Books and Thoughts: KING OF TENNESSEE

It's time for.... another book and another review!

About the Book

Book:  King of Tennessee

Author: David Alan Shorts

Genre:  YA/Teen Fiction

Release Date: July, 2020

It was an ordinary day in Tabersville, Tennessee, until nearly everyone in town disappeared. Middle-school trouble maker, Stewart Rainquest, soon turns this nightmare into a dream come true as he sets about living like a king in his small southern town.  Things take a turn for the worse as members of the biker gang Stewart idolizes commit murder before his eyes. While doing his best to keep his distance from the killers, Stewart learns how to drive a car and meets Gina, a high school student battling cancer. Their friendship leads them through wild adventures, but only time will tell if Stewart will learn the truth about what happened to everyone in his town.

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My Review

I was excited about this book when I read the blurb, because it sounded like this book had a lot of potential. The plot was exciting, and it kept you wondering what had happened to all those people. But my problem was with the way it was written. It felt like a twelve-year-old boy had written it, which I guess in a way made it authentic. But I felt like the focus of the writing was on the unimportant things, not the important. When some mind-blowing things happen that would definitely change a person and the way he interacts with the world, I feel like it's brought up in a haphazard way. But there's a lot of time spent on exploring minor details.

Unfortunately, that was how the big reveal was written, as was the ending of the story, which was rushed and over with before I could blink. I wish the writer would've spent more time on the emotions and thoughts that should've come with these big moments in the novel, because those are the things that would've made this book so much more powerful.

So overall, I liked the idea behind the story, and it's definitely a topic that is enjoyable and educational, but I felt like it had such a bigger potential.

About the Author

David Alan Shorts has a passion to teach kids things which matter for a lifetime, rather than just the next test or Sunday School lesson. He has written many books, short stories, and magazine articles, along with musicals, plays, and songs. His three children keep him busy and constantly evaluating life through the eyes of youth. He has taught music to thousands of kids in Northern California for more than twenty years. When he’s not doing what matters most, he enjoys flying model airplanes and working out.

More from David

My son and I had just finished watching a Mad Max movie when a conversation began about post-apocalyptic movies and what the Bible has to say. The Apocalypse is real and is described in some detail in the Bible. So, why aren’t all apocalyptic stories told from a Christian world view? That was when I began creating King of Tennessee as an attempt to give depth in today’s contemporary post-apocalyptic stories. It combines action and adventure while still keeping the life-changing message of God’s salvation in the novel.

I would like this to be the book the makes “apocalyptic” a Christian word again. This can be the book that gives some kids a second thought about God, when they might have dismissed Him as meaningless otherwise.