On Tour with @authordarren #DarrenMJorgensen #FindingMax #NewRelease | PTTD
Finding Max by Darren M. Jorgensen
Publish Date: May 22, 2018
Pages: 353
Published by: Creators Publishing
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39903648-finding-max
Available on Amazon:
US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/194563068X/
CA: https://www.amazon.ca/Finding-Max-Darren-M-Jorgensen/dp/194563068X/
Blurb:
Five-year-old Max is abducted from a playground on a hot summer day while his brother, Gary, has his back turned. Seventeen years later, Max returns to Gary’s life in a serendipitous twist with a disturbing tale to tell. As they learn to love and trust each other, they must outwit and outrun the nefarious Quinn, who seeks to re-abduct Max for his own evil purposes. Killing Gary and his new girlfriend, Jean, to get them out of his way is just part of his plan. Will they escape? And when all is said and done, will Max and Gary ever truly be freed from the shackles of guilt and pain from the past?
Amid the gritty, harsh landscape of New York City, Finding Max explores those areas of society we seldom like to look at—homelessness, hunger and sexual abuse—with profound delicacy, brutal honesty and compassion. This thrilling novel with keep you reading long into the night.
MY REVIEW
This is the reason I sign up for blog tours. I follow quite a lot of authors but I do like to take a chance on unknown authors. This book was introduced to me through a blog tour. Personally I wouldn’t have chosen to read this book if I had have seen the cover. It just doesn’t shout out at me. I’m sorry but that’s my opinion. After reading this book I’m so so glad I did.
I didn’t realise this book was book one in a trilogy until I’d finished reading it and looked up if there was gonna be more to the series. I certainly will want to read the rest of the series.
The storyline is real good. Max is abducted as a child. His brother Gary never stopped looking for him. A strange coincidence brings Max back into Gary’s life. Can Max truly move on from his tragic past or will his past catch up with him?
Not an easy read. It did take me longer than normal to read it. The content can be heavy at times but this topic still happens in real life so it needs to be told.
My only negative is the way the story was told. Changing up points of view in the middle of the chapter had me re reading to make sure I got it right. Once I got into the swing of the way the story was told I really did enjoy it.
Really hope the author is busy writing more of this trilogy as I need more of these characters.
**What others are saying**
Darren Jorgensen is unafraid to plumb the darkness of the human heart where most others fear to tread. — Greg M.
Jorgensen captures the tenderest of moments within his characters’ relationships where you feel the struggles amongst them. A thrill ride of a book. — Katie A.
Jorgensen uses human tragedies as a catalyst for looking deeply into the human heart. The book is mesmerizing, captivating and brilliant! He had me at the first page. — Ginette L.
ABSOLUTELY RIVETING!!! Clear your day cause you won't want to put it down. — Karen T.
Meet the Author:
Darren M. Jorgensen grew up among the fields and forests of Alberta, Canada. At seventeen, he left home for greener pastures. He settled in various cities, including Toronto, Montreal, Stratford, Sault Ste. Marie and New York City. While in New York, Jorgensen worked at the United Nations in various capacities, even spending a year in Baghdad to help dismantle Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction programs. After returning to the States, he matriculated at Brown University at 30 years old, one of only six adults older than traditional college age granted admission that year.
While at Brown, Jorgensen garnered several awards, all in the area of video and film production. Later, at the University of Michigan School of Art & Design, he directed, produced and shot the film At the Hands of Another: When Someone You Love Is Murdered, a documentary that incorporated personal interviews with family members of murder victims.
Jorgensen has studied law, society, art, theatre and professional photography. But it became too clear during his years of higher education that his first love was writing. He has always fed his passions through involvement in book clubs and writing groups. Writing has served as the best vehicle for Jorgensen to explore the trauma of homelessness, hunger, extreme poverty and illness, issues he’s faced throughout his adult life. He wrote his debut novel, Finding Max, in just 12 days.
Jorgensen now lives back in his native province, on a farm east of Edmonton, with his wonderful wife, Ginette, and two extraordinary dogs, Dobby and Molly, who march to the beat of their own drum. He loves to walk with his dogs through the fields while watching the sun rise on the eastern horizon.
Connect with Darren:
Email: findingmax1@gmail.com
Book website: https://findingmaxtrilogy.com/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/findingmaxtrilogy/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/authordarren
Creators Publishing:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CreatorsPublishing/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/creatorsbooks
Creators Syndicate Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/creatorsnation/
Anyone who would like to interview Darren or find out more information about Creators Publishing can contact Alissa Stevens at astevens@creators.com or 424-217-1434.
Tour Sponsored by: Paging Through The Days Promotions (http://pagingthroughthedays.blogspot.com) (http://facebook.com/pagingthroughthedays)
Hi Philomena, first of all thank you so very much for taking all this time to first read and then review my novel, Finding Max. You have no idea how much it means to have someone take an interest in an unknown author like myself and give such an honest, insightful review as yours. You clearly read the book closely, gave it much thought and were affected by it in the ways I intended my readers to be affected. It does me a world of good, after such an intense period of reflection, writing and editorial work on a piece as difficult to work on as this, to find that my work is being appreciated by those who I wrote it for. Thank you again, Philomena -- and anyone else who decides to pick up a copy as a result of this review -- for reading with such vigour and gusto, and for understanding what I am trying to accomplish with this trilogy of novels.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for wondering about the second in the series, I expect it to be ready and out within the next year and a half. I still have some more writing to do on it (I have it about halfway written at this point), and then it has to go through the editing and printing processes. But I am sure that this editing process wont be as long as the editing process on Finding Max, primarily because I learned so much about grammar during the edit of that book. I just expect things to go more quickly because my editor and I know each other better and are aware of what the other is trying to do now, most of the time. It makes it much easier to edit when you have already worked with that same editor before, as you can imagine.
So thanks again. I look forward to your review of Loving Max, in about another 1.5 years! Best of life to you, Philomena, and please keep well.
Best,
Darren M. Jorgensen,
Author of Finding Max.