Teenaged orphan, Paul, wanted nothing more
than to get out of his dead-end life in New York and attend the annual Gaia festival
where he was conceived some seventeen years earlier. He never made it. A
blizzard and a bus crash made sure of that. Now stranded in the shambles of the
weigh-station of the afterlife (the
Commons) and with the last remaining Envoy as his only guide, Paul is relentlessly
pursued by throngs of black-clad commandos. Their mission: to capture and bring
him to the insidious Mr. Brill, a vile entity who bleeds souls for his own dark
purposes. Can Paul make it to his ultimate destination or will he end up fodder
for the machine like virtually every other departed soul in a millennia?
The Commons: The Journeyman is an extraordinary cross-genre
novel. From beginning to end it seizes your attention and doesn't let go. At the outset, the reader dives into Paul's
psyche with visceral emotions: terror, longing,
pain. His time on the run is sharply contrasted with captivity of fellow bus
passenger, war veteran and single mother, Annie whose lifetime devotion to her
autistic son, Zach, fades into nothingness under the malevolent control of
Brill and his mandated prescription pills. Peck infuses the reader with her
feelings of confusion, disorientation, malaise and remorse. Both characters are
integral to the plot and Peck seamlessly weaves their experiences together to
move the story forward and evoke the desired emotional responses in the reader.
Indeed, throughout the novel, Peck strikes an
almost perfect balance in terms of pacing, drama, plot and detail. The dialog
is crisp, clear and realistic. The characterization is first rate. Peck keeps
Brill mysterious and threatening enough to instil fear but also human enough to
be accessible to the reader. Paul is appropriately off-balance in his new
surroundings as well as unsure of his guide, Porter (who is marvellously unsure
of himself) and the various companions he acquires, but remains a
quintessential teenager. Everything about him maintains the illusion and keeps
the reader engaged with his journey. The same is true of the rest of the cast,
who are interspersed throughout the story and used to their maximum effect
The Commons is masterful fiction. This reviewer highly
recommends it to readers of all genres. It's that good.
5 out of 5 stars
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