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Escaping Entry
Entry used to be a pleasant city, rating as high as fifth on Malcolm Tebby’s annual list of places to visit if you couldn’t afford to go anywhere nice. But then a plague came, and just like that, the cobblestone metropolis, known for its bell towers and strangely uncomfortable benches, became a ghost town. For seventeen year old Billy Stun, plague survivor and blossoming artist, Entry is an exercise in boredom, so when an eccentric nobleman named Harold asks him to be his personal photographer, he agrees. Harold, though, is not normal, and when Billy discovers part of his job is taking photographs of Harold murdering creatures of legend, it isn’t long before he begins pining for the eerie quiet of home.
360 pages, ebook
First published July 9, 2011
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66 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 6, 2012
The title of this book intrigued me. I wondered what on earth Entry was. My answer, thankfully, was on the first page – a gently inviting introductory first page.
Entry is in fact a small, exceedingly quiet town whose inhabitants have fallen victims to a devastating plague. Amongst the few survivors are: Veronica, a rather volatile innkeeper with a travel-errant husband; Billy, her 17-year-old, gangly, ginger-haired son; Eric, her sensible and equilibrium-restoring chef and Hailey, her pretty young waitress. Billy leads an aimless, mundane life, under the rather dominant thumb of his mother, and has remarkable artistic talents. His chance to ‘escape’ Entry comes in the form of Harold Fendeneez, whom Billy comes across in somewhat unusual circumstances. Harold is indeed a very unusual man. By coincidence, Harold needs a photographic assistant – Billy’s naiveté, artistic abilities and keenness to see life outside Entry are all the qualifications he needs to become Harold’s travelling companion on a quest to find unique photographic opportunities.
Off they go – an unlikely pair with a considerable age difference. Extraordinarily considerable in fact……
Those photographic opportunities come in the form of an Omnivorous Bull and a cannibalistic Curator amongst others. Harold puts himself into some outlandishly perilous situations, all in the name of a good photograph. He is a very enigmatic character with an incredible ability to come out of dangerous situations seemingly unscathed. Billy is awed by the world outside Entry, awed by Harold’s feats, annoyed by Harold’s inability to answer questions directly, annoyed by his eccentricity, enamoured by some of the places they travel to, and confused by Harold’s sometimes flippant, sometimes dogmatic attitude. He goes on quite an adventure; a wonderfully weird one. Billy is a lovable 17-year-old seeking adventure and purpose, although he does miss the familiar drudge of home.
This book is delightfully unusual and refreshing. It is quirky, quaint, compelling and jolly good fun. The characters are engaging, the dialogue consistently entertaining, always with a faint hint of humour (I am still trying to work out how a testicle can be petrified). I was completely enthralled by the imagination of this author and this book is an Aladdin’s cave of creativity, inspiration and originality.
The ending was not my favourite……the dreaded ‘to be continued’. However, my reaction was not my usual one of being rather irked. I found myself thinking, thank goodness it is going to be continued. I must have more of Billy and Harold.
Entry is in fact a small, exceedingly quiet town whose inhabitants have fallen victims to a devastating plague. Amongst the few survivors are: Veronica, a rather volatile innkeeper with a travel-errant husband; Billy, her 17-year-old, gangly, ginger-haired son; Eric, her sensible and equilibrium-restoring chef and Hailey, her pretty young waitress. Billy leads an aimless, mundane life, under the rather dominant thumb of his mother, and has remarkable artistic talents. His chance to ‘escape’ Entry comes in the form of Harold Fendeneez, whom Billy comes across in somewhat unusual circumstances. Harold is indeed a very unusual man. By coincidence, Harold needs a photographic assistant – Billy’s naiveté, artistic abilities and keenness to see life outside Entry are all the qualifications he needs to become Harold’s travelling companion on a quest to find unique photographic opportunities.
Off they go – an unlikely pair with a considerable age difference. Extraordinarily considerable in fact……
Those photographic opportunities come in the form of an Omnivorous Bull and a cannibalistic Curator amongst others. Harold puts himself into some outlandishly perilous situations, all in the name of a good photograph. He is a very enigmatic character with an incredible ability to come out of dangerous situations seemingly unscathed. Billy is awed by the world outside Entry, awed by Harold’s feats, annoyed by Harold’s inability to answer questions directly, annoyed by his eccentricity, enamoured by some of the places they travel to, and confused by Harold’s sometimes flippant, sometimes dogmatic attitude. He goes on quite an adventure; a wonderfully weird one. Billy is a lovable 17-year-old seeking adventure and purpose, although he does miss the familiar drudge of home.
This book is delightfully unusual and refreshing. It is quirky, quaint, compelling and jolly good fun. The characters are engaging, the dialogue consistently entertaining, always with a faint hint of humour (I am still trying to work out how a testicle can be petrified). I was completely enthralled by the imagination of this author and this book is an Aladdin’s cave of creativity, inspiration and originality.
The ending was not my favourite……the dreaded ‘to be continued’. However, my reaction was not my usual one of being rather irked. I found myself thinking, thank goodness it is going to be continued. I must have more of Billy and Harold.
September 21, 2012
This was an odd book. It was a free download from Amazon and I'm really glad I didn't pay for it. The story was fairly interesting but needed a good editor. I ended up skimming many parts of the book and thinking, "I get the point, already." Then I reached the end of this lengthy book and read, "To be continued." Right. I will not continue to read this author. The best I can say is the book really made me appreciate skilled editors.
August 24, 2011
Ben Martin's debut fantasy novel Escaping Entry is filled with rich detail and well developed characters. From beginning to end, Martin does a fantastic job of keeping you on your toes and building the suspense within the story. He manages to drop subtle hints throughout the book keeping his reader's interested as well as entertained. As the book progresses we see Billy, the main character face some difficult choices. Billy is indeed a strong character and embodies the mind of several 17-year-olds. He craves adventure and an escape from the boredom he faces in Entry. Although the overall mood of the book gave off an ominous feeling, the dialogue between the characters couldn't help but keep me laughing. Martin's use of dialogue is evidence of his ability to connect to the reader. He does well where others don't. Martin not only tells but shows. His description of his characters and the town of Entry leaves you breathless. It gives you the sense of familiarity. After reading Escaping Entry I'm left with the feeling of longing...longing for Ben Martin to hurry up and right another novel!! Overall, I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed Escaping Entry. I strongly believe Ben Martin is a force to be reckoned with and I look forward to his future novels! I can only hope that he continues the story of Billy Stun.
I highly recommend this book to all reading ages!
V.B.
I highly recommend this book to all reading ages!
V.B.
October 3, 2011
What a mystical little book Benedict Martin has given us in Escaping Entry. Billy, a young man in a dead end city (literally), is tired of his po-dunk town. Luckily, Harold, an artist and adventurer, comes around to help him escape Entry. Unfortunately, Billy doesn't anticipate how hard an adventuring life will be for him. Suddenly he's going from a small, quiet town where nothing much happens to the big city, or the distant wilds, confronting strange monsters and worse on the way.
This book is magical. Billy is easy to love and easy to identify with. If you aren't like him, then you at least know someone like him, especially if you've ever lived in a small town. Harold, our other protagonist, is a cipher, but he's also funny and unpredictable and Martin keeps him dropping hints about the mystery of him, keeping me interested.
It's such a lovely and interesting fairytale, with mythic experiences mixed in with the hilarity of the mundane, and many sideways jabs. For example, in the city Harold lives in the most expensive flat in the city. It's the size of a shed. He keeps his horses around the block in a mansion. Only the best!
I highly recommend this book for anyone who.. Well, I recommend it for anyone. At the moment it's on sale for .. well it's for free. Go download it now!
Check out my other reviews at my blog
This book is magical. Billy is easy to love and easy to identify with. If you aren't like him, then you at least know someone like him, especially if you've ever lived in a small town. Harold, our other protagonist, is a cipher, but he's also funny and unpredictable and Martin keeps him dropping hints about the mystery of him, keeping me interested.
It's such a lovely and interesting fairytale, with mythic experiences mixed in with the hilarity of the mundane, and many sideways jabs. For example, in the city Harold lives in the most expensive flat in the city. It's the size of a shed. He keeps his horses around the block in a mansion. Only the best!
I highly recommend this book for anyone who.. Well, I recommend it for anyone. At the moment it's on sale for .. well it's for free. Go download it now!
Check out my other reviews at my blog
August 20, 2011
I didn't know what to expect with this book. I hurt my back and was stuck in bed for a few days and my friend said I should give it a try. I usually only read science fiction but I decided to download it to my iphone and I finished it in 2 days. The characters are very well done and all the different things that happened made me want to keep turning pages. I'm very glad I decided to give it a try. To this day it is the only book I've read on my iphone. Am looking forward to see if there will be sequels.
July 27, 2011
This was a fantastic read! I love how it flows - some parts so exciting I just couldn't seem to read fast enough and other parts a bit more relaxed so I could catch my breath.
I don't want to spoil anything for anyone else so I won't give away any details but there has to be some underlying layers - something about the roses and other interesting connections…
My 10 year old really loved it too!
We can't wait for the next one!
I don't want to spoil anything for anyone else so I won't give away any details but there has to be some underlying layers - something about the roses and other interesting connections…
My 10 year old really loved it too!
We can't wait for the next one!
August 10, 2011
This book was like a roller coaster.
There were times when I held my breath breaking down in cold sweat of things to come, slowly creeping towards the edge of scary things.
No spoilers here!
And there were times when the hairs on my arms stood up when the tempo was so high my index finger heated up from the friction poking pages at my android screen.
Mr. Benedict's great writing skill provides the reader to harvest his immense field of imagination.
There were times when I held my breath breaking down in cold sweat of things to come, slowly creeping towards the edge of scary things.
No spoilers here!
And there were times when the hairs on my arms stood up when the tempo was so high my index finger heated up from the friction poking pages at my android screen.
Mr. Benedict's great writing skill provides the reader to harvest his immense field of imagination.
September 10, 2011
Interesting, twisted, surprising. Something going on behind the apparent storyline here. Backwoods boy trying to escape his humdrum townie life becomes assistant to a famous artist who is not who he appears to be. This is the first book in what is apparently to be a series - ends with "to be continued", hoping for some background and explanation in the sequel.
October 8, 2011
This is a fantastic read! Very well-written, it's a wonderful story that stays with you, even after you've finished reading it. It's a very see-able story (and those are the best kind!). I cannot wait to read more from the author.
Kimberly A. Bettes, author of The Good Neighbor and Annie's Revenge
Kimberly A. Bettes, author of The Good Neighbor and Annie's Revenge
July 31, 2011
I've now finished Escaping Entry and I really did enjoy it. It's well written, quirky, imaginative and you're never sure what's going to happen next. This is, I believe, his first book and I'm looking forward to reading more and seeing how his writing develops.
December 15, 2011
Although the book is very well written and the characters well defined, I felt like I was just left hanging. I had thought up several endings to this book. I wanted to hurry up and finish reading it to find out if any of my thoughts coincided with the author's, only to be left in limbo.
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September 4, 2012Not entitled to do a review because could not finish but I did make a comment or two.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews