H.L. Cherryholmes

September 30, 2011 | Reviewer: Mona Lisa | Posted in Mystery

Come Back for Me

H.L. Cherryholmes engages his audience in a mystery about finding your way home. He parallels the lives of three brothers by reuniting them in the most unusual way. Come Back for Me is a journey from the past to the present filled with many discoveries, haunting tales, and unforgettable memories. Cherryholmes intuitively creates an unraveling road that leads these brothers toward each other. Creatively designed, his novel takes many twists and turns keeping audience in suspense.

Thirty years ago, three brothers were orphaned and raised apart from each other. Having been raised apart, they had no knowledge of the other’s existence. One day, the brothers receive a mysterious message from their sister. While the transmission was different, one an instant message, one by phone, and another from a psychic, they all said the same thing: “I need your help.”

Each brother, Jack, Jason, and Daniel each decide to go and find their sister. Unaware of each other, the brothers travel toward their sister’s birthplace, New Mexico. By chance, or inevitable circumstances, they find each other. While their initial meeting is shocking, the three brothers join and bond as past feelings of resentment, anger, and pain slowly pass.

They resolve to find their long lost sister. Through great effort, creativity, and investigating every possible channel available, reaching into, often their painful pasts, Jack, Jason and Daniel find more than they bargained for.

Cherryholmes gives meaning to the phrase “know thy self.” His novel depicts three separated lives finally finding each other through the persistence of love. He writing style is emotionally engaging, concise, and impactful.

(from tmc-ca.com)

For the fraternal twins the initial shock of finding each other had subsided to a persistent tingle. But for their younger brother the jolt coursed through like a live wire and, as he handed the old nun a sheet of paper, his hand shook so violently that the breeze it created caught the wispy leaves of a fern on her desk and they trembled almost as much as he did.

The twins, each planted firmly at the foot, had stood when the younger man entered but it seemed as if they were drawn toward and repelled from him like magnets unsure of their polarization. They offered their names—Jack was the one with brown hair, Jason’s was black. The younger man said his name was Daniel and, as he spoke, the color drained from his face. The old nun insisted he sit down and from a pitcher on her desk, poured room temperature water into a paper cup for him. Once he’d taken a few sips, the old woman dropped her chin to her chest. Jack assumed she was praying; Jason thought that perhaps she was looking in the open desk drawer; Daniel, however, wasn’t entirely cognizant that she was even in the room.

The old nun looked up as abruptly as she’d looked down and crossed herself, as she had done when Daniel followed her into her office. “I’ve worked with children—boys to be exact—for over forty years,” she said. “So I’m quite versed in their behavior. Some would say there is a huge difference between a boy and a man but it’s not a belief I share. The boy is always in the man, as the girl is always in the woman. I might not be able to tell you what men do, what men think, or how they behave, but I look at a man and I can see the boy inside. I know exactly what’s going on in there.” She tapped her temple.

Jason was certain she was going to accuse them of attempting some sort of con, but Jack had learned long ago not to assume what a sister might say next. Daniel still paid the nun little attention, as he focused on a cardboard drawing hanging on the wall over her head—a crayon illustration of a small house next to a large tree. A white house outlined in red wax.

“This can’t be a coincidence,” the nun continued. “And because I can see the boy in each of you, I know that this isn’t some childish prank.”

Jack closed his mouth; Jason swallowed; Daniel finally looked at her.

“I can tell you what it isn’t,” she continued, “but I don’t believe it’s up to me to tell you what it is.”

Jason was the first to speak, once he’d cleared his throat. “But you said you knew what was going on.”

Yes,” the nun said. “The question is, do you?”

Now available at www.lulu.com (link in blogroll on right) and soon at other online booksellers.

Factory manager and devoted family man Jack Anderson sleeps on the sofa because his wife wants a separation but he can’t afford to move out. One morning, he receives a mysterious phone call from someone claiming to be his long lost sister.

On the same afternoon in another state, construction worker and thrice-divorced Daniel Percy reluctantly accompanies his girlfriend to a psychic consultation. Surprisingly, the psychic has a message for Daniel—his sister is trying to contact him.

That night, across the country, East Coast business executive Jason Kelly waits until his wife is asleep and logs onto his favorite gay chat room. He receives the same cryptic message as the others.

The desperate plea to all three men is the same: “I need your help. I need you to come home.”

And so, thirty years after having been orphaned and raised apart without awareness of one another, Jack, Jason, and Daniel separately set out to investigate the mystery and locate their sister in New Mexico, their birthplace. Inevitably, the brothers’ paths cross. Their reunion is shocking and, while joyous at first, stirs up resentment about their socioeconomic differences and the slew of opportunities lost.

For the sake of the sister who needs them, they join forces and, as they become acquainted with one another, piece together the circumstances of their childhood. As they delve into their past, it becomes clear that each man presently stands at a personal crossroads. At every turn, pieces of the puzzle bring them closer to finding their sister—and finding themselves.

by Julie Ann Dawson at Gather.com

Martha: A 50ish year old woman whose dreams long ago evaporated into monotony, until her sister sends her a bus ticket to L.A. to come watch her star in a play. Marc: A high-powered media seller forced to slum it on a bus after missing his flight to L.A. Emanuel: A young gay man heading to L.A. to escape the pain of a break-up with the man he thought was his true love. Three unrelated people who just happen to end up on the same bus…but is it as random as chance would have the reader believe?

A Slight Touch is a book for people-watchers; those of us that just enjoy watching other people and trying to imagine what they might be thinking. Its chapters alternate between these three characters and Miller, a seemingly harmless but slightly creepy security guard that finally crosses the line and begins a downward spiral into violence. Each chapter artfully brings the characters to life, and each character earns your undivided attention while he or she is center stage.

At a routine rest stop, Martha, Emanuel, and Marc all miss their bus and have to find alternative ways to get to L.A. As we watch each deal with what would seem to be nothing more than a minor nuisance, we learn that the bus they were all suppose to be on becomes involved in a fatal accident and all of the passengers died. As the book progresses, the story slowly transforms from a collection of separate tales involving the characters into an interwoven plot revealing how interconnected the characters actually are.

A Slight Touch is an intriguing read, and a recommended book for readers that enjoy character-driven narratives.

Okay, this is the latest marketing tool for books.  It’s like a movie trailer but for books. Here’s mine:

A Slight Touch Trailer