Indie authors deserve our respect, because they are at the vanguard of the direction literature is going in, and has been going in, for several years now: ebooks.
This year, over half the books that adults buy and read are ebooks, and the number is growing.
There are many very talented Indie authors writing novels, nonfiction, and poetry that rival the best books written by traditionally published bestselling authors.
At the risk of leaving many of these authors out, a handful of them (besides myself) are Teodor Flonta, Regina Puckett, Vonda Norwood, Douglas Wickard, Scott Bury, Daniel Kemp, and.
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the author of the novella I'll discuss in this review, Messages from Henry, the talented and inimitable Rebecca Scarberry.
Besides being a great author, she's a fantastic friend of authors, too.
What is Messages from Henry about? It's about a normal person, the first person narrator Tammy, who is placed in an extraordinary situation that involves saving her older neighbor, Evelyn Bury, from a ruthless kidnapper.
The novella opens with Tammy and her cat, Cinnamon, enjoying a peaceful day on the porch of Tammy's house.
That changes when Henry shows up.
Who is Henry? One of Evelyn's favorite Rock Pigeons.
Though Tammy knows Henry, and sees him fairly often, it's somewhat odd that he has flown to her out of the blue.
He has a note attached to one of his legs.
Rock pigeons are fantastic homing pigeons.
Tammy removes and reads the note, and reads the ominous words: "Help, kidnapper is going to kill me.
" Tammy notifies the police right away and tells them of Henry's arrival with the note.
Both she and Evelyn are widows, and Tammy has developed a friendship with and feels an obligation towards her neighbor.
She hopes that Henry will bring future messages, and that they will help her and the police rescue Evelyn before the kidnapper makes good his threat to kill her.
Tammy gets a series of notes that lead her and Sheriff Kincaid closer and closer to discovering who the kidnapper is, and towards saving Evelyn.
Who could want to kidnap and murder such a sweet elderly lady? Who would benefit the most? Maybe her grown-up son, Scott, who has suffered large gambling losses and who could use the ransom money? Who else would have a good reason, if not Scott? Besides its fast pace and twists and turns, I got a kick out of reading names I recognized that Rebecca uses in her novella, the names of some of the Twitterverse's most recognizable authors.
For instance, there's the aforementioned Douglas Wickard, who, in Rebecca's story, is a four-year-old blond-haired boy.
Also, there's Scott Bury, who is Evelyn's gambling-addicted son in the novella, but a great author of mysteries and thrillers in real life.
Are Tammy's efforts successful in rescuing Evelyn, through the help of Henry's messages from her? Is Scott the kidnapper? I'll never tell-you will have to read this superb novella yourselves to find out! I look forward to reading and reviewing more from Rebecca Scarberry in the coming years.
She's a terrific author and a wonderful lady!