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International Award winning author, Don Stansberry, is a native West Virginian and an elementary school teacher. His new book, Vulture Bend, will be released in Boston at NEA, the National Education Association national conference. Don is the author Secret Blood, a multi award winning book that took top honors for best spiritual fiction at the London Book Festival. It was named a Winner at the Indie Book Awards at a reception at The Plaza in New York City during Book Expo America. He also authored two middle school books, Inky & the Missing Gold and Inky, Oglebee, & the Witches, and his children’s book–which he also illustrated, Crusty, was named a Finalist in the USA News Best Book Awards. Don has been a public school teacher since 1984 and always had an interest in writing. He was the head coach for the Parkersburg High Girls’ Basketball team for 16 years and retired from this position with four state championships.
Reviewed by Karen Pirnot for Readers' Favorite
Inkydomus is a small man who has lived for 300 years. He began to shrink at the age of 10 when a curse was placed upon his father. He is now only a foot tall, but mighty in character. He is considered a wizard by folklore and is sought for his magic as well as his insight.
Inky allows himself to be captured by the Duke who works for the King of Norwood. The King is a bit of a scoundrel who cares nothing for the common people in his kingdom. However, the gold in his castle vault has been mysteriously disappearing and he does care about that. Enter Inkydomus who is commissioned to solve the riddle of the vault thief.
Inky has considerable help in his quest to solve the vault mystery. He comes across another small man named Oglebee who is about 1/2 the size of a normal man. Oglebee has a room in the vault so that he can guard the King's treasures. He also has a pet snake named Sintya whom he rescued from certain death years ago.
A secondary issue arises when the lovely Queen Rayne enters the story. She is a strikingly beautiful, generous and kind woman who appears ill-matched with the King. She is highly upset that the King keeps women, children and frail, old men in the dungeon. The villagers on the outside of the castle are starving, having to raise crops for the King and receiving less and less money for their efforts.
Guarding the vault are two young men, Gawain and Perceval. Gawain has a younger brother, Gareth, who works in the castle kitchen. They play a part in solving the mystery of the missing gold and they will also appear in the sequel.
The book is a lovely read for preteen children. It will hold their interest and spike curiosity about reading on to solve the mystery. The author has inserted pictures which do nothing for the plot. Timely sketches would have complimented the story. All in all, Inky does a credible job - with a little help from his friends!
