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Lightwaves
"Charlie Parker Campel, is a man who fails at most things he attempts to do, and might have the worst luck on the entire planet. He believes he is like a scrawny, helpless squirrel searching for nuts in the frigid winter. Losing his job at a history museum in Washington, D.C., shortly after moving there from Kentucky, he must pull all the stops to find a new job. While on a job search, he randomly stumbles into the Holocaust Museum. During a self-guided tour, things get interesting when he finds a mysterious gold ring belonging to Michael Luke Adelman. He does all he can to find the owner during his visit to the museum, but to no avail. Deciding to keep the ring, he is determined to find the owner, but the question is... What is the story behind this mysterious ring, and who is Michael Adelman? Will Charlie find the owner, and what else or who else will he encounter on this journey? Does Campel finally catch a break, and will this mysterious ring send him on an adventure full of luck, introspective fortune, and love? Or will it send his entire life into a tailspin?"
142 pages, Paperback
Published December 16, 2022
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 8, 2025
In Lightwaves by David Edgar Grinnell, Charlie Campel believes luck is on his side when he lands a great job at a Washington, D.C. history museum. This new job requires him to leave his hometown of Kentucky and everything there he holds dear. Unfortunately, good luck is the furthest thing from happening to Charlie. Soon after starting, he has a mishap that gets him fired. Knowing he can’t survive without some kind of work, Charlie visits as many museums as he can to apply for work.
One museum, the Holocaust Museum, catches his eye. He decides to see if they have any positions open. While doing a self-guided tour, Charlie finds a lost gold ring with the inscription “Michael Luke Adelman.” When he learns no one reported it missing, Charlie sets out to discover who Michael is so he can return the ring to him. He never imagined this journey would change his life forever. Does Charlie find Michael so that he can return the ring to its rightful owner?
Right from the start, readers will be drawn into Charlie’s plight in trying to find Michael Adelman so he can return his ring to him. Unfortunately, Charlie comes across many roadblocks, both in his personal life and in the journey of trying to find the ring’s owner. This reviewer found herself laughing out loud over some of the situations Charlie found himself in at the beginning of the story. If it could go wrong for him, it did. From losing his job over something silly to wrecking a supermarket display, these pages have some humor in them, even though the story has a serious tone throughout.
The characters Grinnell created are so believable, readers will feel they are getting to know real people they could become friends with. Each character has their own background story that perfectly adds to the unfolding of this entertaining novella. I especially like Luna, a stranger he meets in the grocery store during one of his unfortunate mishaps. Readers will hope that the little spark that ignited between Charlie and Luna will turn into something special between them.
It’s enjoyable to see how Grinnell wrote two different stories, one from Charlie’s point of view and one from the view of the Holocaust. Readers will eagerly turn pages to find out what Charlie discovered about this special engraved ring. Watching the two storylines merge into one left this reader completely satisfied.
It is obvious that Grinnell researched the Holocaust well. He provided such details that readers will feel they are living in that time within those portions of the book. He described not only what the characters wore, but the injustices they experienced through their eyes every day. He even mentioned how they were running out of food because they couldn’t obtain it directly themselves for fear that Hitler’s Army would see them and kill them.
The emotions he portrayed from the Jewish characters made this reader feel the fear and heightened anxiety. It’s unfathomable how they lived in such fear of being separated from their loved ones, or even worse, fear of execution, because they believed in a different religion. The author also included how many people went against Hitler, offering assistance to the Jewish people as an act of kindness because they knew the injustice Hitler was causing. Readers will be pulled into the Holocaust portion of the storyline as much as they will in the modern-day portion, with Charlie searching for Michael.
Overall, Lightwaves by David Edgar Grinnell is one story that will transport you between two different time periods, while keeping you engrossed in what unfolds. Readers will get to enjoy not only Charlie’s humorous mishaps, but also the more serious side of things that are wrapped around the Holocaust. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep the readers eager to see how this story ends. It is definitely an enjoyable read!
One museum, the Holocaust Museum, catches his eye. He decides to see if they have any positions open. While doing a self-guided tour, Charlie finds a lost gold ring with the inscription “Michael Luke Adelman.” When he learns no one reported it missing, Charlie sets out to discover who Michael is so he can return the ring to him. He never imagined this journey would change his life forever. Does Charlie find Michael so that he can return the ring to its rightful owner?
Right from the start, readers will be drawn into Charlie’s plight in trying to find Michael Adelman so he can return his ring to him. Unfortunately, Charlie comes across many roadblocks, both in his personal life and in the journey of trying to find the ring’s owner. This reviewer found herself laughing out loud over some of the situations Charlie found himself in at the beginning of the story. If it could go wrong for him, it did. From losing his job over something silly to wrecking a supermarket display, these pages have some humor in them, even though the story has a serious tone throughout.
The characters Grinnell created are so believable, readers will feel they are getting to know real people they could become friends with. Each character has their own background story that perfectly adds to the unfolding of this entertaining novella. I especially like Luna, a stranger he meets in the grocery store during one of his unfortunate mishaps. Readers will hope that the little spark that ignited between Charlie and Luna will turn into something special between them.
It’s enjoyable to see how Grinnell wrote two different stories, one from Charlie’s point of view and one from the view of the Holocaust. Readers will eagerly turn pages to find out what Charlie discovered about this special engraved ring. Watching the two storylines merge into one left this reader completely satisfied.
It is obvious that Grinnell researched the Holocaust well. He provided such details that readers will feel they are living in that time within those portions of the book. He described not only what the characters wore, but the injustices they experienced through their eyes every day. He even mentioned how they were running out of food because they couldn’t obtain it directly themselves for fear that Hitler’s Army would see them and kill them.
The emotions he portrayed from the Jewish characters made this reader feel the fear and heightened anxiety. It’s unfathomable how they lived in such fear of being separated from their loved ones, or even worse, fear of execution, because they believed in a different religion. The author also included how many people went against Hitler, offering assistance to the Jewish people as an act of kindness because they knew the injustice Hitler was causing. Readers will be pulled into the Holocaust portion of the storyline as much as they will in the modern-day portion, with Charlie searching for Michael.
Overall, Lightwaves by David Edgar Grinnell is one story that will transport you between two different time periods, while keeping you engrossed in what unfolds. Readers will get to enjoy not only Charlie’s humorous mishaps, but also the more serious side of things that are wrapped around the Holocaust. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep the readers eager to see how this story ends. It is definitely an enjoyable read!
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