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Vivian's Song

Tom Pointer
CreateSpace (2009)
ISBN 9781442106000
Reviewed by Charline Ratcliff for RebeccasReads (12/10)

I was recently asked if I would be interested in reviewing “Vivian’s Song” by author Tom Pointer. I liked the artwork on the cover and since this is Pointer’s debut novel I agreed to review it.

The premise of “Vivian’s Song” is this: it’s spring, 1998. The residents of a small Missouri town are shocked, horrified, and appalled one morning when they open their newspapers and read that some “New Age” cult group from California is buying land and moving into their predominantly Christian community. The supposed cult leader is Duke Tanner; the book’s main character. He’s a former champion bull rider, a fantastic Cadillac salesman and a Viet Nam vet who hails from Texas. While he does have a “following,” his “congregation” is based upon his concept of creating wealth through the power of thought and, more importantly, he’s got the bank statements to back it up. Apparently he realized the secret of “The Secret” before it became big news a few years back…

Needless to say Duke’s neighbor, who is a staunch conservative Senator, and the local clergy are completely outraged by Duke’s beliefs. They decide to band together in an attempt to run him out of town. Is this America, land of the free, or a religiously hounded 15th century Europe? Of course Duke refuses to be harassed or intimidated and what ensues is the largest clash this small town has ever seen. I’m sure if these guys had actually done their research on Duke they would have realized if the meanest bull alive couldn’t shake him then they didn’t stand a chance…

Overall, I found “Vivian’s Song” to be an interesting read and I can definitely see and understand the message within. As far as the writing style, while I wouldn’t say I was on the edge of my seat, I will say that the story was sufficiently interesting enough for me to overlook the lack of finesse and enjoy it. Also, the book’s formatting was extremely different from what I'm used to seeing in a printed text but at least it was easy to follow. Finally, I found the book’s ending to be somewhat anticlimactic. I personally didn’t enjoy the route the story took near the end but overall “Vivian’s Song” was a decent read and I give it a three star rating.

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