - review of The Antelope Play / giveaway
Jan 15 - Library of Clean Reads - review of The Monkey House / giveaway
Jan 17 - Olio by Marilyn - review of The Antelope Play / giveaway
Jan 18 - Books for Books - review of Hero
Jan 19 - Literary Flits - spotlight of The Antelope Play / giveaway
Jan 22 - Svetlana's Reads and Views - review of The Antelope Play
Jan 23 - A Mama's Corner of the World - spotlight of Books 1, 2 and 3
Jan 24 - Hall Ways Blog - spotlight of Books 1, 2 and 3
Jan 25 - Books for Books - review of The Antelope Play
Jan 26 - Olio by Marilyn - review of The Monkey House / giveaway
Jan 29 - Library of Clean Reads - review of Necessities / author interview / giveaway
Jan 30 - A Mama's Corner of the World - review of Necessities / giveaway
Jan 30 - Rockin' Book Reviews - review of Hero / guest post / giveaway
Jan 31 - Hall Ways Blog - review of Necessities / giveaway
Feb 5 - Literary Flits - spotlight of The Monkey House / giveaway
Feb 6 - Books for Books - review of The Monkey House
Feb 7 - Bound 4 Escape - review of Hero / giveaway
Feb 7 - Rockin' Book Reviews - review of The Antelope Play / giveaway
Feb 8 - Olio by Marilyn - review of Necessities / giveaway
Feb 9 - A Page Before Bedtime - review of Necessities / giveaway
Feb 12 - Svetlana's Reads and Views - review of The Monkey House
Feb 13 - Rockin' Book Reviews - review of The Monkey House / giveaway
Feb 14 - Bound 4 Escape - review of The Antelope Play / giveaway
Feb 15 - Books for Books - review of Necessities
Feb 16 - Fantastic Feathers - review of Necessities
Feb 19 - FUONLYKNEW - review of Hero / giveaway
Feb 19 - Literary Flits - review of Necessities / giveaway
Feb 20 - FUONLYKNEW - review of The Antelope Play / giveaway
Feb 21 - FUONLYKNEW - review of The Monkey House / giveaway
Feb 21 - Bound 4 Escape - review of The Monkey House / giveaway
Feb 21 - Rockin' Book Reviews - review of Necessities / giveaway
Feb 22 - JBronder Book Reviews - review of Hero / guest post / giveaway
Feb 22 - FUONLYKNEW - review of Necessities / giveaway
Feb 23 - JBronder Book Reviews - review of The Antelope Play / giveaway
Feb 23 - Books are Love - review of Hero / guest post / giveaway
Feb 26 - Svetlana's Reads and Views - review of Necessities
Feb 26 - JBronder Book Reviews - review of The Monkey House/ giveaway
Feb 26 - Books are Love - review of he Antelope Play / giveaway
Feb 27 - JBronder Book Reviews - review of Necessities / guest post / giveaway
Feb 27 - Books are Love - review of The Monkey House / giveaway
Feb 28 - Bound 4 Escape - review of Necessities / giveaway
Feb 28 - Books are Love - review of Necessities / giveaway

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)