by nick nolan- Little Eden Press, 2006.
review by AMOS LASSEN
Nick Nolan, author of “Strings Attached” has rewritten the story of Pinocchio for modern times. This modern version is intriguing and grabs you at the first page and keeps you enchanted until the last page. Nolan gives us the story of one youth’s struggle to grow up and become a man. Beautifully told, it grabs at your heart and emotions and does not let go. It is compelling–especially as it deals with the main character’s, Jeremy’s, entrance into the ambiguities of sex. The book has several layers and is a sharp social commentary on the way we live and face change. Like a puppet, Jeremy. Is pulled in many directions and is at the will of others until; he can make the decision to be who he wants to be.
Jeremy is seventeen years old and stands at the threshold of an entrance into a world that he has never really considered. He had been dependent upon his mother, Tiffany, an alcoholic but when she goes into rehab, his life changes drastically. He goes to live with a very wealthy couple at their estate and goes from poverty to the world of wealth. Because he feels he has landed in a paradise, he endeavors to fit into the upper class of Bellena Beach. The fact that his new “mother”. Katherine is excessively wealthy gas him access into a world he knew little about. Coupled with that are his good looks and lithe physique so his transition did not seem to be too difficult. But this move into the world of the ‘haves” comes with a price—his new “parents” feel they can tell him what to do and because he wants so badly to fit in with the gang causes him to lose his own sense of what is real. When he begins to date a member of the social elite, he hopes that he will be able to rid himself of the feelings he has for members of his own sex but that idea is soon torn asunder by two boys who are out to prove to Jeremy that moving up the social ladder is not so easy.
Jeremy’s father had been murdered earlier and a mysterious phone call not only identifies the murderer but says that Jeremy will befall the same fate. It is here that Jeremy decides that it is time to become a man and turns to the butler for guidance. The butler, however, seems to have a secret all of his own.
A myriad of characters and a skillful plot make this one exciting read. “Strings Attached” has a little something for everyone—the supernatural, murder, coming of age, social commentary but most of all it has a great deal to read.
AMOS LASSEN
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