Roberta Writes: Book Blog Tour – The Further Adventures of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer: 10th Anniversary Revised Edition by Andrew Joyce

Today, I am delighted to introduce you to talented author, Andrew Joyce. Andrew is relaunching his award winning novel, Redemption, which sounds like an excellent read for people who enjoyed the original The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain.

Blurb

Three men come together in the town of Redemption, Colorado, each for his own purpose.

Huck Finn is a famous lawman not afraid to use his gun to protect the weak. He has come to right a terrible wrong.

After his wife’s death, Tom Sawyer does not want to live anymore; he has come to die.

The third man, the Laramie Kid, a killer Huck and Tom befriended years earlier has come to kill a man.

For these three men Death is a constant companion. For these three men it is their last chance for redemption.

Click on the book cover below for the Amazon US purchase link. The book is available as an ebook, paperback and an audio book.

Editorial Reviews of Redemption

“Mr. Joyce has taken a slice of American History and expanded upon it in a most interesting fashion. By calling up the ghosts of Louie L’Amour & the early works of Elmore Leonard, Huck & Tom grippingly move through the Civil war era and beyond, carrying the enraptured reader along with them. I’m now waiting for this author’s sequel.” — Grady Harp, San Francisco Book Review

“Andrew Joyce is a genius in bringing two beloved characters back to life. Redemption: The Further Adventures of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer is destined to be a five-star best-seller. I was thrilled to have the opportunity of reuniting with two well-loved characters from my youth. I loved Tom and Huck then and I love them even more today as written about by the brilliant Andrew Joyce. All I can say is thank you, thank you, thank you for a few hours of wonderful reading.” — Trudi LoPreto for Readers’ Favorite

“We gladly give REDEMPTION five stars and wish Andrew Joyce a bounty of sales as he’s written a book that does Twain and the characters he created, Finn and Sawyer, proud.” — L. Avery Brown, Magnolia Blossom Review

“Andrew Joyce has done an amazing job capturing the essence and authenticity of this era complete with old fashioned slang and heroics throughout the story that kept the reader engaged and very entertained. What I loved about this book were the admirable morals and values of the main characters, they each had a real down to earth, genuine, true ‘good’ heroic nature about them. Witnessing their characters mature, grow, and develop throughout the story was inspiring.” — Book Gossips

“Could not put this book down from beginning to end!” —Ron K., Amazon Reviewer

My review of Mahoney by Andrew Joyce

I have not yet read Redemption, but it is on my audio book TBR. My mother and I both thoroughly enjoyed Mahoney by Andrew Joyce and this is my review of that book:

I listened to the audio book of Mahoney, narrated by Michael R.L. Kern. The narrator did a great job with this book and had the right voice and inflections of tone for this particular story.

Mahoney is a fascinating story of the lives of Devin Mahoney, a poverty stricken farming tenant in Ireland who travels to America during the famine, and his son and grandson.

This book is well researched and shares intricate details relating to a variety of contraversial topics including: the lives of the tenant farmers in Ireland during the family and the shocking treatment they received at the hands of their English overlords, the journey by sea of Irish immigrants to America on board the “death ships”, life for the Irish immigrants on their arrival in the “promised land”, the circumstances of the civil war in America, life in the wild west of America for a young man from the East and his journey to becoming a marshal and an incredible fast gun, the life of the wealthy in New York before the Great Depression, the plight of the poor during the Great Depression and the circumstances of African Americans living in the south during the late 1930s and 1940s.

The list above gives a taste of the insights and depth and breath of this wonderful book which I enjoyed tremendously. Although I had some knowledge of most of these periods in history, the level of detail shared in this book, and the way the author wove the history seamlessly into the story, resulted in a great learning experience for me, together with a fantastic and engaging story.

Mahoney is divided into three parts with each part devoted to the development of one generation of the Mahoney family. There are elements of high adventure and romance in each character’s specific tale.

My favourite character was Devin because he was so spirited and determined. He overcame incredible difficulties to travel to America and start a new life there. The revelations about life on board the ships used to transport Irish immigrants to America were an eye opener, as was Devin’s positive attitude and determination to do whatever it took to succeed. He worked hard labouring jobs in order to establish his reputation as a solid and reliable worker and I found that very admirable. I also loved his love interest, Mary, who aside from being beautiful, was also resourceful and hard working. Their romance was sweet and made me feel good.

Dillon also has an amazing life but there were some things about his character that were a bit unfortunate in the long run. This didn’t make him less interesting and enjoyable as a main character but it did set the scene for his son, the third generation.

It is often said the the first generation builds everything and the third generation destroys it and, initially, this would seem to be the case in this book. David Mahoney, however, evolves into a most unusual and dedicated man and his story is also unusual and revealing about certain aspects of life in America.

This book is well written and highly entertaining. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys history and books about human drama, with a touch of romance thrown in for good measure.

Click on the book cover for the Amazon US purchase link:

About Andrew Joyce

Andrew Joyce left home at seventeen to hitchhike throughout the US, Canada, and Mexico. He wouldn’t return from his journey until years later when he decided to become a writer. Mr. Joyce has written seven books and 143 short stories. One of which won the Writing Spirit Award for best short story of 2011. His first novel, Redemption: The Further Adventures of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer, was awarded the Editors’ Choice Award for Best Western of 2013. A subsequent novel, Yellow Hair, received the Book of the Year award from Just Reviews and Best Historical Fiction of 2016 from Colleen’s Book Reviews.

Andrew now lives in Gloucester, Massachusetts.