Shattered Souls (Zane Presents) [Mass Market Paperback]

Dywane Birch (Author)

Book Description

Series: Zane Presents | Publication Date: September 30, 2008

A raw, candid, and thought-provoking debut novel explores the devastating lingering effects of childhood turmoil on four thirtysomething friends

At first glance, Britton Landers, Indera Fleet, Damascus Miles, and Chyna Littles appear to be living their dreams. However, only Britton, a psychologist, knows the secrets lurking beneath each shiny facade. After he abandons his past for a seemingly carefree life in the Dominican Republic, he realizes that some memories will haunt you forever. Indera runs a successful beauty salon, but when it comes to men, she believes they're only good for one thing: sex. Damascus is a stripper with a deceptively healthy appetite for women...especially when it puts more money in his G-string, and Chyna is a good girl trapped in a marriage that is starting to unravel.

The demons that have haunted these friends since childhood are rising up, but it's the painful truth that could destroy them...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this 2001 self-published title, picked up Strebor's "Zane Presents" series, four college friends uneasily forge adult lives: Britton has ditched a job as a school psychologist for a life of leisure in the Dominican Republic; Indera, or Indy, is a "mack diva" who runs a successful beauty salon and takes up with whomever she likes, but considers most men unreliable at best. Damascus, aka Tee, strips for a living, and has no problem hooking up with club-going women. Chyna, the good girl, is married, rockily, with children. Childhood traumas-a variety of sexual and emotional abuses and terrors-are close to the surface of the adult lives of Birch's four survivors, and when pasts and presents collide, the results are fierce melodrama. Snappy dialogue, trash talk (from Tee) and steamy sex keep the proceedings moving as the four, each in his or her own way, attempt to hold it together.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

"Dywane D. Birch is destined to become one of the best-known authors on the literary scene today. If you have not read this book, what are you waiting for?" -- New York Times bestselling author Zane

"Snappy dialogue, trash talk...and steamy sex keep the proceedings moving as the four...attempt to hold it together." -- Publishers Weekly

"Shattered Souls really enlightens, encourages, and forces us to examine our lives." -- Collen Dixon, author of Simon Says and Every Shut Eye

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Strebor Books; Reprint edition (September 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593092210
• ISBN-13: 978-1593092214
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,289,196 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dywane D. Birch, a graduate of Norfolk State University and Hunter College, is the author of Beneath the Bruises (2008), From My Soul to Yours (2007), Shattered Souls (2007), and When Loving You is Wrong (2005). In addition, he is a contributing author to the compelling compilation, Breaking the Cycle(2005), edited by Zane--a collection of short stories on domestic violence, which won the 2006 NAACP Image award for outstanding literary fiction. He is also a contributing author to the anthology Fantasy (2007), a collection of erotica short stories. He is the author of the novella, The Goddess of Desire in Zane's erotica anthology Another Time, Another Place.

Dywane has a master's degree in psychology, and is a clinically certified forensic counselor. A former director of an adolescent crisis shelter, he continues to work with adolescents and adult offenders, while working on his next literary endeavor.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I pray the Lord, my soul to keep, July 27, 2002

By 

Readers Paradise "Book Club" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Shattered Souls (Hardcover)

They say birds of a feather flock together;in Dywane D. Birch's debut
novel, you will meet four friends with shattered souls. In the
opening chapter we are introduced to Britton, taking a break from
life in the Dominican Republic; Damascus the gyrating, dancing gigolo
who does more than his share of bed hopping; Indera the risk taker
who owns a successful beauty salon and loves giving the fellas
attitude; lastly, Chyna who is educated, married and the mother of
four and living the life or is she? From the outside, all four of
these adults appear to be living the life, but if we took the time to
peel away some of the layers, would we find happiness or lost souls?

It is very rare that I can read a book with four main characters and
not lose focus. Dywane D. Birch did an excellent job of giving the
reader exactly what we needed to get to know the characters and feel
their abuse and pain. Each of them was abused and as I read their
story, I cried. I cried for their pain and cried in prayer that they
would survive. My only issue with the book was the font, it could've
been one point larger. This book made me angry at the injustices in
this world against children. Everyone needs to read this eye-opening novel, and I look forward to further works by this author.

Missy

APOOO BookClub

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars OUR "Friends", May 18, 2002

By 

"mhenson887" (Long Branch, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shattered Souls (Hardcover)

I purchased this book expecting to find a the oh-so familiar "Friends" storyline that I've read too many times before. NOT SO! SHATTERED SOULS IS A PAGE TURNER! Britton, Indera, Damascus and Chyna are the friends WE know or wish WE knew. This book speaks a language true to the hearts of those who love as hard as they work as hard as they party! As each character blossoms throughout the book, you can't help but feel and understand their underlying pain. The author truly creates an oxymoron of shallow and deep - Through these characters he shows how the superficial things in life are just a facade, temporarily masking the hurt until one learns to truly let love in again. This book will leave you wanting more. I can smell a Trilogy in the making, but I'll settle for one sequel if Mr. Birch writes it soon enough. A must read!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Imani Book Club's Reading List, April 24, 2002

By 

Reader (Montgomery, AL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shattered Souls (Hardcover)

Shattered Souls is an easy and exciting book to read. It touches all your emotions. The story line and details keep you interested and not wanting to put the book down. The characters and storyline are well developed. It is a great read for both males and females.

This is a story of four friends who have had their own personal struggles, but they are still able to survive. They deal with their issues and try to accept their past. They are able to express their opinions and feelings and still remain friends. This book gives you an idea of how true friendship really can be.

I would and I did recommend it to our book club. This was a really good book.

Imani Sister: Mary