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J.T. Cummins · 05-11-2010, 04:30 PM

Debbi,

You are right on about Drummer Boy. Good stuff. I found DB to be a very uniquely American ghost story. Plus there was some interesting character linkage to Nicholson's earlier novel The Red Church. Here's a review of Drummer Boy I posted on Amazon...

At the heart of Scott Nicholson's novella Drummer Boy is a Civil War re-enactment between the living and the dead that speaks soulfully to a particular sort of Americana experience that still resides in the fog shrouded Blue Ridge Mountains. If you've ever traveled through those parts and parked on a lonely roadside shoulder and stepped into those vast, dark woods, you know of what I speak. Silence abounds, and the rich fragrance of earth, new growth, mildew, and decay informs our senses in a way that connects us to the land -- that connects us to our nations past. Hidden in the gorges, caves, and deep hollows of our collective consciousness is the struggle to be American -- and while that history is fraught with glories and victories, much of it is horrific and splashed with our citizen's blood. Where other authors might wax nostalgic and bittersweet about our nation's struggles, Nicholson uses his considerable gifts to wrestle the ghosts of the past into the present, thereby forcing not only his well-drawn characters to contemplate their losses and triumphs in the here and now, but the reader as well. Recommended.

J.T. Cummins
[In-text promotional links deleted - MODERATOR]

05-11-2010, 04:30 PM	#2
J.T. Cummins Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 12 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: iPhone, Kindle for Windows PC	Debbi, You are right on about Drummer Boy. Good stuff. I found DB to be a very uniquely American ghost story. Plus there was some interesting character linkage to Nicholson's earlier novel The Red Church. Here's a review of Drummer Boy I posted on Amazon... At the heart of Scott Nicholson's novella Drummer Boy is a Civil War re-enactment between the living and the dead that speaks soulfully to a particular sort of Americana experience that still resides in the fog shrouded Blue Ridge Mountains. If you've ever traveled through those parts and parked on a lonely roadside shoulder and stepped into those vast, dark woods, you know of what I speak. Silence abounds, and the rich fragrance of earth, new growth, mildew, and decay informs our senses in a way that connects us to the land -- that connects us to our nations past. Hidden in the gorges, caves, and deep hollows of our collective consciousness is the struggle to be American -- and while that history is fraught with glories and victories, much of it is horrific and splashed with our citizen's blood. Where other authors might wax nostalgic and bittersweet about our nation's struggles, Nicholson uses his considerable gifts to wrestle the ghosts of the past into the present, thereby forcing not only his well-drawn characters to contemplate their losses and triumphs in the here and now, but the reader as well. Recommended. J.T. Cummins [In-text promotional links deleted - MODERATOR] Last edited by Dr. Drib; 03-10-2014 at 12:39 PM.