Review of THE CRY OF THE CUCKOOS

Title: THE CRY OF THE CUCKOOS
Author: John Wayne Cargile
Website of Author: http://www.thecryofthecuckoos.com/
Website of Publisher: www.eloquentbooks.com
Genre: Mystery
Publication date: 2008
ISBN-13: 978-1-60693-526-2
Length: 228 pages
Format: Hardcover

Email of Author: jhn.cargile@gmail.com

Reviewer: Clayton Bye
Alternative-Read.com


The Cry of The Cuckoos: an imperfect masterpiece

Henry Drummond, a well-known KKK member with mob ties and founder of the right wing supremacist organization called the Society of Southron Patriots, is murdered. What follows is a study of the effects of his legacy on those closest to him.

The society he founded is in turmoil; fully committed to a terrorist plot to kill Washington dignitaries at the Super Bowl and delegates at the United Nations, the separatist organization comes under the scrutiny of both the local authorities and the FBI. Panic sets in and more killing follows.

Drummond’s oldest son, Donald, finds out his mother isn’t who he thought she was and begins a descent into a dangerous depression. The whole family faces upheavals and strange revelations at every turn. Lives change and Donald continues to unravel.

Eventually the story takes on a feel somewhat similar to books like Arthur Hailey’s Airport, Hotel or Wheels. This is a good thing!

And The Cry of The Cuckoos could have been a masterpiece... Following a theme of deceit and redemption, the story is solid. You want to know what’s going on. Cargile can construct sentences with the best of them. Both the dialogue and the scene progression are crisp. He also knows how to move a story along.

But I don’t understand his usage of tense and some of the words he chooses. Not only does he flip back and forth between past and present tenses—sometimes within the same paragraph—he also uses words and tense in unusual and improper ways. One example is his insistence in referring to the noun poison as poisoning. It’s an odd enough choice that it pulls one right out of the story and makes you ask why he uses the word that way.

This is an accomplished writer and editor in the field of journalism. I can only guess that he’s a victim of the risk many self-publishers take: that is, he edited his own work.

I like the story, but the strange grammatical choices diminish my enjoyment. I give this book a 3 out of 5 instead of the 4.5 it could have been.


Copyright © 2009 Clayton Clifford Bye


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