When Cohen Marah steps over his father’s body in the basement embalming room of the family’s funeral home, he has no idea that he is stepping into a labyrinth of memory.
Over the next week, Cohen’s childhood comes back in living color. The dramatic events that led to his parents’ separation. The accident Cohen witnessed and the traumatic images he couldn’t unsee. And the two children in the forest who became his friends–and enlisted him in a dark and dangerous undertaking. As the lines blur between what was real and what was imaginary, Cohen is faced with the question he’s been avoiding:
Is he responsible for his father’s death?
Master story weaver Shawn Smucker relays a tale both eerie and enchanting, one that will have you questioning reality and reaching out for what is true, good, and genuine.
Light from Distant Stars – My Book Review
“Her hands gripped the back of the seat on either side of her chin, and she raised the fingers of one hand, only her fingers, in a sort of wave. They drifted in a sad rhythm like seaweed in a current.”
It is hard writing a review for a book that brings back difficult memories from my own past. Especially when the story is deeply introspective. There were times when whiffs of hospital chemicals still permeated my nostrils and I heard the machines rhythmic movements keeping my dad alive. Given all that, by the ending words, I simply loved this unforgettable story.
Light from Distant Stars is a story that defies the genres of being a straight forward fiction book with a tinge of a fantasy element. The core element of this story kept me guessing until my suspicions were confirmed. The story skillfully weaves around the present and the past of Cohen, his dad, and the Beast. It is a foreboding story skillfully told where Cohen is dealing with the present-day while confronting his memories around his father.
Shawn Smucker has a way of crafting his stories with an alchemy of words that makes you feel every moment of a character’s world. In Light from Distant Stars, readers will understand that the monsters we often need to fear are the humankind not the monsters of make-believe.
This is a book that should be savored in large passages of time. I highly recommend this book if you love a good story about all facets of life changes. I can only hope that a future book will be in the works with Cohen and Thatcher.
GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!
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7/17/19
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BONUS Post
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7/17/19
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Excerpt
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7/18/19
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Review
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7/19/19
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Excerpt
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7/20/19
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Review
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7/21/19
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Playlist
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7/22/19
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Review
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7/23/19
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Author Interview
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7/23/19
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BONUS Review
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7/24/19
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Top Five
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7/25/19
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Review
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7/26/19
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Review
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Forgotten Winds 
It’s remarkable how that can happen on memories.
You’re welcome!
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This sounds like a compelling story — and isn’t it amazing how a book can conjure up memories of our own? Great review.
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