Review by: Carla Arpin
www.romrevtoday.com
August 2003 - Article
Online
In the author's own
words, the story happens, "The day after tomorrow."
When I first heard about WAKING WALT I was intrigued. I finally talked (read begged) the author into sending me a copy for review -- this is hands down, one of the best books I've EVER read. Slight and infrequent editing errors occur, but in no way detract from the story. Kudos to Mr. Pontius for taking on the daunting task of editing his own manuscript, and emerging fairly sane from the effort.
What if you were one of the world's most revered, imaginative, and business-savvy people? Then, imagine resting on death's doorstep, and being cryogenically suspended in the 1960's, when this idea was so much science fiction...but the rest of the world thinks you're dead and buried. What happens forty years later when a cure for your illness is found? WAKING WALT is what happens. And, does it ever.
The story in and of itself is spellbinding, but the true meat of this novel is the people. How on earth Mr. Pontius kept track of all of these extraordinary characters is beyond me, but he does so without skipping a beat, creating a cast of individuals easily recognizable from their body language and dialogue, alone. Most of them elderly, each still changes and grows, within what is called the Circle -- a select few of Walt Disney's closest friends and associates. When one dies, another must replace him. Enter poor Harry Poole, the nephew of recently deceased member, Arthur Nolan. One of the more fumbling and engaging characters, Harry is let in on the Circle's secret, and is hard pressed to keep from committing the men to the old folks' loony bin; however, since he has nothing too pressing going on in his life right now, he agrees to join them. Oh, little does Harry know how his life will drastically change from that moment on.
The basic premise of the story is to wake up Walt Disney from cryonic suspension in order to halt a ruthless corporate raider's attempt to take over The Disney Company. What ensues is a fast-paced race against time for the Circle and all involved. Written with high panache, WAKING WALT is rich in the pitfalls of greed, laced with humor, chills, thrills, murder, and human drama. I defy anyone to put this book down once they start reading it.
Larry Pontius is a true word wizard who has concocted a believable story that left this reviewer breathless. Be sure to have a couple of tissues handy at the unexpected ending, too.
If you favor intense, gritty,
passionate novels that don't let up, WAKING WALT is the book for you. I look
forward to reading much more from this talented spinner of a darn good tall
tale!
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