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

This book is very much geared towards middle school and teens but I’m not sure I would recommend the boom to them. The story is unique because it is part adventure and part fantasy with a light touch of faith. I did not like Stewart at all. He was this kid who thought he was tough and was somewhat overconfident. Boy was he in for a rude awakening when his family and most of the town disappear. Not really having faith , he didn’t have a clue what was going on. The author takes Stewart on a wild ride literally in a car he could barely reach the pedals on. He will soon have to make tough decisions that will affect his future.

Gina was a good character but her time in the story was too brief. She did help Stewart on his struggle with God but I wanted to know more about her. The author doesn’t give us much information about her family . She does have an illness that slows them down as they try to escape from the biker gang. I have to say I didn’t care for this part of the story at all. There were graphic and violent scenes that I felt were too much. The focus on how destructive the bikers were became a little monotonous at times and it would have been nice to focus more on Stewart and his search for God in the chaos. The theme of the book is very similar to a series that is well known . The adventure that Stewart goes through definitely calls for use of your imagination as he does things twelve year olds probably wouldn’t do.

I wanted to like the book but there is too many holes in the book that made the story uncomfortable to read. I didn’t feel like the author focused enough on faith and it lacked a real redemption factor for Stewart. The characters were hard to relate to and I didn’t connect with them at all. The ending was abrupt and didn’t entirely make sense.

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.

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.