Book Title: Walter, Book One
Author: Ernie Howard
Publication Date: November 28, 2014
Available On: Amazon as an eBook and as a paperback
Indie Athenaeum Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
Walter is an eleven-year-old boy, mercilessly teased and bullied at school for his odd behaviors. Mostly friendless except for Ariel, Walter is lonely and tries to put a brave face on it all. But Walter has a secret – he knows that the end of the world is coming in a few short days! Informed of this by a mysterious person who seems to know every detail of the future is The Man.
The Man speaks only to him and is preparing him for what is going to happen next. And The Man has a plan to protect Walter and his mother from harm in the coming days. Can they survive the coming conflagration as life as he knows it is going to come to an end?
The world and its upcoming apocalypse are a scary thing! Now imagine how scary this is from Walter’s perspective. This is a big idea made infinitely and intensely personal by the reader experiencing it from a child’s point of view.
The novel starts off counting down the five days before the world will officially end and how Walter knows the end is nigh. This foreknowledge impacts Walter in his interactions with his classmates and his mother. It creates a mesmerizing portrait of how the biggest issues for a boy become inconsequential in comparison to something of the utmost magnitude.
The suspense builds as Walter follows the instructions of The Man to the letter to survive doomsday. But the unpredictability of humanity and the tension in the air strip away the veneer of civilization. The author, whom I’ve read many times before, expertly builds the tension until it explodes into chaos on the day that the world will end.
There are a couple of twists and turns here that really surprised me. I felt immersed into the dangerousness of the situation, felt my life put at risk and my heart pounded in my ears as I followed The Man’s instructions and tried to flee to safety. I experienced every feeling of Walter’s, from the insecurity and shame from bullies in school to the fear and anxiety of knowing the end of the world is coming and not having any control over it.
Walter’s mother is his sole source of comfort. But when The Man introduces himself to Walter a couple of weeks before the end of the world, Walter trusts him implicitly. The Man is empathetic to Walter’s unspoken thoughts and fears. As a result, Walter suspends his doubts of this father-like figure who seems to know everything.
I did have some questions after the end of this novella. Why is Walter so important that The Man talks to him and wants to save him? Who is The Man and how does he know so much? And how will the story continue afterward from the unexpected ending?
Thankfully, the answer to the final question is that the story of Walter is going to be a trilogy and that the second book in this series is coming soon. I’m hoping that the answers to these tantalizing questions will be revealed during the next two books.
This novella has an intriguing and unique premise that compelled me to read the entire story in one sitting. I look forward to this imaginative adventure being continued in book two!
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Previous Indie Athenaeum reviews about stories by Ernie Howard include “Kindle Vella: Chatsworth Manor, Chapters 1-3,” “Night Portals Box Set: Season Two, Episodes 9-16,” “Infinite Time – A Night Portals Short Story,” “The Curious Life of a Cadaver – A Night Portals Short Story,” “Pocketknife – A Night Portals Short Story,” “The Coffee House – A Night Portals Short Story,” “Merry Christmas From The End – A Night Portals Short Story,” “Together We Cross The River,” “Ruby – A Night Portals Short Story,” “We Are Mist – A Night Portals Short Story,” “Ding Dong Ditch – A Night Portals Short Story“, “The Pool – Omnibus Edition“, “Bus Stop: A Short Story“, “On Holiday with an S.O.B“, “Gramps: A Time Travel Short Story“, “Night Portals Boxed Set – Books 1 – 8“, “Melody 8 – Books 1-3 by Ernie Howard,” “Melody 8 – Book One: The Day of the Song“, “Melody 8 – Book Two: The Musical Witch of the South” and “Melody 8 – Book Three: A Sound for the Deaf.”
Previous Indie Athenaeum reviews about stories written by Ernie Howard found in “Tales From the Canyons of the Damned” include issues “No. 39” & “No. 26.”
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