G is for Gearino

Wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall? We've probably all heard that question at sometime in our lives, I know I've heard it and said it. It would be great, wouldn't it? You could hear and see everything that's going on, but no one would realize you were there. People would open up, tell their deepest secrets, do things and say things they'd never say if they knew you were there. What fun! Well, that's the premise of my "G" novel, What the Deaf-Mute Heard by G.D. Gearino. The premise is great, but the book falls a bit short of it's promise.

The main character in this novel is Sammy Ayers who woke up at age 10 in the back of an empty bus. His mother was gone and he was at the end of the line in a small town in Georgia. Of course, he is in a state of shock, but rather than crying or asking for his mother, Sammy just clams up. He doesn't answer when adults ask him questions and he acts like he can't hear them. Sammy becomes a deaf-mute by choice. The manager of the bus station takes Sammy under his wings in a way. He allows the boy to stay in the storage room at the station. Sammy grows up in the station, seeing and hearing everything, but basically invisible to the town. You really want to cheer for Sammy because of the hand he's been dealt, but he just never becomes that kind of hero. For me, it was sad to see this boy become a man but never desire to be anything more than the handyman living in the bus storage room. His only real goal in life is revenge on the bully from school who has become the town's top preacher. He does make a couple of huge discoveries in his life, but they don't change him much. He remains the fake deaf-mute living in the storage room.

I was so excited after reading the inside cover of this book. It had such promise. I mean, who wouldn't want to hear all the juicy secrets in a small town? The characters were just never really fleshed out. You don't grow to love anyone or for that matter really hate anyone. There are no real good guys or bad guys, just people doing what they do, mostly for their own gain. I think the author missed a great opportunity to write a wonderful novel. He had a fantastic idea, but he just didn't follow through all the way. What the Deaf-Mute Heard could have been a great book, but in the end, it was just ok.

I realized in my journey that all my choices wouldn't be great, but I was disappointed in my first mediocre book. We're still early in the journey and hopefully my choice in the category of "H" will get us back into pleasurable reading.