Fred VenturiniCríticas

To Dust You Shall Return by Fred Venturini is absorbing. The book centers around the town of Harlow and the secrets it possesses. The town is overseen by a mysterious man, only known as "The Mayor," no one is allowed to leave, if you do, you're hunted down and subjected to The Mayor's sadistic brand of torture. When Curtis Quinn (notorious Mobster) encounters Beth Jarvis (a local teen) on his hunt for his missing girlfriend, the two are sent on a path to uncover the truth. It turns out that Curtis's lover and girlfriend Kate is also Beth's sister. The two decide to figure out exactly who and what Kate is running from.

This story was, as Grey's Anatomy puts it, "dark and twisty." The characters fall in line with your typical anti-heroes, which I found extremely refreshing. Even Beth, who is the most morally upright of the bunch, still has her moments where she makes decisions that are not "good." The Mayor was such a creepy antagonist that I couldn't help but jump at every noise in my house for at least a day after I finished listening to this book. Even though his character could have used a little more explanation, what readers get is enough to creep them out. The narrator did an excellent job of conveying the story, but I wish there had been just a tad more variance in his vocals for the different characters. Overall, it was a really well-written book that will probably haunt me for years to come. This book is not for the faint of heart. I, myself, (self-proclaimed Halloween-lover and horror movie fanatic) almost was not able to finish listening.
Some trigger warnings to be aware of are gore, bodily horror, death, torture, blood, suicide, suicidal ideation, and more.

Overall rating: 3/5

To Dust You Shall Return is available for purchase now. Be sure to add it to your Goodreads shelf and see where it's available for purchase. Also, be sure to check out Fred Venturini’s website!
I was lucky enough to be able to listen to this Advanced Reader's Copy through my partnership with NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This turned out to be a pretty good book; I'm glad I stuck with it. Interesting premise but I wish he'd developed some of the side plots a little more. I'd recommend this book....

When I heard the author preview the book at another author's book event I thought the book would be entertaining. I was wrong about it just being entertaining... This book is fantastic! It made me laugh, it made me cry, mostly it made me think about the relationships in my life. Worth every minute I spent reading it.

All of me, why not take all of me?

The Heart Does Not Grow Back: A Novel by Fred Venturini (Picador, $16).

He’s not quite the sacrificial hero Samson, but Dale Sampson has a lot to offer: himself. He can’t quite go all the way—Dale’s no Christ-figure—but he can come darn close.

In Fred Venturini’s The Heart Does Not Grow Back, Dale finds out—after a nasty bullying incident in high school—that his body can regenerate itself. He could be quietly altruistic, but Dale’s a bit of a schlub, and he’s got this friend, Mack, who’s full of ideas.

Before you know it, he’s also got a reality-TV show, The Samaritan, in which he donates organs and body parts to needy people.

Fame, fortune and superhero status sound too good to be true, and they are, as Dale is forced to reckon with his own moral compass. Despite the supernatural overtones, this is more speculative literary fiction, drawing attention to the question of altruism and the power of our own negative feelings about ourselves to drive charity. Venturini overlays the question of how we are to act in the world as well as on our feelings with comedy, but the core of this novel is all heart.

Reviewed on Lit/Rant: www.litrant.tumblr.com

Review Posted from Tenacious Reader: http://www.tenaciousreader.com/2014/11/02/the-heart-does-not-grow-back-by-frank-...

I couldn’t put this book down. I’ll start with that. And when I went to set up my review for it, and I had to assign it a genre, I really didn’t know what to put it as. The closest thing I can compare it to genre-wise is Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. That is science fiction, but the story is not really so much about the science fiction aspect of it, rather the science-fiction element is more of what sets up the story, puts the characters in the situations. I’m sure there are other examples as well, but this one sprang to mind. The Heart Does Not Grow Back is very similar in that respect. Human regeneration. Is that science fiction? I guess it is as it certainly isn’t factual science. And yes, there would not be a story without that element. But the story is more about the people, about relationships, hardships, healing and surviving. It’s about how even if you can regenerate your internal organs, there is more that needs to heal to really feel whole.

In 6th grade Dale Sampson is a quiet outsider. He spends his time alone, sitting by himself at recess. But a turn of events makes him unlikely best friends with Mack Tucker, the boy every boy wants to be and the boy every girl wants to date. They both have the ability to see each other for who they really are and not who they are defined to be by their reputations. Dale has found a true friend in Mack, but even as years go by, he still seems isolated from the rest of his peers.

There are a couple of incidents where there is some evidence of Dale’s ability to heal, but not until he is faced with real tragedy is the true extent of his ability really understood. There are so many ways a story could go with a character that can regenerate body parts. The author could turn him into some sort of famed stunt man who takes real bullets to get more realistic footage, they could make him a daring superhero who runs into fires to save kittens and babies and old people. Most of the things I can think of would take it to a more action-movie style. This is not that. I don’t want to say too much about the path it does take, but I loved it. It does examine a bit how it ‘should’ be used, is there some sort of responsibility on his part to do more because of his ‘gift’?

This book is definitely dark. I really liked Dale, he has a wonderful sense of dark and sarcastic humor, but have to admit he is not a happy protagonist, he is awkward and uncomfortable. He is also borderline obsessive about relationships that never even existed. But that’s the thing. This book really highlights that healing is about so much more than just tissue repair. Dale is damaged and broken despite being a ‘superhero’. Highly recommend it for those who enjoy dark, character driven stories.

BIG disappointment. The novel squanders a fascinating premise in the same way that the lead character squanders a remarkable gift. He's an adolescent when the book begins, and though he ages into his 20s, both his behavior and the writing remain adolescent. And there isn't a believable (or likeable) person in the entire book. It was a waste of my time, but at least it was a fast read.

The Heart Does Not Grow Back was an unexpected surprise. I saw some readers designate it as Science Fiction, others who describe it as Horror, and even a few who tagged it as a superhero novel. As it often is in these cases, every single one of these categorizations are accurate, but none of them tell the whole story. It’s definitely a tough book to describe, but I’m also really glad I went into it with very little information, because I loved how everything unfolded before me and threw me for a loop at every turn.

The introduction was probably the most powerful but also most brutal part of the book. When I was reading the first few chapters, my mind went to Stephen King – not really in terms of the storytelling or writing style, but in the whole vibe of a boyhood camaraderie that binds together two young friends, and how even in small sleepy towns you will find evil people with darkness in their hearts. Once upon a time, a geek and a jock met each other on the playground and became the best of friends. But months before their high school graduation, a violent and unthinkable tragedy destroys Mack Tucker’s chances of ever becoming a professional baseball player, and Dale Sampson loses the love of his life but also discovers he possesses the ability to regenerate.

Dale’s story takes a turn for the grim and bleak, full of regrets and what-could-have-beens. Despite winning the evolutionary lottery with his amazing regeneration powers, he falls into a downward spiral of depression and apathy, until one day a girl from his past walks back into his life and gives it some meaning again.

So, what can a guy with the miraculous ability to heal and regenerate himself do in order to turn his life around, become the hero and save the girl? Dale gets together with his old friend Mack and the two come up with a plan that ends up being as insane as it is darkly hilarious. Two words: Reality TV. I wouldn’t have seen that coming in a million years.

As outlandish as the premise sounds, Fred Venturini makes it all work wonderfully, making this an intensely engaging read. I was always left wondering where the story will go next, even though the characters themselves remain quite static and predictable when it comes to personality. Mack is a crude womanizing meathead, and Dale is a sad one-man pity party who hits rock bottom and stays there for much of the book. None of the characters are particularly likeable and there was no one in this book whose neck I didn’t want to wring at least once, though there is no doubt that all of this is by design. The author clearly meant for his narrator to be deeply flawed and broken with a defeatist and almost transgressive attitude towards life and love – a result from the traumatic events of his past. Dale is standoffish and has deep-seated issues when it comes to women, but at least we are in the position to understand why.

The ending is what really pulls it all together, resolving the conflicts and all the relationships while offering a glimmer of hope and a reason to be optimistic. Still, I wouldn’t go as far as to call this a happy book. I enjoy stories where characters are put in difficult situations; part of the fun is watching them overcome those obstacles to emerge victorious, after all. But Venturini is an author who seriously puts his characters through the wringer. I mean that as a compliment more than anything, given the way Dale to pushed to the very edge thus making his eventual turnaround all the more satisfying and meaningful. Nevertheless, I still felt the need for a cheerier book after this.

Was it worth the read, though? Heck, was it ever. I was surprised when I looked up the author and saw that The Heart Does Not Grow Back was his first novel (though it was first published a few years ago under a different title, The Samaritan) because of how strong and polished the writing was. I’ll be keeping an eye out for any other books by him in the future.

Another hard book for me to review. It just fell a little flat for me. The characters were a bit stereotypical and most of them were very unlikable. I also am not a fan of domestic violence. I know it happens, but that doesn't mean I have to read about it. I so wanted to like this book more than I did as it is well written and the author does bring up some interesting ideas. I think it would make for a spirited book discussion.

This is a partial review that was originally posted in it's entirety on LuxuryReading.com:

The Samaritan is odd to say the least. Dale’s superpower and subsequent selfish motivations represent a hyperbole for a growing list of those in need of organs and the struggle to make difficult choices. With that in mind though, there is no explanation for Dale’s superpower. It is hard to suspend disbelief enough to connect with the science fiction plot device.

The book is highly original and the prose is well written, but the plot devices and characters make The Samaritan a book for only the strictest of science fiction lovers.

To be quite honest, I went into this book expecting not to like it. I read several reviews of this book and the more I contemplated the novel, the more I suspected it was not for me. I was wrong. I really enjoyed this book.

Venturini’s writing style was brutal in its honesty. His depictions of scenes were raw. I don’t know that I’ve ever read a book before that made me flinch. This author has definite talent. He evoked many different responses from me while I was reading this book.

A part of me really had trouble connecting to Dale. However, I genuinely cared about what happened to him. It was an odd mixture for me, because I generally either care about a character or I don’t. I went back and forth with Dale. Sometimes I was really frustrated with him and want to see some forward movement from him, and then other times I was totally touched by this amazing vulnerability that he possessed.

I thought the plot was quite unique. A person who can regenerate body parts, in a novel that is set in “reality?” Who wouldn’t find that completely intriguing?! Not only that, but Dale uses his “gift” to start a reality TV show! Completely and totally unique with regard to the plot.

My only criticism of this book would be that the beginning was very slow. It felt like it took too long to really get where we were going. I think some of Dale’s childhood could have been removed from the novel to help it flow better.

Overall, I liked this book. I would love to check out other works by Venturini, when and if he publishes them. I would like to point out that this is an adult novel, 100%. It is very graphic and disturbing in some parts. I would recommend it to any adult reader looking for something a bit different.

Disclosure: I received this book as an Advance Review Copy. Some people think this may bias a reviewer so I am making sure to put this information up front. I don't think it biases my reviews, but I'll let others be the judge of that.

Blank Slate Press is a small press publisher dedicated to promoting authors from the greater Saint Louis area. The Samaritan by Fred Venturini is their first publication. Set in rural southern Illinois with a protagonist almost entirely paralyzed by his own self-doubt and insecurities, The Samaritan is bleak, dark, and depressing, but at the same time compelling.

The story follows the life of Dale, a small town loser with limited social skills and no ability to deal with women who seems to mostly drift along aimlessly punctuating his journey with brief and unsuccessful bursts of initiative. Dale's unlikely best friend is Mack Tucker, who is in many ways his polar opposite - a gifted athlete who is loud, brash, aggressive, and almost inexplicably popular with women. But Mack is only a gifted athlete in the small town arena that he and Dale grow up in, and Dale grows to realize that in the wider world Mack will be just another small town hero who can't take the next step.

But while Dale realizes this, and becomes more and more paralyzed into inaction by his recognition of his own inadequacies, Mack does not, and as events play out, never has to confront this reality head on. Life seems to conspire against Dale, every time he decides to take a risk and break out of his shell, his attempt is foiled and things get worse - climaxing in a horrific scene that ends his first, and pretty much only, attempt to romance a girl, the pretty and mostly inaccessible Regina. Like many small town kids, Dale and Mack had big dreams, but the harsh reality of the world kills them by graduation, which turns out entirely differently from the way Dale had envisioned. And on the way, Dale discovers that he has a unique and completely unexpected ability that seems like a miracle, but in the context of his life his gift only drives him into despair.

The story moves from a tiny rural town in Illinois to a slightly larger small town in rural Illinois as Dale sinks further into listless despondency. Unmoored from reality, Dale drifts through his life until a chance encounter with Reanna, the twin sister of his lost love jolts him out of his inactivity. It turns out that she has married badly to a dealer in meth, the scourge of rural U.S.A., and Dale quickly realizes that her husband abuses her to boot. Dale attempts to intervene, and as usual, his attempt just makes matters worse.

And then Dale's strange ability becomes the key to his plans to set things right. You see, Dale inexplicably has the capability to heal any injury no matter how dire, up to and including regenerating lost body parts. Dale's plan, like everything else he does, is executed in a clumsy and halting manner, with missteps and false starts. Eventually he links up with Mack again, who, as always, is the catalyst to action that Dale requires to push him forward.

In a world of reality shows and instant celebrity, it seems inevitable that Dale would end up as the centerpiece of such a circus, and thus The Samaritan, a reality show about a man who gives away his organs. Mack, of course, sees this as his ticket to fame and stardom in a way that Dale, myopically focused on his puppy dog infatuation with a self-destructive woman, cannot. Dale trades in his internal pain for the real pain of repeated surgeries in a vain quest for the love of a woman who is dead hoping to obtain it vicariously through her sister who considers him to be an annoyance at best. Though blessed with a gift that in a comic book would make him a superhero, Dale's reality is that of grinding pain, and a life that is, in his mind, only marginally better than a life without his gift.

Eventually, after dozens of agonizing surgeries, Dale finds the hopelessness in his attempt to rescue Reanna when he is finally given a letter she wrote to him pleading for a donation to save her abusive husband. Just like Dale doesn't really want to be saved from being a loser by Mack, Reanna doesn't want to be saved from a husband who beats her. In short, no matter what supernatural power you might have, you cannot save someone who does not want to be saved. After pointing out that he is not truly a Samaritan, no matter what his Hollywood billing might say, because he sacrifices almost nothing with his donations, Dale decides to donate the one organ he believes he cannot regenerate - his heart - and donate it to Reanna's vile bastard of a spouse in a vainglorious suicidal gesture.

Of course, this being Dale, even his suicide is a failure, and doesn't even have the intended affect on Reanna. It seems that when you are a small town loser with shrinking dreams and no real idea of how to change your life, you are destined to remain a small town loser no matter how amazing your powers are, or how much you are willing to sacrifice. And maybe what you think you want isn't really worth getting. Dale, who has the most amazing gift, and who sacrifices everything, never gets what he thinks he wants. But in the end he ends up more or less satisfied. Reanna, on the other hand, does, and one suspects that her life is not destined to work out well.

Other than the fact that the book seems to imply that trying to help an abused spouse is a lost cause from the beginning, The Samaritan is an excellent book. It takes a brutally honest look at the bleak landscape of the overly romanticized small towns of rural America and exposes the petty nastiness and violence that lurks there. But at the same time, it shows just how noble even the most misguided fool can be, even if that nobility is seemingly ill-directed. As the debut novel for both Fred Venturini and Blank Slate Press, this is a compelling, albeit harshly bleak, read.

This review has also been posted to my blog Dreaming About Other Worlds.