Flushed

by Joseph Mulak

A professional poker player's life takes a drastic turn when he meets a mysterious woman at the casino.
Since Ivan's wife left, his life has mostly revolved around poker. Shortly after meeting the mysterious Sonya Lewis, his ex-wife appears on his doorstep with a surprise that makes it difficult for Ivan to turn her away. Torn between the two, Ivan tries to balance his relationship with both women while having to learn to take responsibility for the first time in his life.
Flushed is a touching story of the complexity and value of human relationship, personal growth and love.

210 pages, Paperback

First published June 18, 2014

About the author

Joseph Mulak is the author of the novels Devil Music and Ashes to Ashes. He has also written several short which have appeared in such anthologies as Death Be Not proud (edited by Thom Erb), Dark Things II (edited by Ty Schwamberger), Dark Light (a charity anthology benefiting Ronald McDonald House), and Freedom of Screech (edited by Craig Spector). Some of these stories have been collected in Haunted whispers.

He lives and writes in North Bay, Ontario. He has four children and four grandchildren.

Reviews

[Lindsay Lamarche · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved reading this book. I read another anthology of short pieces by Joseph Mulak, and though it is different from any of his earlier work, I loved the story. The characters came to life for me. Ivan's struggle to find happiness with his past life and his present life come to an interesting climax in this piece. I can only hope that Ivan is a recurring character in Mulak's future work.

[Sahara Foley · Rating 4 out of 5]

SEE MY REVIEW ON MY BLOG OR AMAZON

[Pete · Rating 5 out of 5]

his reluctance to accept responsibility, has left him. The story follows Ivan over the period of a few weeks as a series of unexpected events cause him to reassess his life.

This novel grabbed hold of me and didn’t let go. I read it in two late-night sittings. On the face of it, it’s difficult to define exactly what gripped me so strongly. The pacing is laid-back—just like the main character. There are no explosions or near-death experiences. But the way Ivan reacts to external events is so believable, and so typical of a man, that I found myself smiling and nodding my way through the story.

Ivan is a million miles from marriage material. He loved his wife, so he did try to conform to how society expects a husband to behave. But his married life was a constant struggle between his selfish (lazy? immature?) personality, and his innate desire to please his woman.

As the author throws curve balls at Ivan (and there were a couple of doozies), his response always stays true to his character. To me, that was the magic in the story—it stays true to life and to Ivan throughout. Even when there were opportunities to give Ivan and the other characters an easy way out, the author resisted, and that truth shone through—kudos, Mr. Mulak. This was an unusual story, and a lot of fun to read.

This review was originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. I may have received a free review copy.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a different type of “coming-of-age” story. We normally relate them to the Young Adult genre. This is a tale about Ivan Wells, a 30+ man who doesn’t want any responsibilities in life. He lives in a dumpy apartment, has a failed marriage and earns his living by playing poker at the local casino, just barely enough to cover rent and food. He resents his family and friends as they’re always expecting more from him and keep insisting being a poker gambler is not a “real” job. He’s comfortable with his lot in life, no expectations, no one to answer too. Then one day a high school crush shows up, asking for his help.

I really enjoyed Ivan and the development of his character throughout the story. Always having to measure up to his older brother, Doug, Ivan knows where he stands in life, at the bottom of the totem pole. Now he’s faced with choices he never thought he’d have to make. The mother and father are richly detailed; you just want to shake them and yell, Wake up and look at your youngest son for a change. Joseph Muiak writes with a lot of insight into the human psyche.

This is not a high energy story with lots of drama, but it kept pulling me along, wanting to read more. I was sorry to see the story end. My only complaint are all the proofreading errors.

I highly recommend this story and give it 4 feathers.

[Ang Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the third book I've read by Joseph Mulak. His other books are in the horror genre and this one is a romance. I have to say that I much prefer his horror novels. This book wasn't bad, but I found that the plot wasn't plausible in parts (Sonya just giving him money the first time she sees him since high school? Doesn't seem realistic to me...) BUT with that being said, I found the ending to be satisfying.

I do enjoy Mulak's writing style (but as I said on a previous review, he needs a better editor) and am definitely looking forward to reading more of his stuff.

[George Pickstock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

Loved it. Truly a Great story. Joe really can make words sing. A true portrayal of a coming of age journey.