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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"The Enginer" by Charles R. Coombs,
By Fred Davis (Picayune, Mississippi) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Enginer (Paperback)
The author, Charles R. Coombs, calls "The Enginer" a novel about violence, terror, freedom, hope and love. It is that and much more.For those of you who, as I was, are puzzled about the title and may think that "Enginer" is a misspelling, allow me to explain. An enginer in Medieval times was the person in charge of the siege engine or catapult which was used to tear down castle walls. In Charles Coombs novel, Tom Dedlass is the figurative "Enginer" whose computer programming and component production business presumably supplies the components and expertise for the dissident terrorist movement. Throughout his novel, Coombs alludes to a shadowy event referred to as "the assassination." It is this event that has somehow prompted the declaration of a national state of emergency. Fascism blooms when virtually all personal rights are abridged and the government sets about placing itself in "partnership" with all major industry. "The Enginer" tells the story of people who live through these trying and often terrifying times and how they resist, cope with and often short circuit the government's demands. These are the people called the dodgers, fiddlers, factorians and distributionists. These rather cryptic terms will become clear to you as you proceed through the novel. Scattered throughout the novel are wry bits of humor. My favorite example of this is "the three Clintons." Read and you will understand. There are poignant and moving passages as well. Not the least of these is the singing of "The Lord to mee a shepheard is" from "The Bay Psalm Book of 1640" at Tom's friends' funerals. The simple and elegant language of that period and Coombs description of the young girl singing it provide a moving benediction as his friends are laid to rest. This novel does not enjoy the status that it should. Its author is relatively unknown and its title is, perhaps, somewhat puzzling. I would be very pleased if that status should change and have set out to change it by informing friends of its worth. I see a sequel in this book and particularly in its last chapter. Tom Dedlass is an old man and the boy, Gabriel, is very young. I refuse to give away the novel's ending, so you take it from there Mr. Coombs.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Could this happen here?,
By M. C. Mac Cannell (maccannell@pacificnet.net) (Southern California) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Enginer (Paperback)
C. R. Coombs has woven a tale that provides a thought provoking look at a fictional (or is it?) not-to-distant future United States. The protagonist, Tom Dedlass, is an ordinary man in an America where ordinary freedoms have largely been suspended. He strives to make ends meet by moonlighting as a small part of a vast underground economy. Dedlass interacts directly or indirectly with a variety characters in ways that are often complex and surprising. The author has created a witty and very readable story by combining politics, economics, intrigue and technology. One is left with the haunting thought, "Could this really happen?"
5.0 out of 5 stars
This novel will grab your attention,
By
This review is from: The Enginer (Paperback)
I first read this novel after visiting the author's website, "Check Point Charlie," which I see is now "parked." I was drawn to his writing. He is a prolific writer on a variety of subjects, and almost as opinionated as am I. This book is, as the author describes it, about freedom and hope, with some violence thrown in. His protagonist, Tom Dedlass, is, like the author himself, a computer aficionado, and the story is future-based with elements of science-fiction, in an autocratic society, and it depicts the human reactions to such an environment. The question is not really, "Could this happen here?" Of course it could. The question is, How Would People React, If It Did? The author, Charlie Coombs, has used his imagination to visualize how people would react in a repressive society, reduced to bartering for their existence under a fascistic government, and with the memory of a past in a free society. I suggest that you buy this book, and speculate with Charles Coombs. Joseph H. Pierre
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