3 out of 4 stars
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When I first saw the title for What the Hand by Todd Stockwell, I wondered, "What the heck?!" The title actually comes from the poem, The Tyger, by William Blake. The poem reads in part, "On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand, dare seize the fire?" and is a fitting introduction to this book. The poem ponders the creation of such a magnificent creature, while this tome explores the fictional account of George Somerset as he experiences life both before and after The Rapture (which the author also capitalizes along with other places and phrases I capitalize, following his example). The tie-in may not be immediately evident, but it's definitely there.
George currently lives in a little shack on the New Earth, having gained entrance to the new world "by a spider hair". As we progress through the book, we find out where George was when The Rapture happened and what he thought about it. We also learn about the kind of individual he was before he barely made it into Paradise and how he survived during The Tribulation. I will note that the author tends to jump around the timeline a lot, which may confuse some, but I never lost where I was in the story.
I really really liked George because he is decidedly not the kind of individual that you'd imagine would pass through the pearly gates, thereby giving the rest of us hope. George lied. He cheated. He indulged way too much in alcohol and other vices. He was a terrible husband and father and was only ever out for himself. George was us. Yet, like the rest of us, he also had redeeming qualities, including a wry wit, which I really loved. George was a wonderful narrator, who spoke like your average "every-man", thereby making me feel relaxed during the read. While he would sometimes go overboard in telling about certain aspects of his life - for instance, he spent way too much time talking about his days as a loan originator - I also really appreciated having such a well fleshed-out character. I think the only thing I don't know about Mr. Somerset is whether he wore boxers or briefs!
Along the way, George met up with a group of other people, including Danielle "Danny" Knowles and her son, Roger, whom he likened as Dorothy and Toto (but not in a derogatory way). Accompanying Danny and Roger were Joe Mellon, Billy Sanchez, Howard Frost, Albert "Speckle", and sisters Ida and Eva. Continuing with the Wizard of Oz motif, George introduced these eventual friends and comrades as the Tinman, the Lion, and the Scarecrow, somewhat respectively. This group saw each other through much of the Tribulation period. Also in George's circle were his ex-wife, Renee, and his daughter, Sophie, not to mention his former friend and co-conspirator, Justin Lister. Each of these characters played an integral role in George's descent or ascent, depending on how they functioned, and I loved reading about his relationships with each party. Each of these characters was written well and given a decent enough backstory that I never had to wonder who I was reading about at any given moment.
As much as I liked the characterizations in this book, what I loved most was George's recounting of history. Using information gained in The Hall of Knowledge - a "giant library the size of ten or twelve Walmarts", wherein anyone on the New Earth could look up anything they've always wanted to know - George let us all in on the real deal concerning events such as the building of the Great Pyramids and the visitation of aliens in addition to the truth about Bigfoot and Jimmy Hoffa. I thought the author did a superb job of blending actual historical events with fictional accounts of how they happened. For instance, I think I can safely say that we've all heard of the Illuminati. According to The Hall of Knowledge, the Illuminati is really a group of demons and demon offspring hell-bent (no pun intended) on leading man to death and destruction. They use susceptible humans to meet their goals. This is just one example of real world things we wonder about that are given a possible explanation. I used this example in particular because the Illuminati is mentioned throughout the book as being behind many tragedies and also as the reason many things are the way they are in terms of government, for instance. The icing on the cake for me was this line, written on page 165: "No kidding, I couldn’t make this stuff up. " That pretty much sums up Mr. Stockwell's use of tongue-in-cheek humor.
I am aware that with a book of this nature, one may worry that it's "preachy". While I don't know that I'd go so far as to use that term, I will confirm that it's written from the side of Christianity. That is, George DOES believe in God, and he DOES confirm much of what is written in Revelations. He also confirms what's written in the Bible about Jesus and debunks certain myths, like those espoused in the movie, The DaVinci Code. Still, it's written in more of a conversational tone than a sermonizing one, so it's really up to any individual to determine how much they can take of such a book. For my part, I was able to keep obviously fictional stuff in its box yet appreciate Mr. Stockwell's view on real things as it pertains to one's spiritual walk. Even though this book is listed as "black comedy", it really made me think about the path I'm taking insofar as my walk with God.
As much as I loved this book, I do have to acknowledge that it needs another go-over in terms of editing. While the mistakes aren't egregious and don't take away from the reading enjoyment, they are evident. Most of the errors are due to punctuation missteps, but there are also a few instances of minor word misuse such as "altogether" versus "all together" and "onto" versus "on to". I was also a little irritated with inconsistencies in capitalization. For instance, Heaven and New Kingdom were often not capitalized while Old Earth, New Earth, and New Jerusalem always were.
With all things considered, I have to give What the Hand 3 out of 4 stars, and that's only because of the grammatical errors noted above. In terms of content, I thought it was at least a four-plus. I very highly recommend this book for Christians and open-minded believers of other faiths as well as readers who love fictional accounts of known and unknown history, especially as it pertains to the Bible; if you've ever read Revelations and wondered "What the heck", then What the Hand is for you. Please note: This book also contains graphic content, so please weigh that before giving it a read.
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What the Hand
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