Muffin Man Coulda Been Better--By Cutting Half of the Book... Just My Personal Opinion, of course...

"Pushing herself backwards, away
from the face pressed close to hers,
Louise replied only with a prim: I
bed your pardon?"
"She noticed he was carrying some
kind of bagel in his hand. With eyes
peering between hat and scarf, the
half-hidden face repeated the question,
impatiently:
"I said: when do you think it's going
to start?"
"Louise uncomfortable being so close
to the strange, furtive face in the
gathering early evening gloom, voiced
another question in an uneasy voice:
"What are you talking about?
"His answer was a gruff, peremptory:
"Always questions; can't get a straight
answer nowadays. Listen, if you really
don't know anything, then you'd
better be careful..."

Guess that's why U.S. cops stick to
doughnuts!

Muffin Man*

Stephan Collina

I think I've read enough fiction by now that I sometimes resent authors that I know could do better but seemingly goes, instead, for what maybe will sell better... What would that be? Drugs and sex, of course...

"General, you know I respect you more than any
man alive. I'd like to help you out, I would, but
I've promised Emily I wouldn't go back.
"Abrams, beginning to speak even before Ed had
mouthed the last word: "Oh, don't give me that
bullshit. You were born to soldier.
"Ed: "Maybe, but I've had enough. And Emily and
me, well, it's been tough. I've changed. Fitting in
here is hard. I don't want to have to go through
all that again when it's finally over.
Abrams: "You can't leave a job undone, Ed. It's
not in your nature.
"Ed: It's tough, I'll grant you that. But a promise
is a promise...
"As soon as the General's car disappeared from
view, a frustrated Ed walked over to his daughter
and slapped her hard on the wrist, reddening the
skin, saying as he did so: "That's for being so
clumsy."
~~~

Believe me,, there are millions of people who do not take drugs, deal, or enjoy reading about the joys of sitting around being high and/or the promiscuous sex that accompanies those activities. I'm one of those individuals. It is just NOT fun to read about somebody stealing, taking, using, and talking about stealing, taking, using... In fact, it was boring. So much so, that many pages are skimmed and passed by since they add nothing but many--too many words to a book... IF you like the scene, then, hey, go for it! 

"Among the observers of the dawn but uncaring of its splendor, stepping out like two young birds furtively fleeing their nest, their strutting gait emphasizing the birdlike nature of their flight, were a giggling Adrian and Pete. Their prize was carried lightly under Pete's arm. Talking loudly as they walked, they were already reminiscing about the events of the preceding few hours...
"Leaving while the others slept had been Adrian's idea. Shaken awake by Adrian as he dozed half undressed, Pete had quickly and quietly agreed to leave, as he always did, and gently eased away from the similarly half-dressed sleeping beauty lying across him. Pete hoped he would see her again. She had been fun, he thought, superficially but genuinely, and wondered if she might still be there when he returned. He had not thought to ask for her phone number...
"They aimed to cache the box with a friend of his younger sister, who lived just around the corner and who Pete had been seeing secretly and regularly for some months. Sixteen years old, the young girl was besotted with him and their relationship was unknown to anyone except the two of them and Adrian. They reasoned correctly that it would therefore be a perfectly safe location, and one to which Pete could return at almost any time, and with a female bonus available..."

~~~

The book starts in 1968 while the Vietnam War was still "happening." I've read quite a few fiction and non-fiction books about the war--this was not too different. In fact, the idea of a world-wide group supposedly representing Christians has been done by others. This novel hones in on one soldier--a good soldier--who recognized the problems of the war and then being pulled out so that U.S. soldiers felt they should have been better led and actually done what needed to be done.

Now we know that many men came back with some form of PTSD. Ed seemed to be fine, but as he settled in, back home,  he would be contacted by earlier officers and asked to come back to Vietnam. Perhaps he should have, because he soon started a small group of his own... which led to his being noticed and picked by this group of Christians to come work for him... Obviously you can guess what he would be doing...

The most intriguing character in the book is Ed's daughter. Anne. She remembered her loving father before he went to war. Now she could not understand why he was treating her, and her mother as well, like he was...

She leaves home as soon as she can. Unfortunately, she ultimately got involved with the drugs and, although she doesn't know it, actually works for the same organization for which her father works.

Another character, David, had some potential, but got involved with friends who were users, as well as the ones who steal them, and then the drug dealing as well. His girlfriend--who makes it quite clear to readers that she has no deep love for David, soon has left him and moved in with a U.K. inspector who is also dirty and into drugs... David later meets and falls for Anne... Too late...

"On a late July Sunday, four years after his return
from Vietnam, everything abruptly changed. Where
before there had existed confusion and subjugation,
suddenly reigned clarify...Ed had made no special
preparation, except to have attended a Church service
in the morning, but he had uttered there no prayer
beyond the routine mutterings of the occasional
worshiper...
"...Ed turned to his wife, saying: Don't be afraid.
It's finally all clear to me...
"As part of his revelation, Ed knew he would have to
be patient in his explanations, circumspect with words,
and not only with his wife. Therefore, he patiently
replied: "I mean God has spoken to me. He has told
me what I must do...
"...create a Christian army, and of working both
within the system and without..."
~~~

"Within two years of leaving Vietnam for good, Ed in his unsuspected madness knew with absolute certainly that his devil was a real, living entity that had entered into his entrails, was connected directly to his brain, affecting and even directing his thoughts. It would no longer whisper phrases from outside, but speak its demonic commands and suggestions internally: wordless, unheard by others, but with meanings crystal clear to him...The demon became his constant companion, advising and directly him how to feel, how to react, how to behave with others around him. Ed would not be forced to react to its orders zombie-like, as in some dreadful b-movie but indirectly, sometimes after thought and reflection had convinced him of its truth and propriety. The demon's power over him became nonetheless absolute. Its instruction simply had to be followed.
                                                              ~~~

The novel continues on until 2001 and then ends with an allusion which some readers may or may not
understand...

I early on had some issues with the writer's style of presentation, contrary to routine sentence structure in novels, most commonly the use of colons which tended to be used instead of normal dialogue. There are also issues of extremely long sentences and/or
paragraphs. For me, reading the novel was tedious...

Bottom line, there was too much extraneous material that prevented the story from being easily absorbed. Throwing in the bits of immaturity of the drug users quickly pulls readers away from what could be a fairly interesting story line. I never did discover the significance of the title with the individual who would appear once in a while. Given the abrupt ending, it could very well be that all of this is still going on somewhere over in England by those fanatic individuals playing at "saving the world" for what they call their religion... We all know there are lots of those across the world, don't we? May we be saved from their reality inside and outside of a book...These comments are  just my opinion, of course...Check it out for yourself...


GABixlerReviews

Stephan grew up in the 1970s: a troubled time of recession, poverty, industrial disruption, political tension and terrorism. But for younger people, it was also a post-1960s wide-flared, drug-enhanced and extravagant-haired innocence.

Stephan later became a prominent businessman, acquainted with a number of high-ranking politicians. Stephen ran international technology businesses, spending a great deal of time in the USA and various European and African countries.

The Muffin Man grew from a combination of these unique experiences: his early knowledge of the sometime innocent business of drug dealing (although he never inhaled), and of the much dirtier businesses of covert political and military action, and of international business practices.

Stephan’s first novel explored the nefarious and complicated emotional and sexual relationships of a remote village in Wales, where he had spent his early years.

Stephan holds a degree in Philosophy. He is also a qualified commercial ship’s captain. He now lives quietly by the sea, and concentrates on his writing and related filmmaking activities.