BookRix

this is the best story.I can't waite for more

My Barnum Lake was Walford's pond. It is always amazing to me how different we are at the same time so similar. I was raised in a small town in Oklahoma and spent my Sundays at the First Southern Baptist Church yet the emotional roller coaster you vividly painted was the same I road growing up. Nice job.

tale is very well told because the pictures you paint can be "seen" inside.

Now that the holidays are over -- and all the chores are done -- it is time to relax and read with relish. And oh, indeed, how I relished this peek into the past. Our past, I might add. Your fifties were very different from mine - but I could so relate to many of the boyish incidents you described so beautifully. First love - friendships - bullies around the corner - the shops and the movies. A simpler time, no doubt, but still filled with a natural menace - hidden switchblades.....and thin ice.

I could picture the young boys in my mind's eye - at first almost like the cast of OUR GANG. Young Skip, with his freckles and skinny body, pining after the beautiful Carol, afraid to leave the comfort of his own front yard, in fear of the bully's wrath.

Patrick, you are one of the finest writers I know. With a deft hand, you have drawn pictures of an age in our childhood, easily and perfectly describing each detail - making us remember how it was in those far-off days of innocence.

The ending was tragic - but you wrote with sincerity and truth - without becoming maudlin. A simple slice of life, written by a masterful author. Well done, indeed.

Wow!
I'm stoked and honored.
Thank YOU:)

Patrick,

You have written an excellent story about the ups and down of childhood amongst friends and enemies.

I love the book cover. It pulls you in and keeps you there, and the way you brought the characters to life. The very touching description of the boys at the lake on the ice and the race for survival.

Exceptional writing.

This was so awesome..You got every detail in here that was great. You could see the boys running, and you could feel what they were feeling:) I can't wait to read some more of your work..

Once again, a tale well told. I especially like the quick, clean prose such as "a face as white as a clean sheet of paper." This is what makes you an author on the cutting edge. It is easy for the reader to connect with your characters. There is a realness to them as well as moral conundrums. The only hiccup I noticed was the switching of time lines, from the skating, to back story, to the skating. Lost me a little there. Otherwise, nice build up, and of course a gripping ending. Wonderful creation. Robynn

that could have been based on fact.
I loved your plot and character development, and the dashes of humor throughout, but the emotional ending topped it all for me.
Chris

I loved it. And I can relate to it because I am a teenager. It was well written and everything. Good Job!! I could literally see the lake and everything! I absolutly loved it!!