Everywhere Spirit


Fiction - Historical - Event/Era
292 Pages
Reviewed on 05/04/2014
Buy on Amazon

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    Book Review

Reviewed by Bil Howard for Readers' Favorite

Jock Travers has an enormous challenge ahead of him as he dreams of becoming a top jockey in a tough world. Stephen Halstead tells how Jock overcomes the many difficulties in his life in Everywhere Spirit. Having grown up in a home where the abuse that was dished out came from the scourge of alcohol, Jock is struggling to follow in one set of his father’s footsteps, but not in the other. Having been a top jockey in his time, alcohol wasted Jock’s father away to nothing. Jock discovers from an early age that he is connected to an Apache teen within his spirit and through his dreams. As he struggles through trying to overcome alcohol abuse himself, a suspension by the racing commission and a shady connection with the mob, Jock’s Apache connection and his search continue to move him forward before all of the promise of a successful career falls apart. As solid as a YA coming of age novel as it is a historical fiction.

Stephen Halstead knows horses and knows racing. It only takes a few chapters of Everywhere Spirit to understand that you are conversing with someone who has a great deal of knowledge of racing history. Alongside this expansive knowledge, Halstead has done an excellent job of drawing the reader into a deep, emotional connection with the struggling teen as he searches for answers and fights to create a career with all of the odds against him. Through his dreams as an Apache warrior and the profound teachings of their people, Jock is given the power to adapt and change in order to rescue himself from destruction. Entertaining, engaging and inspiring, Everywhere Spirit will take a tight grip on the bit in your mouth and keep you focused until the very end. Excellent read!

Maria Beltran

Written by Stephen Halstead, Everywhere Spirit is about a young jockey with a Kiowan Indian ancestry. Jacques Travers, also known as Jock, is an impressionable young man with an unhappy childhood. He practically grows up on the race tracks. As he navigates his way to racing success, he develops an alter ego; the Kiowan Apache Indian, Strong Eagle, who lives at a time when white men systematically annihilated the American Indian race. When Jock meets Sabrina, he experiences his first intimate relationship with the opposite sex but this will also lead to his downfall as a jockey. Like his alter ego, Strong Eagle, who loses his beloved wife and unborn son at a young age and witnesses his race being murdered, Jock tries to fight on.

Everywhere Spirit is the story of a young man who faces a number of misfortunes in life. This is a universal theme that all readers can relate to. Indeed, Jock, the hero in author Stephen Halstead’s novel, is a very normal human being, courageous and weak at times. As we read on, it is difficult not to notice the clever juxtaposition of the lives of these two young men and this is what makes the story unique and compelling. Watched by the Everywhere Spirit, Strong Eagle struggles for his people’s freedom just as Jock battles his own personal demons. Will they emerge victorious in the end?

Lisa Jones

Everywhere Spirit by Stephen Halstead is a novel about two different men. They are both riders and warriors of a sort. Jock is a struggling jockey eager to make his mark in the world of racing. He often wanders into a world of thought as he thinks about the great Indian warrior named Strong Eagle. He was an Apache who soon found the pain of losing his wife too hard to bear. As Strong Eagle has to overcome many obstacles, his fight for survival is a moving tale. Jock is facing his own demons as he is determined to rise to the top of his game. In a way, they are both connected by the same spirit and the fight which lives within both of them.

Stephen Halstead delivers a wonderful, yet powerful, novel in Everywhere Spirit. I found this novel fascinating and the insight into the life of an Apache left me in awe. From the traditional dress to the fierce warrior within, the revelations intrigued me no end. I also found the racing world completely mesmerizing and the detail which the author puts into this novel is divine. It helps the reader to visualize in their mind's eye, which adds more excitement to the novel. Halstead writes in a certain style which is maintained effectively throughout the book and shows great promise for the future. I must admit the topic of the book was what appealed to me in the first place as it is different and I like different. I was not disappointed with this wonderful novel and would recommend it to all.