Unplugged: A Novel Book

Wow. I didn't expect to be hooked from the very beginning of this book. But I was, and that's unusual because I'm a picky reader when it comes to things musical. I've been onstage from the classical side, had to consider where I was going and how I was going to deal with whatever I made of the career, or not. Too, I'm picky because I'm a published author. Paul McComas writes real. He knows the rock side of music, performance, and people, and that shows in every line. He's also an excellent author whose experience gives readers a genuine view of main character Dayna Clay, a rock musician. Paul achieved some unusual things in this book. First, he's a man writing an accurate female point of view. Second, he details the episodes Dayna goes through regarding drugs and debilitating depression with painful accuracy. Third, his descriptions of nature and how they become part of Dayna's consciousness to promote healing are poetic. Fourth, a sprig of optimism glimmers green despite all Dayna's problems. Fifth, the majority of Dayna's conversations are with herself. But these all work together, offering a beautiful vision of the type of individual healing available to those who allow nature to seep beneath their shell of pain. This book might bother some people because Dayna is bi-sexual. It also deals with her sexual abuse as a teen. But the overall concept of her unplanned sojourn in the Badlands and what she discovers there is well worth investigation. Paul includes lyrics and music to Dayna's songs, a special bonus for those who read music. The changes in the attitudes of the lyrics she wrote before and after her struggle give an added patina to her growth. Dayna is a good character. But the quirky atmosphere of the Badlands is a character in itself that sings its own undeniable song.