Title: A New Year: Special Double Edition
Author: J. Scott Coatsworth
Publisher: Amazon/Kindle Unlimited
Length: 78 Pages
Category: Fantasy
At a Glance: Reading both of these novellas together definitely offers a deja vu moment. They are similar but different, and both stories are quick and easy reads.
Reviewed By: Maryann
Blurb: Version One: Hank is at the end of his rope. The California high school senior is ready to jump off a bridge, to end it all, when Dale shows up.
Dale is a man with a secret, someone who will change the course of Hank’s life in a single night, and then vanish back into the fog.
But the two men are linked in ways Hank can’t even imagine, and when the time is right, they will see each other once again.
Version Two: Heath is at the end of his rope. The British high school senior is ready to jump off a bridge, to end it all, when Finn shows up.
Finn is a man with a secret, someone who will change the course of Heath’s life in a single night, and then vanish back into the fog.
But the two men are linked in ways Heath can’t even imagine, and when the time is right, they will see each other once again.
Review: Version One: It’s New Year’s Eve 1986 in San Francisco. Hank is seventeen, not very confident, not very good looking, has trouble socializing with his classmates, has no friends, and is gay. He’s has a bad experience at a party and is done with the struggle of living, so he’s going to take his own life. But then a stranger by the name of Dale comes along to save him, and from there begins a journey that sees them reuniting every eleven years.
Version Two: It’s New Year’s 1989 in London. Heath is seventeen and finds himself unable to socialize with classmates, is dealing with the issues of growing up and being gay, and has decided to take his life. But then a stranger by the name of Finn comes along to save him, and from there begins a journey that also sees them reuniting every eleven years.
First, J. Scott Coatsworth’s “Forward” in this book is an important part of why he wrote two stories that are similar. Both stories have an easy flow, they are quick reads, and they also give us a look into the future and what is happening in the world and the new technology that has come about. Reading both of these novellas together definitely offers a deja vu moment. They are similar but their differences are, apart from the main characters having different names, the locations (America and England), and they are set three years apart. There’s also one minor difference that makes Heath’s story more mystical in that when he first encounters Finn, Coatsworth mentions an old tradition about the “first dark-haired man you meet on New Year’s Eve.”
These stories follow both Hank and Heath through their lives, in different parts of the world, and in different years. As I said above, on every eleventh New Year’s Eve, Hank is visited by Dale, and Heath is visited by Finn. As Hank and Heath grow older, Dale and Finn, who are centuries old, never age. The curiosity builds with Dale and Finn, because we only get a few hints about what has gone on in their lives, whereas we get an in-depth look at Hank’s and Heath’s lives. One thing that stands out in both the novellas is that as we get ready to pass on, maybe we all would like a Dale or a Finn to greet us in the after-world.
You can buy A New Year here:
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