David PatneaudeReseñas

Fast Backward by David Patneaude is a beautiful war story that is perfect for a younger generation!

I really liked this novel! Typically, war novels are not my forte but David makes this novel fun to read. Not only does it introduce some of the actual history of WW2, but it also gives insight into other possibilities. Honestly, if my grade 10 history class had made us read something like this, I probably would have been more into history.

I'm not sure whether to label this a Young Adult or New Adult novel. I think pre-teens all the way up to adults would like this book. But if I'm being specific, it seems like it is written for Young and New Adults in particular. It's a more PG version of war, which can introduce a larger target audience into the events of the second World War. It's not gory or brutal by any means, but it helps get the basic points across (family separation, death, bombs, etc). With that being said, it's not "realistic" - the brutality of war is true insanity if you've ever looked into it - but for the target audience, I think it's just enough introduction to what the real horrors were so if they were interested, they could then go and read more about it.

If I delve a little more into the book, I really liked the characters! Bobby/Robert was an excellent character to follow and Cocoa was the perfect companion! The relationship between all of the characters seem sincere and not forced. You can tell that David put effort into building his characters and working into them into the story. Additionally, the story arcs these characters follow build across the novel instead of just suddenly happening.

The finale of the novel ends with a nice, full circle ending. It addresses comments from the beginning of the book and finishes the story to a nice end. There's no cliff hangers or plots left unanswered. I loved that part of the book with each end tying up well!

My last little comments:
Aesthetically, I really liked the font of the chapter numbers. This might not stay the same to the final version (I had a PDF copy), but I thought it really complimented the book.

The Andrews Sisters reference was FANTASTIC! I love Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. I have a crazy fondness for older music, so this reference probably made this ensure book 100x better for me.

Overall, this book is top tier! It's addicting, fast paced and tells a beautiful story I think everyone should read! I really hope more people read this book!!!

Five out of five stars!

I received a free copy of this novel from the author David Patneaude in exchange for an honest review.

Someone was Watching is the story of Chris and his family who have suffered the tragedy of losing one of their own. Chris's family was at the river enjoying a relaxing afternoon when Molly, Chris's sister goes missing. After a lengthy search, Molly is presumed to have drowned in the river. Chris and his parents suffer through three months of loss, anger, and pain before their therapist suggests that they spend some time reliving the day when Molly died in order to find some closure on what has happened. Chris and his parents view the videotape that Chris made of their afternoon together. Something starts to bother Chris about what he sees on the tape, which leads him to question everything he thought he knew about Molly's death. After Chris's friend Pat sees the tape, he helps Chris start to piece together what might really have happened that day. When Chris's parents fail to believe him, Chris realizes he and Pat are going to have to do some investigating on their own.
This story is full of suspense and mystery. I was so tempted to turn to the back of the book to see if Molly was really alive or not, but I was glad that I resisted. Overall, a good quick read that will make you want to keep coming back for more.

Someone was Watching is the story of Chris and his family who have suffered the tragedy of losing one of their own. Chris's family was at the river enjoying a relaxing afternoon when Molly, Chris's sister goes missing. After a lengthy search, Molly is presumed to have drowned in the river. Chris and his parents suffer through three months of loss, anger, and pain before their therapist suggests that they spend some time reliving the day when Molly died in order to find some closure on what has happened. Chris and his parents view the videotape that Chris made of their afternoon together. Something starts to bother Chris about what he sees on the tape, which leads him to question everything he thought he knew about Molly's death. After Chris's friend Pat sees the tape, he helps Chris start to piece together what might really have happened that day. When Chris's parents fail to believe him, Chris realizes he and Pat are going to have to do some investigating on their own.
This story is full of suspense and mystery. I was so tempted to turn to the back of the book to see if Molly was really alive or not, but I was glad that I resisted. Overall, a good quick read that will make you want to keep coming back for more.

The plot had potential, but the book itself was a disjointed mess. In a better author's hand it could have been great.

i gotta say i was kinda torn. i mean a society without a bunch of men and wars and murder and rape and molestation practically cease to exists...sound kinda nice. the means by which they did it not so much. great story.

i gotta say i was kinda torn. i mean a society without a bunch of men and wars and murder and rape and molestation practically cease to exists...sound kinda nice. the means by which they did it not so much. great story.

i gotta say i was kinda torn. i mean a society without a bunch of men and wars and murder and rape and molestation practically cease to exists...sound kinda nice. the means by which they did it not so much. great story.

i gotta say i was kinda torn. i mean a society without a bunch of men and wars and murder and rape and molestation practically cease to exists...sound kinda nice. the means by which they did it not so much. great story.

i gotta say i was kinda torn. i mean a society without a bunch of men and wars and murder and rape and molestation practically cease to exists...sound kinda nice. the means by which they did it not so much. great story.

The storyline was very interesting - 4 stars. But the writing itself and the character development was lacking - 2 stars. I didn't care when people died because I had no emotional attachment at all.

I really enjoyed this book for a few reasons. I like it a lot because it was a scarier book to read. This semester, I have not read a suspenseful or scary book, so this chapter book was such a fun read. I really enjoyed the plot, because I wanted to keep reading without putting the book down. The boys on the baseball keep receiving mysterious messages written on the baseball field while they are practicing, and they continue to try and figure out if it is a ghost or someone playing a trick on them. I also enjoyed the characters in the book. Although Gannon's father is verbally abusive to him about the game of baseball, I think it shows how a lot of fathers are today with their sons that play a sport. They want their sons to be successful and to win, so I think it was probably relatable for many readers. I think the overall message of this book was just a fun read that has suspense and mystery. Allowing children to read a book like this helps them stay engaged and feel like they are solving a mystery.

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.

Quick & Dirty: This was a unique post-apocalyptic thriller that had good action, and interesting characters.

Opening Sentence: Charlie frowned as muted sunlight leaked through the ragged umbrella of evergreen boughs overhead.

The Review:

Thirty years ago there was a virus that killed 97% of the male population. It was a very fast acting virus that was airborne and if you got infected you had less than 24 hours to live. After that women had to rebuild society and they created a euphoric society with no crime or war. For the last thirty years the world has been at peace, there are still random breakouts of the virus so the male population is still a very small percentage. Males are treated as a lesser being, they can only work in specific job fields and they are basically just sperm donors. Everyone is happier now that there are fewer males or at least the women are.

Kellen Dent is 14 years old and one of the few boys to inhabit the earth. His father was one of the survivors of the male killing virus from thirty years ago. He hasn’t really had much of a relationship with his father since he left to live in a rural community that is made up of mostly males. Kellen is hoping to visit his father this summer, but his mother seems hesitant in letting him go. His mother wants him to stay at home and study for his impending trials. The trials will determine what type of job he can have and his mother wants him to be an influential adult, but as a male that is a hard thing to achieve. Secretly Kellen dreams of living like his father. He wants to be free and live a comfortable worry free life. His mothers boss decides to pay a visit and Kellen overhears a conversation that he shouldn’t have. The virus is heading to the small town his father lives in, and Kellen has to warn him. Kellen has grown up in Utopia but Kellen starts to wonder if the virus was an accident or not. What price was paid to make their world so perfect? Was it worth it?

The story is told from Kellen’s point of view. He had a good strong voice throughout the book. He is a caring person and your average teenage boy. He isn’t the most comfortable around girls but there aren’t any boys around to be friends with. Girls are always looking at him and flirting with him since he is such an anomaly. He had a good personality and can be pretty funny at times. My one problem with him was that at times he seemed so much older than 14 and then other times he acted his age. I wish that he would have been older, I think it would have fit the role he played a little bit better. Overall, I liked him as a character.

Tia is the love interest in the book. Her and her cousin, Sunday, move into the boarding house that Kellen lives in. The group becomes quick friends. Tia is very smart and independent. She has always questioned what really happened when the virus hit, and she wants some answers. She decides to help Kellen warn his father. She is cute and Kellen is instantly attracted to her. I liked Tia. She was interesting and fun to get to know.

This was a fast paced thriller that was interesting and unique. There was good action and a fun adventure. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and the idea was different. Unfortunately, I had a hard time believing in the story; it was just a little too far-fetched for me. I just couldn’t get a grip on a world where people would be better off with only one gender. The plot was really predictable as well, so that made the story not quite as intriguing. Overall, I would say that this was a good read but not a really great read. If the synopsis sounds interesting to you and you like post- apocalyptic books you should give this one a try.

Notable Scene:

As he switched it on, he foolishly half hoped for music, but this morning, as always, news filled the airwaves and the plague was all the news. No crime sprees, no crooked politicians, no environmental disasters, no weather, no sports. He imagined empty stadiums. No players. No fans.

Because no plague-related deaths had been reported in almost two days, scientists believed the disease had run its course. For now. Newborn boys were no longer dying. Ships were returning to port. Within hours of one another, the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, all officially noted the cessation of deaths.

FTC Advisory: EgmontUSA provided me with a copy of Epitaph Road. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.

Is it less of a dystopia if this future world is ruled by women?

TL;DR: didn't rock my socks but I can see the appeal, and I wish there had been more exploration of the social and political systems. Elements related to the title seem shoehorned in to give the plot a certain gravity, but are otherwise mostly irrelevant to the story.

Kellen is the one boy for every 13 girls, how the population ratio has been for the 30 years since the Elisha's Bear virus first struck, wiping out 97% of the male population. Now there's another Bear on the way, and it's targeting Kellen's dad's isolated fishing community. Kellen has to warn his dad, but getting there won't be easy--and what he finds when he gets there could mean he'll never get home again.

Social dystopia in the matriarchal political structure (with 97% of males gone, women hold all the power) and societal rules (boys' career options are far less plentiful than girls'), potentially a commentary on current gender divides. Not much is really explored in the social system in terms of world-building, but the basic ideas are there.

A decent enough pairing with other gender-divided dystopias (Herland, Charlotte Perkins Gilman; Nomansland, Lesley Hauge), The Other Side of the Island (Allegra Goodman) for illness, or Restoring Harmony (Joelle Anthony) for Seattle setting. 7th-10th grade appeal; girls will appreciate the woman-focused society (as wish fulfillment for our current society, perhaps?) and boys will enjoy the action-heavy second half. Brief chapters keep the plot moving briskly and discussions of schoolwork keep the plot at least semi-relatable for reluctant readers.

This is an exciting page-turner, for sure, and it does raise some interesting (if unsubtle) questions about what a world run by women would be like. Unfortunately, it also gives too many easy answers. (Full review at http://www.parenthetical.net/2010/11/06/epitaph-road-by-david-patneaude/)

In the year 2097, most of the world's male population has been wiped out by a virus known as Elisha's Bear. Women rule the world and don't allow many male children to be born and several repeated epidemics of the Bear have the remaining males fearing for their lives. 14 year old Kellen lives with his mother and other women. Then he learns that the Bear was not an accident. Together with his friend Tia, he faces trials as he tries to find his father and save him from the next epidemic. Together they try to find a way to change the future.

In the year 2067, a virus called Elisha's Bear killed 97% of men, leaving the unaffected females to rebuild society. 30 years later, we meet Kellen. His life is tightly controlled by the female-led government who control what men can and can't do, while limiting their procreation. When Tia and Sunday, his cousins, visit from Kansas, they uncover some disturbing secrets about the virus and are caught up in a conspiracy to stop future outbreaks.
While the story is certainly intriguing, the writing done well, and the characters interesting enough, there are some very heavy-handed portions of this book that detract from the good. The future world is clearly imagined as a totalitarian society led by females, which is the most fascinating part, but this social commentary is lost in the adventure story that takes over mid-way through. Still, it's a good read, especially for students grade 7+ who are interested in dystopian fiction, but aren't ready for Divergent or Hunger Games.

In August of 2067, a horrible virus called Elisha's Bear, claimed the lives of more than a billion men in the United States. For whatever reason, females did not seem to be affected by the viurs. Charlie Winters, his sister Paige and his mother have set out on vacation, with Charlie's dad set to meet them later, but later never comes. Mr. Winters becomes a victim of Elisha's Bear.

Fast forward 30 years to 2097, and meet Kellen, Charlie's only son. He lives with his mother and a lot of other women in some sort of community home. Charlie's mom works for PAC, the young government in the United States that is run almost entirely by women. Men still exist, obviously, but not many of them and a number of them have decided to move to the Outerlands, minding their own business. Kellen's father is one of these men, termed a loner. Kellen's mom has told him that she will send him to spend some time after he takes his trials, a set of tests that will determine what Kellen's future will hold.

One day, he and two friends Tia and Sunday, stumble onto a bunch of seemingly unrelated information, but when they put the puzzle together and then do a little more research, they find out that something sinister - something that Kellen's mom appears to be part of - is about to happen. Kellen decides he has to warn his dad, so he and his new friends set out on a mission to let him know what is about to happen, only to find themselves biking into a situation more dangerous than they could ever imagine.

The story is very unique in its premise, and Patneaude has done a great job of creating tension. I've read in some places that readers were able to guess what was going to happen next throughout the story. I didn't feel that way. There were times I could, but other times, I was surprised by what came around the corner. I enjoyed the book and thought it was a good, not great, mystery story. I would recommend it to students in grades 6-10.

Caseys mom was killed and she was badly injured during a car acedent. Casey doesnt use her right hand for anything not even basketball. But when her new neibor autumn moves in across the street, same age and a basketball star, Casey gets invited to be on a new team, the sourcers. Casey is excited but she cant forget her mom. Everytime she uses her right hand it reminds her of the accedent. But the killer has come back into her life and he isnt the bad man she has pictured all her life. She doesnt want him to go to jail.
this is one of my favorite books.

This book is interesting thus far, but I am wondering if it is going to really become a page turner so I can't put it down...

2097: A plague has decimated the male population and the main character is an adolescent male...

August 7, 2067: The day Elisha's Bear roared out of the wilderness and decimated mankind. Two weeks laters later, 97% of the male human population on the planet was dead. Fast forward 30 years, where Kellen Dent lives with his mother and various other people in a large house in Seattle. He's unusual in this world as a male, but having a politically powerful scientist for a mother in a world controlled by women smooths the way in most situations. Kellen's father, who survived the original plague, left them years ago, and lives alone on a fishing boat off the Olympic Peninsula. Kellen sees him once a year or so. When Aunt Paige appears, and confronts Kellen's mother about another impending outbreak of the Bear plague -- specifically targeted for the Olympic Peninsula, Kellen realizes the danger to his father, and he takes off with his two cousins, Sunday and Tia, to warn him. Having two girls with him makes him less suspicious, but it also puts them up against the organization that's masterminding the extermination process... and what they find on the peninsula is even more dangerous than they dreamed possible. Suspenseful, with plenty of good twists, this is an excellent addition to the apocalyptic (end of the world as we know it) fiction that's come out in the last few years. Strong 7th grade readers and up -- recommended for 8th graders especially for the ideas related to the Holocaust unit.

The world, led by men and on the brink of collapse, is struck by a mysterious disease that kills only men--and ends up wiping most of them off the earth. A new world run entirely by women, with controls in place never to allow men in power again, is peaceful and the plagues of the past no longer exist. Some men choose to live as loners or in small communities outside of society where they do not have to conform to the rules--but when any of these communities becomes too violent or powerful the disease-Elisha's Bear-always strikes again. The son of a very powerful scientist, 14 year old Kellen is sure he wants to find his father and become a loner with him. But one day he finds out that Elisha's Bear is probably not an accident, and another epidemic is planned for the area in which his father lives. Kellen and his friends must find a way to save his father and the others before it is too late. Great read, kinda dark, but really sharp look at society.

The future is a world without much violence, without the need for armies, and governed by women. For 97% of the males have been killed by a mysterious illness called Elisha's Bear. Without so many men, the world seems a better place. Though men still exist, they are a small portion of the population and their lives are strictly controlled by the governing women. Epitaph Road, by David Patneaude, forces us to take a look at the role of gender and its effects on the planet.

Could it be that so many of the problems that the world faces today are a result of male thinking? It seems indisputable as the majority of world governments are controlled by men. So would we be better off if women were in control? This is one of the ideas that is explored within this novel.

Kellen, the main character is a boy being raised in a woman's world. His mother is an important official with the government, and his father has left the city to live the life of a loner ( a male who lives outside of the day-to-day restrictions of the governing women). Kellen, of course, discovers something that forces him to seek out his dad, and in doing so come to face with the truth about his world.

The role of gender in the crises facing the earth is explored in this interesting novel. The author clearly blames much of today's ills on the fact that men are in control. How idealistic to think that with women in control our world would be better off.

"Could anyone in his right mind have made a case for going back to a world of poverty and hunger and crime and disease and greed and dishonest and prejudice and war and genocide and religious bigotry and runaway population growth and abuse of the environment and immigration strife and you-get-the-leftovers educational policies and hundred other horrors?" (pg. 26)

This is the way that history is being taught to the Kellen and other students. Like anywhere, history is created by the conquerors, so it is not surprising when Kellen's History teacher points him, and her other students in the direction of alternate understandings that question the means by which the world arrived at it's current position.

I liked this book. It takes an interesting idea and plays with it. It starts strong, but drifts off a little in the middle of the book and becomes just another adventure, coming of age story. The end is a bit stronger, and I found it satisfying.

When so many books are part of a series, it was nice to read one which stands by itself.½

What if women ruled the world? Would it be a better place or would war, corruption and politics just be different?

David Patneaude answers this question in a subtle and very straightforward way. Viewing the world through they eyes of one of the few male inhabitants left after an apocalyptic virus kills most others. The fact that this male is a teenager to boot only enhances the progression of the revelations.

The fact that Kellen was assumed to be an impressionable boy made him easily manipulated by the system, or so government officials thought. He was (much to their chagrin) far more shrewd, insightful and cunning than anticipated. These traits allowed him the ability to research and find information that others may not have been as capable of digging out. Add to this the fact that Patneaude wrote a supporting cast of characters that fed into his many other abilities (two teenage girls who were parters in crime, a mother linked to the government’s higher ups, and an aunt who had history and rebellion on her side) enhanced the plot’s mysterious elements.

Patneaude writes about interesting ethical issues such as gender, medical ethics, and politics. Issues teens don’t likely discuss a great deal in their every day lives. In this way I think Epitaph Road has the potential to encourage some interesting conversation and debate. I’d be interested to read it as part of a book club to be able to thoroughly dissect some of the points he’s made related to these issues.

The one weakness Epitaph Road had in my eyes was that the story built a bit too slowly. We didn’t get to the best part of the book until much later than I wanted. I understood why this was done — providing historical perspective, developing characters and relationships, and creating conflict; but it languished just a bit too long in the set up. While, not to my particular liking, it didn’t damage my ability to like the book as a whole. The second half of the story, when Kellen is more action oriented than a passive observer, was very enjoyable.

Being a fan of series fiction I could easily see this book turned into multiple follow-ups. Now that readers know the truth behind events (which I won’t spoil here) it would be interesting to delve into the stories of survivors and those they have lost pre and post Elisha’s Bear.

Good for girls and boys, interesting for young and old, Epitaph Road is certainly worthy or any and all dystopian fan’s attention as well. If you have the opportunity take a look, it’s worth your time.

This book surprised me- I didn't expect to enjoy it enough to keep it! When reading it though, one must keep in mind that it was written in 1993 (ie: before everyone had cell phones and before 9/11), otherwise one is always wondering how the boys got away with their adventures without adult interference. The boys' friendship is remarkable. I'd like a friend like Pat!
Three months prior to the start of the story, Chris' younger sister, Molly, goes missing while the family is on vacation and is presumed drowned in a nearby lake. After finally viewing a videotape made that day, Chris believes she may have been kidnapped instead and enlists the help of his friend Pat to get her back.