Hi, everyone!
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for SIGNS OF LIFE by Chris Towndrow on this Overview Media Blog Tour.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Blurb
What time can’t heal, love will.
Arizona, 1878. When long-time widower Earl finds an injured deaf youth on the prairie, he reluctantly decides to help the boy as compensation for not being there to save his own wife and baby from a Mojave raiding party years earlier.
He lodges the youngster – “Bill” – with a local widow, Laura, whose daughter is deaf. Soon, sign language and shared loss deepen their friendship and begin his healing. Together, they stand firm against the town’s prejudices, led by the boorish Mayor Potter.
But just when Earl believes his life has turned a corner, and he is ready to embrace love for this new woman, he learns the truth about his lost family.
As his dark past threatens to return, Earl must face his own guilt and prejudice or risk losing everything all over again.
Can Earl overcome his past failings and face down danger?
Will Laura’s kindness and faith be repaid?
Can the boy’s mistakes be fixed?
Will love prevail?
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My Book Review
RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
SIGNS OF LIFE by Chris Towndrow is an engaging western historical fiction with romantic elements, friendship, family, and prejudice set in Arizona in 1878.
This story tells the tale of widower, Earl who lost his wife and infant son in an Indian raid and becomes an embittered man. When Earl and his friend find a boy in the desert, Earl is reluctant to help him especially when they discover the boy is deaf, but they do take him into the nearby town and to a widow, Laura, who has a deaf daughter.
As Earl fights not only his own prejudice, but the prejudice he discovers in town, he discovers a shocking fact about not only the boy they saved, but about the family he lost.
This is a very character driven story that is an entertaining read, but not quite what I was expecting. I was expecting more of a Zane Grey stylized story, but this book is written in short chapters like a modern-day thriller. The scenes of town life felt realistic, and the dialogue also felt appropriate to the period. Earl’s character growth and evolving emotions felt believable and his road to forgiveness is a major theme. All the other characters are well drawn and add depth to the story. I am an avid romance reader and there are romantic elements woven into this story, but I would not consider this a romance. It is a western fiction first with the romance leading to healing in Earl’s story arc.
Overall, an appealing character driven western historical fiction.
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Author Bio
Chris Towndrow has been a writer since 1991.
He began writing science fiction, inspired by Asimov, Iain M Banks, and numerous film and TV canons. After a few years creating screenplays across several genres, in 2004 he branched out into playwriting and has had several productions professionally performed. This background is instrumental in his ability to produce realistic, compelling dialogue in his books.
His first published novel was 2012’s space opera “Sacred Ground”. He then changed focus into “hard” sci-fi books, and the Enna Dacourt pentalogy was completed in 2023.
He has always drawn inspiration from the big screen, and 2019’s quirky romantic black comedy “Tow Away Zone” owes much to the film canon of the Coen Brothers. This has been his most well-received book to date, and spawned two sequels in what became the “Sunrise trilogy”.
His first historical fiction novel, “Signs Of Life”, was published by Valericain Press in 2023.
In 2023, Chris returns to his passion for writing accessible humour and will devote his efforts to romantic comedies. The first of these scripts is currently in development.
Chris lives on the outskirts of London with his family and works as a video editor and producer. He is a member of the UK Society of Authors.
Social Media Links
Website: www.christowndrow.co.uk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChrisTowndrowAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TowndrowBooks
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/towndrowbooks
