Journey Back

One day it dawned on me that I had to leave and that I had to do it quickly because they knew where I was and how to find me. I don't know how I knew, but it didn't matter. This is the day that paranoid schizophrenic and mental asylum escapee Rich Jones heads to San Francisco and starts his new life as alternative newspaper reporter, Mitch James. Told in a stream of conscious-style of narrative, the story veers between present tense, where the main character James speaks of himself in the first person, and a flash back style (written all in italics) which is a third-person account of Jones' life in New York To be honest, I wasn't sure I was going to like the story. I was predisposed against a druggie, womanizing, cheating, paranoid schizophrenic main character. Plus I was worried that with such a simplistic beginning, the writing might leave something to be desired. By the middle of the second paragraph, however, I was thoroughly engaged in this story. But by the time I reached San Francisco, I was convinced that Marley's line had been written specifically for me, and I vowed to give up women completely, to live a clean, simple, celibate life. I felt pure, almost religious, as I crossed the Bay Bridge, as if I'd joined a Holy Order, become a priest, a monk, or a yogi, no longer prey to the sins and the pains of the flesh. That feeling lasted a week. Then I met Cheryl. This talented new author has turned what could easily have been a dislikable, or even boring character into an interesting story. If you are looking for a plot-driven story of a goal-oriented reporter in search of a story, this is not the book for you. However if you are willing to sit back, trust the author and let yourself really get to know the character, as he tries to leave behind his past and reinvent himself , you are in for a really good read The true beauty of this story is how the author uses an economy of words to paint his picture. What at first seems simplistic is in truth a breathtaking talent with narrative. On the surface, this story feels like a stream of consciousness rambling, resembling the way you might feel when indulging your best friend as she chatters on about one tangent or another. However as much the main character seems to wander from one topic to another without so much as taking a breath in between, author Dan Martin knows exactly where he wants to take his readers. It's as if we've stumbled into the dense forest of a schizophrenic mind, and Martin has handed us a map to get through it.