Sirens

by James Mooneyham

Being a teenager in one of 1970s America's most notorious rural dens of crime and violence is plenty tough enough. But Jerry Staute is also an eyeglasses wearing runt, who often clumsily seeks to emulate the heroes from his beloved books and comics, in his daily encounters with the bullies, gangs, and general injustice running rampant in his school and hometown.

To make matters worse, puberty puts him in the throes of a hopeless crush, too.

So we're talking one regularly beat up (and somewhat pathetic) kid here. But all this begins to change, not long after he gets his first car: a 1969 Ford Mustang. For Jerry is a true, modern knight-errant, who requires only the proper steed by which to make the dreams of himself and others come true...if only he can avoid the grisly fates of some of his classmates: for murder, massacres, and mayhem are the way of things here.

177 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 19, 2010

Reviews

[Henry Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

I initially picked this up because it looked like a perfect book for a gearhead. Indeed, there was more car content than in any novel published since the 1960s (with the notable exception of Fast Cars and Rock & Roll by Michael Kayser), but I was surprised at how I was grabbed by the teenage boy-girl drama. Something about Jerry and Dana, in particular, touched me. I hope she does come back into the picture, once Jerry's crush on Sue Ann is out of his system.

Jerry, our hero, has a heart of gold, a country boy's resourcefulness, and a red-blooded American male's lust for speed and adventure. The Shadowfast books are actually memoirs with the names changed, according to the author, and I believe it. It all rings true to me. And the quality of the prose is higher than you'll find in most indie books, though the periodic "Agh!" and other exclamations in the narrative did begin to grate after a while.

But these are engaging stories--entertaining and sometimes heartwarming. I could have easily finished this one in one sitting if I'd had the time.

[Mike Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a surprise! The only reason I stumbled upon this book is because I was looking for Haynes manuals on Amazon for my 69 Mustang. How, then, could I resist reading a story about a tricked out 69 Mach 1 that tears across rural Tennessee in the early 70s, running from the cops, picking up cute girls, and generally causing mayhem. This guy claims the story is “based on real life occurrences,” which probably means 90% of it is made up. Regardless, this is basically what every red-blooded American male’s fantasy was during their high school years. In truth, it’s pretty badly written, with sections of poor grammar, numerous spelling mistakes, and a wanton habit of beginning sentences with prepositions, but the book is actually pretty entertaining and extremely creative (or… I guess I should say “factual”). If you like cars (specifically of the pony variety), and a more down-to-earth Dukes of Hazzard type story sound appealing, you’ll enjoy this. I’ll definitely be reading the sequel.