A few months ago, after going through several — let’s see, how do I put this nicely — extremely sub-par free indie offerings on Amazon, I became disheartened, depressed, disenchanted. Then I stumbled across Jaden Baker and my faith in indie was renewed. I should thank Ms. Kirchoff for saving me *thank you* from giving up on indie publishing altogether, because I would have missed lots of charming, enlightening, entertaining, hilarious and thought-provoking indie fiction, some of which I have blogged about here. It’s been a while since I read Jaden Baker, so I did a quick skim of the book before writing this review, and it just reminded me again of how much I liked it. I hate to be cliché, but Koontz fans you MUST get this book. You won’t be disappointed.
Jaden learned early on in his hard life that he was gifted, special. Unfortunately for him, his gift (psychokinesis) has brought him nothing but grief and heartache — along with the attention of the wrong people. People who want to use him. Jaden Baker deposits us in Jaden’s life at the age of 9, when he is adopted by a well-meaning upper-middle class couple. Soon thereafter he is kidnapped by a powerful group intent on studying Jaden, training him, and using him for their own nefarious purposes. Much of the book, six years of Jaden’s life, in fact, take place while he is in captivity where torture is the training method. The other half of the book follows Jaden after his escape, where he lives off the grid for years until fate intervenes in all kinds of crazy ways.
Ms. Kirchoff is an extremely talented storyteller who has a firm grip on plot development and dialogue, which is one of the things that make this book a delight to read. Her writing also has that indelible, special little something-something that makes readers come back for more. There are certain twists to the story that may be a little too coincidental, but we all are required to suspend belief when we pick up a work of fiction, are we not? That’s the magic of fiction; anything can happen, the author just has to dream it up.
This was more than a solid début performance for the author, and I’m sure her talent will take her as far as she wishes to go. This book is major publishing house ready, with maybe a few tweaks by an editor. I loved that it was a meaty, fully fleshed out story. The indie world is flooded with short, serialized fiction, but this author has the confidence, patience, and talent to see her vision through.
My only gripe about Jaden Baker is that it seemed a tad preachy in places. BUT, it is the author’s story and she has the right to tell it however she chooses. I suppose it’s the nature of the beast, our own views and the very essence of our beings coming out in our writing. That being said, it did nothing to detract from my love of this story or its characters. Maybe it’s that passion for her beliefs that made the story so good.
I will definitely be watching for Ms. Kirchoff’s next novel. She’s on my watch list, and I won’t be surprised if her next offering is published via a major publisher. You can follow this adventurous, talented young woman (who happens to live on a sailboat in the Pacific Northwest with her adorable dog) at her website: www.courtneykirchoff.com.
the indie book review 