Jack Cay

**THIS REVIEW HAS SOME SPOILERS** **SPOILER ALERT**

WARD ALLEN : SAVANNAH RIVER MARKET HUNTER is an interesting read, but one I don't feel is going to be satisfying for many people.

I happened to enjoy it just for the quality of the writing. But by writing I mean the actual choice of words and how they are put together. The actual plotting I'm afraid is a bit of a mess.

The story, for example, begins with a narrative of a freed slave. The very old man talks a bit about Ward Allen, and then that is it. We don't hear from him again. The narrative is taken over by another man and it's in his voice that we hear a sort of summary of Ward Allen's life -- a jumpy staccato that leaps from point A to point B, frequently with out any poignant connections.

It's unfortunate that there are gaps in this story. The chapters I read left me with a desire to know more --perhaps to track down the film. But I suspect others will be left frustrated by the lack of answers for what accounted for the strange turns in Ward Allen's life. We're told, for example, that he was the eldest son of plantation owner who was not hurt so much by The War. But after his daddy's death we hear nothing of his mother or other family members, and suddenly Ward Allen is not living on the plantation, but is marrying and living in town in a not particularly fine manner. What happened? Did he not inherit? Did he sell the plantation and lose the money in some scheme. Perhaps people versed in the history of Savannah know the tale, but we readers will never know. At least not from this book.

There are other leaps where the reader is left wondering what led to this particular point in Ward's life. And there are other places where the reader will be left wondering if there is some greater point to the particular chapter they are reading. And if that's going to bother you, I suggest you do some research or steer clear of this short piece.

I enjoyed WARD ALLEN : SAVANNAH RIVER MARKET HUNTER . It was short and interesting and was probably drawn in part from research done for the movie script. And like I said, I thought the wordsmithing was very good. But I think that most people are going to be unhappy if they pay a full market price for the book, only to find that they are done in a hour.

I received this ebook as an ARC. I want to thank the publisher and Netgalley… (más)