A. What a breath of fresh air this book is! In an age when “God” has become a four letter word, and in a contemporary society that by and large considers all things Biblical to be babble, author Joyce Anthony brings us home to all things spiritual and meaningful with this charming and insightful story. Her boldness of faith is evident throughout and admirable. Also impressive as I read “Storm” was her depth of understanding of human nature, psychology and spiritual condition.
As a literary work “Storm” is well crafted; Anthony is definitely a gifted writer who can capture you and transport you into the sights, sounds, smells, feelings and aura of a different world and make you feel as if you really know the characters involved. I don’t want to spoil the fun for potential readers, so I will not divulge the plot. However, I will tease you with this: it is the greatest true story ever re-told before it comes true.
Plan on a few hours of uninterrupted trance-like reading, you won’t want to do anything else except keep turning the pages once you’ve started. Get ready to examine yourself, our society, and our world as it relates to its’ creator. There are many sad truths in this book. But in the end, the truth will set you free.
Review written by: Marvin D. Wilson, author of “I Romanced the Stone” http://www.rockofallages.com/
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B. The title belies the depth of this book. From the opening sequence to the final lightning bolt flash finish, Joyce Anthony keeps you riveted to your seat. Storm will permeate your very soul to a depth you never knew you had. Do not underestimate this book by its size. Ms Anthony unleashes more energy than any supernova. Storm will flood your emotions in biblical proportion. God lives through the hands of the angel that wrote this. You do not read Storm so much as you feel it. It is a book written in reverse. The thunderous opening builds and envelopes the reader until the stark brilliance of lightning burns the meaning into your every pore.
Review by Ron Berry, author of Journey into the Surreal http://www.rberrysurrealhumor.com/
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C. Once in a while a book crosses a reader's path that changes their life. For me, that book was Norman Vincent Peale's Power of Positive Thinking. Inspirational non-fiction books often are credited with doing that.
But now, a new book is on the horizon. It is the debut novel by Joyce Anthony, entitled simply Storm. Storm is a mysterious person who comes into the life of Sam, an old bachelor who raises him. When Sam dies, he leaves Storm with the message that there is a great job for him to do, but he doesn't fill in any of the blanks.
As Storm seeks the purpose of his life on earth, he crosses paths with many troubled people, and Storm deals with each one in a most unique way. He is soon joined by a strange dog, Maggie, whose amethyst eyes are as piercing as Storm's.
This book will not leave you alone. It will fill you with passion, compassion, faith and a zest for life unequal to anything you have ever imagined. And the end? I don't want to spoil it for you, but you will never look at anything the same way again.
This is a must read for readers of all ages. To miss it is to ignore the best book you will probably ever read.
Review by Janet Elaine Smith, author http://janet_elaine_smith0.tripod.com/
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D. It is one awesome book for sure! After reading and evaluating the manuscript for possible acceptance at Star Publish LLC, I couldn't get it off my mind. I even dreamed about it. It won't let go of me.
Kristie Leigh Maguire, owner Star Publish LLC
http://starpublish.com/
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E. Storms are bringers of many things; Winds that rip the sea apart, dark skies that foretell danger, limbs ripped from trees and rain that pummels down all around us. But what if a storm brought something else all together? What if a storm brought something that would change your life?
This is what happens to Sam. A lighthouse keeper, he takes his job seriously. He is the last thing between a ship and the rocks of the coast. Playing solitaire as a fierce storm rages outside his lighthouse, he is thankful that he is safe inside. What he does not know, however, is that his life is about to change forever.
Going outside the next morning to survey the damage, Sam comes upon a wicker basket. Inside is a baby that stares at Sam with eyes that are wise beyond their years. Sam wonders how anyone could have gotten the child onto the island; they are surrounded by nothing but water, clam now that the storm had passed.
Deciding to take care of the baby, he calls the child Storm, naming him after what brought him to the island in the first place. Thirty three years later, Storm rests by Sam’s side as he lies dying. No matter what Storm does, Sam is not comfortable. A chill has invaded his bones and he knows he is not long for the world.
Knowing this, Sam tells Storm that he is meant for great things. “Follow the railway tracks and seek the whirling rainbow. There you will find what you are meant to be.”
After Sam’s death, Storm finds himself in a small town where he hears a voice in a dream telling him that he must find his destiny. He finds the railway tracks that Sam spoke of and soon meets a pure white dog with amethyst eyes. When the dog leads Storm to a battered woman by the train tracks, Storm has no idea that he has found his destiny.
The dog with the amethyst eyes leads him down a path that will change his life forever and will challenge everything he knows. And Storm must rely on all of his strength if he is to help others and to survive…
This was one incredible read. From the first words, I knew I was in for a literary treat. After reading the first chapter, I knew I was in for a life changing experience. Rarely does a book come along that speaks to me so clearly, so beautifully and I was blown away by the beauty of Storm.
Part parable, part fantasy, party mystery, part spiritual quest, Storm is unlike anything you have read or will read. Ever. I can’t even come close to describing the beauty and depth of this novel, the sheer gorgeousness of it. I am still haunted by this novel, thinking of it, dreaming of it. You will find yourself thinking of this book well after you have turned the last page.
What I love most about this book is the story. It’s so simple yet it manages to touch on every emotion you can name. I laughed and cried while reading this novel. It’s written with such a depth that it’s hard to believe this is Anthony’s first novel; she writes with a maturity of a seasoned writer and the beauty of her words is breathtaking.
Even though there is a spiritual message in this book, it doesn’t hit you over the head. Storm makes you think and it makes you feel and that is the true power of a book. It’s been a long time since I’ve been so affected by a novel, so moved by words I’ve read.
This is one of the best books I have ever had the pleasure to read. I can’t get Storm or those amethyst eyes out of my head and I don’t think I’ll ever want to. Storm helps reshape how you look at the world, how you look at others and, perhaps most importantly, how you look at yourself.
Storm is an enchanting work that I will read again and again for years to come.
The Book Pedler
http://thebookpedler.wordpress.com/2007/03/13/storm-by-joyce-a-anthony/
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F. As both an author and reader of fiction, I was impressed with "Storm". Maybe it is because I have always enjoyed a book that could hold my attention and make me think at the same time. In a nutshell, the characters are believable and yet a little out of the ordinary and the story line unique. Give this book a try.
Tommy Taylor
Author, Second Virgin Birth
http://www.secondvirginbirth.com/
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G. Do you know who you are, what makes you tick? Do you recall what it was like when you came face-to-face with the real you? Does your life have a purpose? Why do you exist? What—or who—lives within you?
Joyce A. Anthony has striven to present a story that she hopes will inspire you to ask questions, to dig deep into your soul and understand who you are, why you are, and what your existence can and does contribute to the human story. While it does fall under the Christian fantasy genre, there are various ways to interpret the story, if indeed you need to interpret it or if you are satisfied just with a good read. It is both.
Storm, published POD (print on demand) by Star Publish, is Anthony’s first novel with a prologue so intense that you won’t want to put the book down. The questions come at you and remain with you long after you reach the intense conclusion and close the back cover. Who is Storm? How did a baby in a basket end up near the lighthouse on the beach of a lonely island? Who was this child? A better question is WHAT was this child? And what can be the impact of one life on a whole world?
It is not every day that a first novel is published. Anthony struggled over the writing of the book for well over a year to write the story the way it needed to be written. Though she said she never could figure out specifically who the audience is for Storm there are messages or effects for everyone, young or old and any age in between. Even if it causes the reader only to pause and question, it has accomplished what she set out to do.
The novel is not preachy. It is, however, thought-provoking. It doesn’t always go where you expect it to go. Even if you’re sitting and thinking that there must be more to the story on the one hand, on the other you may end up thinking about your own life path and where you have been, where you are going. If you read only one book this month, Storm may just be the one you will want to read, the one that will push you to accept who you are and the destiny that waits for you.
Cathy Brownfield, Senior Living Editor
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art51096.asp.
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H. If this one doesn't move your heart, nothing will, April 14, 2007
By Nina M. Osier (Augusta, ME USA)
Sam the lighthouse keeper names the baby Storm, because he finds the child cast up on the rocks in a great ocean storm's aftermath. Storm lives on the island, alone with his foster father, until Sam's death. Then, at 33, Storm takes the supply boat to the mainland for the first time. He knows in his heart, as well as from Sam's last words, that he has a destiny to fulfill. But he has no idea what that destiny may be, what he needs to do, or where he needs to go, in order to fulfill it.
I can best describe Joyce Anthony's first book as a modern-day Pilgrim's Progress, although this allegory takes the form of a page-turning contemporary novel. Storm, the innocent in a world he doesn't know - the stranger in a strange land - struggles with questions and feelings familiar to all humans. His story ends as it inevitably must, but until its final scene the reader can't be sure about what will happen despite Anthony's foreshadowing.
The Vietnam veteran's chapter left me blinking back tears. If this book doesn't move your heart, I don't know what possibly could.
http://www.geocities.com/nina_osier/
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I. Storm, By Joyce Anthony
Reviewed by Billie A Williams
I don't know what I can say about Storm and Joyce Anthony that hasn't already been said. Anthony's characters are rich with detail, living breathing normal folks in every day situations laced with the problems of life, rescued by faith in themselves and a higher power they come to know, as the reader is led from page through page.
With a Moses-like beginning Storm and then Maggie, Anthony's characters, address each situation they encounter with wisdom and empathy. You may not like all the people you meet in Storm, but you are almost certain to know at least one of them.
There are no guaranties in life, but in reading Anthony's Storm you are guaranteed food for thought and reason to hope. Is Anthony a seer, a prophet or does she just have a knack for finding the deepest meanings and bringing that to you via her story telling? You be your own judge. Read Storm, you won't be left without an opinion about its message.
http://www.billiewilliams.com/
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Why not check out "Storm" by Joyce Anthony for yourself?
Cheers!
Harry
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