Nappaland's BookBlog Review

DEAR STORMY: A Novel

by Stan Sulecki

(Capstone Fiction)

Reader Appeal: Women

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

David Drayer is an unlikely protagonist for a Christian novel. He is a broken man, controlled by outbursts of anger, contempt, and jealously that he barely understands. It wasn’t always this way for David, but since nearly losing his wife Lisa to cancer four years ago, something inside of him seems to have died. Instead of being warm and creative, David is cold and emotionally cruel to his now-recovered wife. He’s retreated from his creative outlets and has retreated into a perfunctory and lifeless routine.

First time novelist, Stan Sulecki boldly places the read inside David’s head by choosing a first-person perspective. The reader experiences David’s anger or jealously as he does, but like David, is not sure what is driving it.

Sulecki propels the conflict with a pair of unrelated events. David discovers a painting at a second-hand shop painted by a girl with an unusual nickname—but the same nickname that David gave his daughter, Stormy. David purchases the painting out of curiosity and soon discovers that the painter’s father slipped five letters into matting of the painting for Stormy to find someday. David becomes engrossed in the letters and commits himself to get these letters into the hands of the other Stormy.

Meanwhile, his wife, Lisa, can no longer endure David’s cruelty and demands that David moves out. David is shattered and lost. His emotional outbursts escalate and it takes all of his self-control to honor her demands. David’s only solace is losing himself in his quest of Stormy’s letters.

The plot from this point moves in a fair linear manner. There are a few pleasant twists along the way, however, but no revelatory surprises. What separates Dear Stormy from the many similar novels in the is its emotional realism. I confess, this isn’t my genre of choice to read. However, I was hooked by the second chapter and was unable to put it down. Sulecki’s decision to present David’s character, raw and unsanitized, makes this book a stand out. I did wonder, while reading, if David’s brokenness didn’t actually predate his wife’s cancer scare, and that this crisis didn’t somehow bring this issues to the surface. In short, I left Dear Stormy wanting to know more about David.

Sulecki's book  is a quick but worthy read. This reviewer will be tracking Amazon.com to watch for Stan’s next release as well.

BOOKBLOG RATING: A-

--LS

Note: All book or comics-related graphics in this column are standard publicity/promotional shots and are owned by their respective publisher.