On Episode 68 of the GSMC Book Review Podcast I spoke with Jim Heskett about his book Nailgun Messiah. This is the first in a series of (currently) 8 books about a man named Micah Reed. Micah is a man with a complicated past, a recovering alcoholic, and someone who makes questionable choices as he navigates life.
Micah Reed has a knack for ticking off the wrong people at the wrong time. When his latest attempt to do the right thing angers some drug dealers, he takes refuge in the sleepy mountain town of Nederland. He plans on finding his sister Magda and disappearing into obscurity with her. Micah is in for a big surprise…When he learns his sister lives on a commune, Micah immediately butts heads with Lilah, the ever-watchful woman in charge. As the cult leader turns her menacing attentions toward him, Micah senses an even greater threat that no one else sees coming…Can he convince Magda to flee to safety before it’s too late, or will he lose her forever in the process?Nailgun Messiah is the first book in the Micah Reed series, a set of edge-of-your-seat thrillers. If you like complex characters, realistic dialogue, and layers upon layers of suspenseful tension, then you’ll love Jim Heskett’s cult classic in the making. (Source)
This book starts off in a kind of crazy situation and goes forward from there. Throughout the book Micah has run-ins with cult leaders, drug dealers, murderers, and a priest. He gets a job in a hardware store, learns how to snow-shoe, and goes to the Frozen Dead Guy Festival. He gets kidnapped, beaten up, stabbed in the leg with a screwdriver, and almost shot with a nail gun. And yes, it is just as bizarre and intriguing as it sounds, Which means it keeps you engaged while you read because you're never quite sure what might happen next.
As already mentioned, Micah has a complicated past and makes some questionable choices, but this just makes him more human and relatable. Even when I was thinking, "WHAT are you DOING?!" I could recognize the fact that Micah makes decisions like the rest of us do: from emotion, from selfishness, and from a million other factors. Many protagonists in this type of book seem like they know everything and are always 2-5 steps ahead of everyone else. There's a certain kind of appeal in those characters, but having a protagonist who reacts like many of the rest of us might is a nice change of pace and makes for a different kind of reading experience.
Genres:
- Suspense
- Thriller
- Mystery
What I enjoyed:
- Micah's humanness, even when his choices occasionally made me shake my head.
- The dry humor of the book. It's not a funny story and it deals with some fairly heavy subjects, and yet Jim's writing is witty and slightly snarky in a way that is engaging and fun to read.
- Boba Fett's head. Yes, you read that right. Micah has an action figure (minus the body) of Boba Fett that he carries around with him. He even talks to it. As a huge Star Wars fan I appreciate both the quirkiness of this characteristic and the shoutout to a franchise I love.
Who should read Nailgun Messiah?
- Fans of suspense and thrillers.
- Fans of books with characters who aren't super-human, who make some occasionally questionable choices, and who make us root for them in spite of everything.
Quotes:
- "Living in Colorado had been a lonely experience for Micah Reed. When he'd met cute Allison at the grocery store he sought a real connection with someone, but then she turned out to be a coke runner for that shithead Seth who'd stabbed Micah in the leg with a screwdriver. Once again, Micah's judgment wasn't quite inside mature territory."
- "Now, he had to resort to something drastic. An idea formed, but one so crazy, it seemed like the brainstorming of a mental patient. And once he did it, there would be no going back. Everything would blow up and he'd have to leave it all behind."
- "The world was a puzzle and she didn't have the box to know where to start. Didn't have the corner pieces."
Where you can find Jim online:
Website: http://www.jimheskett.com/
Blog: http://www.jimheskett.com/category/blog
Podcast: http://www.jimheskett.com/thrillerpodcast
Facebook: @authorjimheskett
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/authorjimheskett
Twitter: @jimheskett
Tumblr: @jimheskett
Google+: Author Jim Heskett
GoodReads: Jim Heskett
BookBub: @jimheskett
Amazon Author Page: Jim Heskett
Author Bio:
Jim Heskett was born in the wilds of Oklahoma, raised by a pack of wolves with a station wagon and a membership card to the local public swimming pool. Just like the man in the John Denver song, he moved to Colorado in the summer of his 27th year and never looked back. Aside from an extended break traveling the world, he hasn’t let the Flatirons mountains out of his sight.He fell in love with writing at the age of fourteen with a copy of Stephen King’s The Shining. Poetry became his first outlet for teen angst, then later some screenplays, and eventually short and long fiction, plus some dabbling in the video game industry. In between, he worked a few careers that never quite tickled his creative toes, and hasn’t ever forgotten about Stephen King. You can find him currently huddled over a laptop in an undisclosed location in Colorado, dreaming up ways to kill beloved characters. (Source)
Do you want to learn more about Micah Reed? Does Nailgun Messiah sound like a book you'd like to read? You're in luck as I have 3 copies from Jim to give away! All you have to do is go to either our Facebook or Twitter pages and share the episode with Jim's interview, or go to Instagram and comment on that post. Simple as that: just comment on, share, or retweet episode 68 and you'll automatically be entered to win Nailgun Messiah!
Facebook: @GSMCBookReview
To hear the episode with Jim please click here.
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