Jack O’Connell, the Worcester-based author of The Resurrectionist, Box Nine and several other novels, has written the latest blurb for Another Broken Wizard.

He writes: “Another Broken Wizard is a terrific coming-of-age tale that rings utterly true. Dodds has a gift for conveying the sounds of his people and their world. He can make highway hypnosis as fascinating as a gang brawl. And he has a natural radar for locating the perfect detail to evoke the sense of what it feels like to be caught between the past and the future, between loyalty and logic, and between the security of the known and the impulse to evolve. Though I came of age in the primordial mists, it somehow felt like he was giving me a tour of my own past. Another Broken Wizard is compulsively readable. I’ll be giving this book to some of my friends.”

I met Jack at the Worcester County Young Writers’ Conference in 1992, when I was fifteen. Although he was talking to a room of us kids with just a few short stories to our credit, he spoke bluntly about the difficulties inherent in, and discipline required for a writing life. He made a lasting impression on me, and I am glad Another Broken Wizard has given me the chance to get in touch with him again.

The latest review of Another Broken Wizard, from illiterarty.com, is up!

Here’s an excerpt: “All the interactions are so realistic and empathetic, every character is flawed but deeply relate-able. And there’s a sadness that permeates the story of so many characters who are struggling to make life different from how it’s turning out, all in their own flawed way, and none of the issues are forced. It’s great… it kept me nostalgic for something that isn’t my story, isn’t my town, and I got really emotionally involved. I may have shed a tear at the beautifully foreshadowed climax, and I do not cry easily! Seriously. Give it a read.”

Many thanks to Bridget Kulakauskas at illiterarty for her thoughtful and thorough review. You can read it here: http://www.illiterarty.com/reviews/book-review-another-broken-wizard-colin-dodd

Also, Amazon is selling the ebook of Another Broken Wizard for $2.50 now: http://www.amazon.com/Another-Broken-Wizard-ebook/dp/B005FA2Z58/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312134660&sr=1-1

The paperback is just $9.95, in a handsome edition that will make a wonderful gift for the reader or New Englander in your life.