The Release [Paperback]

Robert Meacham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 22, 2007

The Release is a gripping story about a young man’s struggle to survive the memories of a childhood horror. Unloved by a substance-addicted mother, and beaten daily by an alcoholic father, John Michaels finds himself reenacting the violence that demonized him as a child. His suppression of feelings cannot extinguish the nightmares that live on in his mind. The battle for normality is his story.

Product Details

• Paperback: 206 pages
• Publisher: PublishAmerica (January 22, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1424138264
• ISBN-13: 978-1424138265
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,326,643 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Meacham was born in Konawa, Oklahoma and lived with his grandparents on a small farm.At age eleven, Robert moved with his parents to Fort Worth,Texas.Robert found passion in music and writing while working in grocery retail. His first book, The Release was published in 2007 and since, has published poetry and short stories for the Amazon Shorts Program. Currently, Robert lives in Cedar Park,Texas and has several projects in the mill.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It creates an emotional tidal wave that pulls you helplessly out to sea..., March 30, 2009

By 

NYWriter "Writerrrr" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Release (Paperback)

There are all kinds of prisons - some with bars and some no better than cages. There are the state, federal, and county kind and then there are the worst kind of all. These are called "the past."

The past can imprison us as surely as any four-walled structure. The past can cause us to become stifled within its limiting, restrictive barriers until we begin to suffocate. We find we can never grow, learn or stray from the prison it creates around us. Its boundaries continue to separate us from life by flooding our minds with images that haunt us, situations that we can never seem to overcome and by carving out of us an unsettling void that leaves us ill-equipped to leave it behind. In its wake, we live a lonely, often illusionary, solitary confinement where we are left with pieces of ourselves that we hold in our trembling hands. We are left to wonder how we can glue the pieces back together - and whether that's even possible.

This is kind of prison that John Michaels finds himself living - and dying - in. He is the sympathetic protagonist in Mr. Meacham's powerful novel called The Release. John Michaels is the survivor of a childhood filled with brutal, merciless beatings suffered at the hands of his father. These violent attacks were made all the worse by the fact his numbed, heartless mother stood idly by and watched. The story follows John as he matures and tries to find his place in what we sometimes laughingly call society - as if a true society would tolerate such violence on one so young. With no coping mechanisms in place and no way to internalize his brutalization, we watch helplessly as John falters and stumbles his way through life. The emotional pull we feel is dramatic and we become consumed by the tidal wave whose undertow carries us out to sea. We feel as lost and abandoned as he does and that's why this story works so well. We feel actual compassion for this young man and what he's been through - and what he continues to go through. We don't want to play that part of the idle spectator and so we helplessly reach out our hands as John quickly becomes embroiled in the murder of a casual acquaintance. He loudly proclaims his innocence, but his innocence is what was lost a long time ago - or was it? What happens next is John's journey to find an ultimate release from his past and from circumstances that try to keep him held down.

Mr. Meacham gives us a unique insight into the disturbing social issue of childhood abuse by allowing us to glimpse into the thoughts of someone that's experienced it. I don't know how Mr. Meacham has gained such a seemingly first-hand knowledge, but the true test of a writer is making the story and characters believable. Mr. Meacham surpasses that criteria - and in doing so - opens up our minds to reflect on this horrific issue and to ponder lasting solutions.

I highly recommend Mr. Meacham's novel The Release.