Undead tale will be popular
among ‘Voracious’ readers
Voracious, a novella by Akron author Patrick Worden, is a crackerjack story about a standoff between the undead and two undaunted heroes.
Donovan is a Vietnam veteran who has been assigned as a bodyguard to Dr. Sandra Kempthorn, a diplomat with the United Nations as a liaison to the hemavores, those creatures that feast on the blood of the living. We don’t call them “the other word … the one that starts with ‘V’ … we never say that.”
Donovan has been told to escort Kempthorn to a meeting with a hemavore representative, but things go bad and the two are forced to run while the bloodsuckers wipe out the rest of the population. At first, Kempthorn seems to be a ramrod bureaucrat who files her reports dutifully in government-speak, but she has some unusual talents that might keep the two alive as they venture from their original hideout to a row house in Queens.
The story is told in Donovan and Kempthorn’s alternating reports as they resist the penetration of the hemavores into their shelter, where they have no food and only reports to write, as they come to realize how the creatures are practicing mind control, and how to elude the crossfire long enough to get out across the Queensboro Bridge.
Voracious is a stylish, enjoyable thriller with wit to spare, and vivid enough to be a graphic novel (now, there’s an idea). Voracious (157 pages, softcover) costs $14.95 from http://booklocker.com or $1.99 for Kindle or Nook. Patrick Worden also is the author of Mind.Net, about a psychic woman recruited by the CIA.
‘The Hopeful Agnostic’
The question of whether God exists is a universal one. Mogadore resident Don E. Smith has considered it, and, in his ninth decade, says “I really need to decide what I am and what I think about God, religion, the after-life and where I fit into the grand scheme of things.”
His book The Hopeful Agnostic: What I Believe — I Guess is a well-reasoned analysis of his approach.
Smith explains what it means to be agnostic, including a brief look at Pascal’s Wager (if you live as if there is a God, and there isn’t, what have you lost?) He has traveled extensively, and the rituals of many different cultures have brought him perspective (“Christians don’t have a lock on spirituality”).
The Hopeful Agnostic (99 pages, softcover) costs $14.95 from online retailers. Don E. Smith is a retired high school principal and earned a Ph.D. in education.
Events
Akron-Summit County Public Library (Green branch, 4046 Massillon Road) — Jeanne Grimes discusses I Painted the Light: Using Spirituality to Heal from Childhood Sexual Abuse, 7 p.m. Monday.
Mac’s Backs (1820 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights) — James Greer reads from Everything Flows, his collection of short fiction, 7 to 8 p.m. Monday.
Hudson Library & Historical Society (96 Library St.) — Cleveland attorney and author James Robenalt (The Harding Affair) discusses Watergate and legal ethics, the topic of his 2014 book January 1973: Vietnam, Watergate and Abortion, the Month that Changed American Politics Forever, 7 p.m. Monday; Linda Kohanov reads from The Power of the Herd: A Nonpredatory Approach to Social Intelligence, Leadership, and Innovation, 7 p.m. Thursday.
Akron Woman’s City Club (732 W. Exchange St.) — Russell A. Minar speaks at the club’s book luncheon and talks about his novel The Mirror of Freedom, noon Tuesday. $16.50, includes lunch. Call 330-762-6261 for reservations.
Akron-Summit County Public Library (Mogadore branch, 144 S. Cleveland Ave.) — John Billheimer, author of the baseball-themed Lloyd Keaton mystery series, discusses the latest release, A Player to Be Maimed Later, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Akron-Summit County Public Library (Ellet branch, 2470 E. Market St., Akron) — Barb Baltrinic discusses her biographical novel A Founder for All: Abraham Clark, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Lakewood Public Library (15425 Detroit Ave.) — Today show book critic John Searls, author of the bestselling Boy Still Missing, debuts his ghost story Help for the Haunted in a fundraiser for the library foundation, 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday. $35; call 216-226-8725.
Medina County District Library (Brunswick branch, 3649 Center Road) — Robert Grau talks about and signs Five Million Steps on a Journey of Hope: Thru-Hiking the Appalachian Trail, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Akron-Summit County Public Library (Portage Lakes branch, 4261 Manchester Road, New Franklin) — Kathryn Long discusses and signs her Louisiana-set paranormal mystery Dying to Dream, 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
Dover Public Library (525 N. Walnut St.) — Wooster native Annie Tipton signs Diary of a Real Payne Book 1: True Story, the debut of a new children’s series, 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
Lager & Vine (30 W. Streetsboro St., Hudson) — Anna Lee Huber, author of the mystery The Anatomist’s Wife, which was a finalist in two categories of the 2013 Romance Writers of America awards, discusses her book and debuts Mortal Arts, Book Two in the Lady Darby series, as part of the Learned Owl’s Book Club in a Bar, 7 p.m. Thursday.
Oakwood Cemetery (2420 Oakwood Drive, Cuyahoga Falls) — At an open house hosted by the Ladies’ Cemetery Association, Mary McClure explains the symbolism and history of the cemetery chapel’s stained-glass windows and signs High Bridge Glens of Cuyahoga Falls, 11:30 a.m. Saturday (the open house is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.)
Wayne County Public Library (Rittman branch, 49 W. Ohio Ave.) — Rittman resident Ron L. Kuntz signs his new children’s book Doodlin Ducks, and his Christian allegories The Awakening of Adam and The Redemption of Lilith-Eve, noon to 2 p.m. Saturday.
Learned Owl Book Shop (204 N. Main St., Hudson) — Jen Ator, fitness editor at Women’s Health magazine, signs Shape-Up Shortcuts!, 6 p.m. Sept. 26; Shaker Heights author Patricia Averbach signs her novel Painting Bridges, 1 p.m. Saturday.
Cuyahoga County Public Library (Parma Heights branch, 6206 Pearl Road) — Robert Grau signs Five Million Steps on a Journey of Hope, 2 to 3 p.m. Saturday.
Loganberry Books (13015 Larchmere Blvd., Shaker Heights) — Eddie Trunk, host of VH1 Classic’s That Metal Show, signs Eddie Trunk’s Essential Hard Rock and Heavy Metal Volume II, 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday.
— Barbara McIntyre
Special to the Beacon Journal
Send information about books of local interest to Lynne Sherwin, Features Department, Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309 or lsherwin@thebeaconjournal.com. Event notices should be sent at least two weeks in advance.