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San Anto
Mikie just wants to be drunk again, but the Prophet's warriors have other plans in this fast-paced novel about a group of hedonistic friends living, loving, and laughing in the face of an escalating, inexorable clash of ancient rivals. This first of three novels in the "Rivals" trilogy will surprise you and leave you wanting more.
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Smashwords
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords
134 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 31, 2012
8 people want to read
About the author
Mike Duron
7 books10 followersMike Duron lives in a dark, dank cave, somewhere in Texas. He survives on a diet of pork rinds, pumpkin seeds, Busch beer, bologna, bread, and the occasional dollar burger from McDonald's. Beyond this, how does one say what this author was, is, and may some day be? Will the great St. Francis de Sales intercede as a patron for this flagitious fiend of fiction? Likely not. Will the sad, raging beast, Grendel, return for his cave some spooky night while the author is tapping away at his keyboard? Perhaps. Still, the author will tap, tap, tap, tap away ... as he tries to ignore the faint conversations of Nona, Decima, and Morta echoing in the darkness above him.
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 4, 2012
What can I say? When I finished it I just sat there, stunned.
Up to about 80% of the way through I was thinking this is a 4* book, brilliantly written, but where’s the plot, the story? It’s an evocative portrait of a group of friends who are all dependent on drugs, alcohol and, along the way, as much casual sex as they can get. The MC, Mikie, funds his lifestyle from the proceeds of vanity publishing, the foolishness of other people. We meet the dealers, the artist, the
sculptor, the hooker and the other girls, one of whom wasn’t always female. They sound like stereotypes, don’t they? But they’re not, they are individuals who make an impression and get you to care about them.
The language is earthy and immediate as it is first person, present tense. I felt I was there, a fly on the wall, watching their lives play out, vicariously sharing their experiences. It is a totally alien life to the one I lead, but I could feel the allure. After all, what in life actually has any real meaning? Who’s to say my life has any more value than theirs? And at least they seem to be enjoying themselves without harming anyone else.
Anyway, it was heading for a 4* rating as an interesting ramble through their lives. As it turns out, this familiarisation with their lives was an essential preparation.
Why? Well, I can’t tell you that without ruining your own experience of the story. All I can say is that last 20% will change your rating too.
Mike Duron is an author to watch. I am looking forward to reading more of his work.
Up to about 80% of the way through I was thinking this is a 4* book, brilliantly written, but where’s the plot, the story? It’s an evocative portrait of a group of friends who are all dependent on drugs, alcohol and, along the way, as much casual sex as they can get. The MC, Mikie, funds his lifestyle from the proceeds of vanity publishing, the foolishness of other people. We meet the dealers, the artist, the
sculptor, the hooker and the other girls, one of whom wasn’t always female. They sound like stereotypes, don’t they? But they’re not, they are individuals who make an impression and get you to care about them.
The language is earthy and immediate as it is first person, present tense. I felt I was there, a fly on the wall, watching their lives play out, vicariously sharing their experiences. It is a totally alien life to the one I lead, but I could feel the allure. After all, what in life actually has any real meaning? Who’s to say my life has any more value than theirs? And at least they seem to be enjoying themselves without harming anyone else.
Anyway, it was heading for a 4* rating as an interesting ramble through their lives. As it turns out, this familiarisation with their lives was an essential preparation.
Why? Well, I can’t tell you that without ruining your own experience of the story. All I can say is that last 20% will change your rating too.
Mike Duron is an author to watch. I am looking forward to reading more of his work.
September 21, 2012
San Anto by Mike Duron
If you like pacy writing and can cope with some violence and sex, some of it quite weird, then this may well draw you in. The atmosphere is certainly well drawn to match the pace and the characters and their hedonistic life style. My first surprise was to learn that the chief character showed a surprising interest in classical music. As a not-so-young Brit I am probably the wrong age and nationality to appreciate the language properly as I found some of the American slang hard to follow, and some of the sex/violence alien to my generation, but it will certainly appeal to those attracted by its fast moving action and unexpected twists of plot. The latter are truly unexpected especially towards the end.
***
If you like pacy writing and can cope with some violence and sex, some of it quite weird, then this may well draw you in. The atmosphere is certainly well drawn to match the pace and the characters and their hedonistic life style. My first surprise was to learn that the chief character showed a surprising interest in classical music. As a not-so-young Brit I am probably the wrong age and nationality to appreciate the language properly as I found some of the American slang hard to follow, and some of the sex/violence alien to my generation, but it will certainly appeal to those attracted by its fast moving action and unexpected twists of plot. The latter are truly unexpected especially towards the end.
***
October 21, 2012
As other reviewers have said, this tale of a hedonistic group of friends is quite full of recreational drug use, coupled with all the casual sex and alcohol-induced craziness such behavior encourages.
As someone who lived and partied in Key West, FL during the mid-seventies, I found the tale thoroughly convincing. Those who have never lived in an environment like that, whether in Texas or Florida, or Massachussetts will possibly find the book unbelievable, full of male fantasy. Having experienced all the behavior in the book, and more, I applaud the honesty and raw, unadultersted first-person storytelling skill.
I will definitely be watching for the remaining books in the trilogy. Well Done!
As someone who lived and partied in Key West, FL during the mid-seventies, I found the tale thoroughly convincing. Those who have never lived in an environment like that, whether in Texas or Florida, or Massachussetts will possibly find the book unbelievable, full of male fantasy. Having experienced all the behavior in the book, and more, I applaud the honesty and raw, unadultersted first-person storytelling skill.
I will definitely be watching for the remaining books in the trilogy. Well Done!
August 31, 2012
The beginning of this book started out interesting enough that I decided to keep reading. The writing itself, while not perfect, isn't terrible (it still leaves a LOT to be desired though). I generally try to give a book the benefit of reading it all the way through before I decide my thoughts and feelings on it.
I honestly could not make it that far. I reached about 40% on my kindle before I had to put this book down. The male perspective in which it is written is crude and disgusting. It seems the character's M.O. is to mooch off his buddies, drink cheap beer, and banging cheap women. The sex scenes are equally as disgusting and poorly done. (maybe it's just my female perspective, but I don't know that anyone wants to hear such a detailed description of a girl sucking on your "meaty straw"). I am not a person easily offended...so I actually read further than this before giving up, even if the nausea started there.
In another scene his friends decide to pull up a video of this chick's cousin that screwed a horse for money. It's one thing to mention something like that, but to actually write in detail about this girl sucking off a horse to me just goes over the line and right into territory a book being sold on Amazon might want to be careful to tread on. It didn't add to the plot, so was such a description absolutely necessary?
Speaking of the plot... aside from catching clips of bombings and shootings going on, the story's pacing is so slow that the only plot there seems to be is the drinking, smoking, and screwing.While I am guessing the bombings are part of the plot, nearly halfway through the book there is no actual sign as to how this actually involves the main character, save for some concern for an employee (an employee he had been mocking only a few pages earlier). There are other scenes in which it seems the author was attempting to show that this character cares about others, but it just fell short, and didn't seem at all believable based on his previous actions. I did not enjoy this book and finally just had to put it down as there are much better things lining my bookshelves and loaded on my kindle. Someone else might enjoy this type of thing... I can say that I certainly did not.
I honestly could not make it that far. I reached about 40% on my kindle before I had to put this book down. The male perspective in which it is written is crude and disgusting. It seems the character's M.O. is to mooch off his buddies, drink cheap beer, and banging cheap women. The sex scenes are equally as disgusting and poorly done. (maybe it's just my female perspective, but I don't know that anyone wants to hear such a detailed description of a girl sucking on your "meaty straw"). I am not a person easily offended...so I actually read further than this before giving up, even if the nausea started there.
In another scene his friends decide to pull up a video of this chick's cousin that screwed a horse for money. It's one thing to mention something like that, but to actually write in detail about this girl sucking off a horse to me just goes over the line and right into territory a book being sold on Amazon might want to be careful to tread on. It didn't add to the plot, so was such a description absolutely necessary?
Speaking of the plot... aside from catching clips of bombings and shootings going on, the story's pacing is so slow that the only plot there seems to be is the drinking, smoking, and screwing.While I am guessing the bombings are part of the plot, nearly halfway through the book there is no actual sign as to how this actually involves the main character, save for some concern for an employee (an employee he had been mocking only a few pages earlier). There are other scenes in which it seems the author was attempting to show that this character cares about others, but it just fell short, and didn't seem at all believable based on his previous actions. I did not enjoy this book and finally just had to put it down as there are much better things lining my bookshelves and loaded on my kindle. Someone else might enjoy this type of thing... I can say that I certainly did not.
August 28, 2012
I really like the writing style of this author and he definitely has a knack for storytelling. I enjoyed the bits of humor interspersed throughout as well. The ending is what caught me off guard but I don't want to give anything away. I look forward to the next in the series.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews