This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Bernadette Longu for Readers' Favorite
Those Around Him by Brett Shapiro is a very unusual book but catches your interest from the first page to the last. The time period is 2019 in Florida sometime before Hurricane Dorian hit the coast. The main characters in this book are Andrew, Charles, his father, Sheila, his sister, and Alex aka Lex or Ex, the stranger on the beach. Andrew's mother Edith died at the age of 79. Andrew’s father Charles is 85 years old. This book holds your attention due to the way the story unfolds around these characters, their thoughts, feelings, problems, and history. It showcases how this family evolved over the years to the present day and how their interactions and their lives have shaped them and molded them into the people they are.
Those Around Him by Brett Shapiro tells a story about five people who are totally different characters, but they all have one thing in common - their anger against their upbringing, their parents, siblings, and the world in general. It plays out just before Hurricane Dorian hits the Florida Coast, bringing the book to an unexpected and surprising end and leaving the reader to draw the final conclusion. I found the end of the book amazing as the author left it up to the reader to decide how they would want it to end. The last chapters are Andrew's thoughts as to how he would like his life to play out with Ex as Hurricane Dorian hits. This is a book that has to be read from cover to cover as it covers a range of emotions and feelings that we are inclined to bury deep inside and then when they are let out, we aim them at the wrong people. I found it fascinating how anger can build up over the years and be suppressed but when released is aimed at the wrong person and only after the damage has been done do we want that person back in our lives. Thank you, Brett, for a very insightful read. I really enjoyed it.
