Most Men

by D.R. Shoultz

MOST MEN includes a 110-page Novella plus a Collection of Short Stories!

“History dwarfs the accomplishments of most men. Don’t be like most men.” It was a dying father’s challenge to his young son. Joe Richman lived his life wondering what his father meant. Even after a successful career, he feared he hadn’t measured up to his father’s expectations.

Joe and his wife Claire began their golden years on the shores of a 1,000-acre mountain lake. Gracefully carved into the Blue Ridge Mountains, Pine Lake Country Club had all the amenities any retiree could expect--any retiree except Joe. To him, it was too scripted, too predictable.

He’d yet to find what his career had provided--the challenges, the risks and the rewards that came from hard work and a job well done. He felt that he still had more to offer, but like it or not, his legacy had been cast.

The beauty of the tall pines and rolling hills gave an air of calm, disguising the imperfections within, but the grandeur of the mountains would soon be pulled back, revealing danger and challenges Joe never anticipated.

He’d be given one more chance to not be like most men.

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Award-winning story, A CIRCLE BROKEN, plus six other short stories are included in MOST MEN. This is the second collection of short stories by D.R. Shoultz, the first being IT GOES ON.

226 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2016

About the author

An author of mystery/crime novels, D.R. (Donn) Shoultz hails from Delavan, a small town in central Illinois, but has resided in the Southeastern U.S. most of his adult life. Donn and his wife Claudia have recently moved from their longtime residence in the Carolina Mountains to a home atop the Cumberland Plateau in Crossville, Tennessee. Claudia continues to share her considerable editing experience in shaping Donn's novels. In their free time, they both enjoy traveling and hiking nearby wooded trails with their dog, Milo.

Donn began writing fiction more than a decade ago following a sales and marketing career that took him across the world. His early work featured Miles Stevens, a time-traveling CIA agent, sent back from 2050 and his home in Langley, Virginia to intercept historic tragedies already in the history books.

Donn’s recent focus is adding stories to his Mountain Mystery Series. In each Mountain Mystery, tension rises quickly. The mystery (usually a murder) makes an early appearance. Hometown heroes spring into action, searching for clues, often competing with local law enforcement as they move closer and closer to danger. The stories are set in fictitious mountain communities with the Blue Ridge Mountains as a backdrop. Clues are sprinkled throughout with twists keeping readers off balance. These books are great for weekend reads, offering crisp, fast-moving chapters and up-all-night suspense.

If you’re looking for a mystery series with legs, this is it. Your favorite sleuths from the initial stories return in future novels, making them a series within the Mountain Mystery collection of novels.

In order of publication, his books include:

Miles Stevens Series
* Melting Sand
* Cyber One
* Gone Viral

Mountain Mystery Series
* At the River's Edge (Emily Edwards #1)
* Butcher Road (Jack Fowler #1)
* Fallen from Sight (Ryan Nelson #1)
* A Town Divided (Luke Maxwell #1)
* A Town in Fear (Luke Maxwell #2)
* Dark River (Emily Edwards #2)
* Road to Justice (Jack Fowler #2)
* Rising River (Emily Edwards #3
* Border Town (Luke Maxwell #3))

Donn's short stories, which he interweaves between writing novels, are an eclectic collection of tales looking at the lives of lovers, schemers, everyday people, and even pets. Each includes a twist and is designed to bring a tear and/or a smile to the reader. His stories have received national contest recognition, including from Writer's Digest magazine. His short story collections include:

* It Goes On
* Most Men

You can find more about Donn and his writing at DRShoultz.com.

Reviews

[Mariyam Hasnain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most Men is the story of childless couple Joe and Claire Richman. Joe is forced for an early retirement when he was denied the job of CEO of TelGen, losing out to a young female graduate from Stanford University.
Not happy with the way things turned out lately at work, Joe spends most of his time in gambling and golfing when Claire persuades him to take interest in community service.
The actual story begins when Joe invests into MarKay Funds, a hedge fund run by husband and wife Kay and Marty Flores to save the Pine Lake Children House.
The story is intriguing and full of plot twists and turns. However, at times it feels like a drag when there are too much of dialogues and description. Joe is a complex character with equal flaws and virtues while Claire’s character seems two-dimensional as an emotional woman who loves kids.
The rest of the six stories are done well and are mostly dialogue driven. All in all, Most Men is a nice little collection of a suspenseful intriguing novella plus six short stories from varied genres. I recommend this to anyone who loves reading short stories with complex and intriguing characters.

[David Belisle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shoultz Shines with Pedal-to-Metal Plots

Shoultz's writing has a solid, methodical feel to it. Plot-driven, with the occasional pit-stop to smell the roadside daisies, he pulls back onto the asphalt and brings the story home in high gear.

"Most Men" has ample plot twists in a murder mystery with a children's group home in play. The author's soft heart is readily apparent, an emotional touchstone for his main characters. Pride and virtue are measured by the pound.

Some of the short stories are brief, retrospective glimpses of life, as the author toys with the existential. All in all, good-to-great 'writing chops' in this display window.

[Sara Claridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Don’t be like Most Men.” Joe’s father’s last words never made much sense to him until he was put in the position of questioning his life choices having taken early retirement.
Like all good novellas Most Men succeeds in telling a story that is nicely paced, with rounded characters and detail enough to leave the reader satisfied. Add-in the twists as the story unfolds and it makes for a great read.
The accompanying short stories in the book were equally as good, and I may never eat a pumpkin again!
P.S. I love that even the dog gets an acknowledgement.

[Melody Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

I borrowed this title via the Kindle Unlimited program.

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of stories about Most Men. Thoughtfully developed characters and intriguing details of small town America enhance each story. Certainly pick up this collection if you are in the mood for short stories.

[Mark Mayfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed "Most Men" even more than D.R. Shoultz's other short story collection, "It Goes On," and I LOVED "It Goes on." Shoultz is a gifted writer with an uncanny ability to simplify complex themes, combined them and turn the whole thing into page-turning prose. While the book has 7 superb short stories, about half of its 217 pages is filled with more of a novella, the story of Joe, a businessman forced into early retirement who is itching to "stay in the game." Joe is a complex character, a bit compulsive by nature, a not-so-great gambler who runs into a man who leads a group that persuades him to invest in a too-good-to-be-true hedge fund. Nevermind that the group is vague about what the fund actually invests in, or what their investment strategy really is. Joe jumps in, and not by himself. Joe has been brought in to consult with a children's home that is circling the drain. Eager to make some money and save the home, Joe talks their board into investing all the home's remaining cash into the same fund. After that, the fun really starts. People end up dead and the money turns up missing. The story is a real page turner and will hold your interest throughout. Shoultz's other stories will not disappoint, especially "A Cafe Window," and "Cabin Quarantine."

[Ju Ephraime · Rating 4 out of 5]

The description of this book sparked my curiosity, a novella and a collection of short stories, all in one book. How is that possible? After reading, Most Men, by DR Shoultz, I am impressed. The author was able to do just that. The first part of the book contains a novella that is suspenseful and well-written about the retired life of Joe, a man who wasn’t quite ready to retire and his wife, Claire, who felt she should use her retirement doing something useful in the community. Joe on the other hand was not ready. He’d one foot in the door and the other ready to pivot around any minute and return back to working life. At a loss to know what to do with himself, he spends his time in frivolous pursuits, golfing and playing cards, while his wife tries to take on the plight of the homeless kids in the community. It wasn’t until Joe follows his wife’s lead did he see his life coming full circle. It was only then that he finally got what his father had been referring to when he was alive. No doubt, his father would be proud of him if he could see him now.
The other six short stories that follows this novella, is a blend of several genres, from the paranormal to real life and family experiences. Each story is unique and very heavy on the dialogue. If you enjoy short stories, then you’ll enjoy this varied collection.

[Ann Pratley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am always intrigued by short stories and find myself in awe of writers who can produce what seems like an entire novel, into so few words. Such is how I have felt reading Most Men by DR Shoultz. The first part of the book comprises a novella that grabbed my attention immediately. Being a story that I would place in the suspense or crime genre, I felt like I was reading a much longer novel, with the way the language was used to impressively describe people and the events that unfolded. Beyond this story, are six short stories which are unique from one another and provided various aspects of paranormal, real life and family. I found each of these to be thought provoking in their own right, for different reasons, and overall I enjoyed reading this collection of works. If you like short stories and would enjoy reading a diverse collection of them in one location, this could be the collection for you.

[Bruce D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story of greed and murder

This story, although short, had some action in it. The story line was not hard to follow. The other short stories were just that, short stories. I've read better ones.