Review by RoadWell -- Spyder Bones by Oliver Phipps

[RoadWell]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Spyder Bones" by Oliver Phipps.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Spyder Bones is an enthralling novel written by Oliver Phipps that presents the age-old battle between good and evil.

Aaron Prescott is an ex cavalryman, turned combat medic in the Vietnam War. The year is 1969, and Aaron, aka Spyder Bones, has re-enlisted for two more years. He spends his time between doing his duty and meeting his girlfriend, Ping. Everything goes well until he is injured and slips into a deep coma. While in this situation, Spyder finds himself in ‘another realm of existence.’ He learns that, while he was fighting a war in the physical world, there is a far more critical war ‘that has been raging since the dawn of time.’ Aaron decides to join the mystical fight and undergo rigorous training. He wakes up from the coma and starts his incredible journey as a mystic warrior. Will Spyder manage to defeat an enemy that is out of this world?

Spyder Bones by Oliver Phipps is the kind of novel that will captivate you from the very first page and not let go until the last one. There are so many things that I loved about this book. I will start with the author’s writing style, which is so compelling and entertaining. I enjoyed the fact that Mr Phipps incorporated into the story the specific slang of the ’60s and ’70s using words like ‘groovy, ‘far out’ or ‘hip’ to name just a few. The dialogues are written in such a manner that I could almost hear that person speaking. For example, the way Aaron and Anderson’s Vietnamese girlfriends talked, in a broken English, is precisely how an Asian person speaks.

Another thing that made Spyder Bones such a delightful story was the characters. Of course, I loved Aaron and the way his character developed throughout the story. Towards the end of the book, I had such a connection to him that I shared his fear for his daughter (I don’t want to give out any spoilers). Sonya is another character that I liked. Her bubbly, child-like personality brings a lot of colour to book. Rengo is an intriguing character that I thoroughly enjoyed as well.

The book is fast-paced with twists and turns that made me hold my breath. There were no moments in the story where I felt that the action lagged or that I was bored. Another testament to the author’s skill is the fact that he managed to throw in the story vampires, werewolves along with fallen angels, and make it work splendidly. I loved how Oliver Phipps explained the second realm and the battle between good and evil. It was a refreshing take.

There was one moment in the book that got me a little confused. At one point, Aaron meets an old friend that we briefly met earlier in the story. It took me a while to remember him. It would've helped if the author quickly explained who he was in relation to Aaron and save the confusion.

Spyder Bones is truly a book that will appeal to a wide variety of readers. I would whole-heartedly recommend it to action lovers as they will not be disappointed by the non-stop action and suspense. I think religious people will also find this book fascinating. The novel contains mythical creatures like vampires and werewolves, so this will definitely appeal to readers who enjoy a little fantasy. However, this is not a book for young readers as it contains fighting scenes where some blood is spilt.

I will rate Spyder Bones by Oliver Phipps 4 out of 4 stars because it has all the elements of a great book, as far as I’m concerned. It was professionally edited as I only found a few mistakes, most of them missing or misplaced punctuation signs.

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Spyder Bones
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