3 out of 4 stars
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Protecting Elvis shares the stories of three women--Velis Emerson, Priscilla Johnson, and Notary Midgette--who find themselves in the unique predicament of protecting the reputation of rock icon Elvis Presley. These women live in different parts of the Southeastern United States and have little in common, but their lives are forever changed through their affiliation with the King. The book is divided into three parts that share the individual stories of each woman, with interludes from the perspective of Gladys Love Presley, the late mother of Elvis.
The events of this novel take place within the last five years of Elvis' life. During this period, Elvis was still quite popular, but suffered from a myriad of personal and professional troubles. Elvis' issues with his physical health and interpersonal relationships are driving forces behind the plotlines of this book.
The most prominent feature of Protecting Elvis is the superb character development. Velis, Notary, and Priscilla are complex, three dimensional characters that are endearing, and sometimes even a bit vexing. Each woman contains a balance of strengths and weaknesses that makes the reader sympathize with their individual struggles. The supporting characters are also quite lively and contribute significantly to the storytelling. Even Elvis himself, although not present throughout much of the book, is given ample character development, with emphasis on how the loss of his mother and estrangement from his wife and daughter contribute to his problems.
The plots for each story are executed wonderfully, and I can say that this was one of those books that I just did not want to put down. I became quite attached to the protagonists and was eager to find out how their stories would end. However, I am sad to say that there were some issues with the quality of the writing, particularly concerning the latter chapters of the book. The writing within the chapters concerning Velis and Priscilla seemed to have been carefully edited, but the author was quite careless with the chapters on Notary. Within this section of the book, the author constantly swapped between first and third person narration, which was somewhat confusing. I also noticed a higher number of grammatical errors within this portion of the book. Notary's story was still enjoyable, but the aforementioned errors were a distraction.
But overall, Protecting Elvis is an entertaining read by a promising author, and I give it 3 out of 4 stars. I would have given a four-star rating, if not for the high volume of errors within the third part of the book. I would recommend this book to Elvis Presley fans, as well as those who enjoy literature from the Southeastern United States.
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Protecting Elvis
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I am glad you were able to enjoy the book despite the high number of pesky errors.
