Post goes live 22 MAY:


This quick 100 plus page book was not my favorite by this author.

Couple of things that hit my ‘not for me’ buttons. We get lots of back story, how they met, grew up. Fine, it’s important to understand what bonded them together. But then at the start of every chapter, we get more, and it’s all italicized. For some reason, that style of script alone drives me nuts. The other one, I can’t say without giving the main plot issue away. But really..

On the plus side, being taken back to the 1980’s was fun. Listening to a verbiage, the authors writing itself of course is flawless.

And even though, it’s about all three players, we are focus on just one, so we aren’t lost or getting vignette of all three in this shorter. And of course we are given a HFN ending, which is nice.

This story is told in first person, present tense, and completely from Eric's point-of-view. Had I known it was narrated in present tense I probably wouldn't have requested a review copy. For some reason the style of speech comes across as telling and well given this is a recount of Eric's story the tense used was rather fitting.

So, back to the book. Did I enjoy it? Yes, I did, the first 80% was a riveting read. The flashbacks to Eric and his pal’s early days were well done.

My favourite character was Meryl, the homeless man. Eric's kindness toward him is probably what made me warm to Eric so much. That and his need for redemption.

Given the story is told from the main characters POV, I never felt like I got to know Jimmy, but then I'm not sure I was supposed to.

All in all, this was a lovely story many readers are bound to enjoy.

This was an excellent novella that explored guilt, repentance and the realisation that most times, when kids behave badly, they aren't doing it because they're inherently bad people, but because they've learned from bad people - and as adults, you can move on and become a better person. It's about recovering from an abusive and traumatic childhood; of learning to both accept forgiveness and forgive yourself for actions that were never really your fault in the first place.

We Three Kings is an interesting, complex study of the human psyche and relationships, and I'd definitely recommend it.