Shannon's Review - The Gift by Pete Hamill

Title: The Gift
Series: Not At The Moment
Author: Pete Hamill
Illustrator/Book Cover Design: Bernard Klein
Genre: Fiction, Holiday, Christmas

Publisher: Little, Brown, and Company
Received: Bought
Release Date: November 2005
Pages: 153
Rating:







Author Pete Hamill’s Official Websites:


Website:
http://www.petehamill.com/

Blog:
None Found

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/PeteHamillAuthor/

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/petehamillnyc

Instagram:
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Shannon’s Thoughts:

A 17-year-old Pete returns from the Navy for a holiday family visit. In hopes to see the girl, he has affection for he visits local bars with friends. While she is not so much interested in him he then finds that family is the most important love to have.

I have read one book by Pete Hamill called Forever which I really enjoyed. I was eager to see what this short Christmas story was like. Hamill is a really good writer. As each short chapter went on I was intrigued to see what this “gift” was going to be. I also wondered if this was based on the author’s life as he named the main character after himself.

Even though I liked what I was reading I knew from the beginning that whatever “The Gift” was I knew it was going to be not what I hoped for and to be honest it was a sweet ending but kinda lackluster. I wanted more about his family connections and just wanted more story in general

There is something in the way Hamill writes he really does mesmerize the reader. The reader gets comfortable with the atmosphere and characters. So while this was not my favorite by Hamill it will not be my last.

Shannon's Review - Forever by Pete Hamill

Title: Forever

Series: N/A

Author: Pete Hamill

Genre: Fiction, Fantasy

Publisher: Back Bay Books

Received: Paperback Swap

Release Date: Nov 2003

Pages: 613

Rating:

Author Pete Hamill’s Official Websites:

Website

http://www.petehamill.com/

Blog

N/A

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/PeteHamillAuthor/

Twitter

https://twitter.com/petehamillnyc

Shannon’s Thoughts:

Cormac, a young irish boy, grows up in the 1800’s in Ireland.  He must cope with living in two different world one as a Christian hiding his other world, or true self which is true pagan Irishman. This book follow Cormac’s epic life first in Ireland and later to America following a duke because of a pact he made to his family.  Cormac makes a life in New York as he plans his revenge on the duke. His life is almost taken as he enacts part of his revenge. He instead is infused with immortality that only stays with him as he is within the area of Manhattan.  As Cormac lives his life through history we see and learn about facts we may have never thought of happening in the U.S.

This book was pleasantly not what I expected. To me there was a lot of heart in the description in the regions that Cormac lived in and in the way he viewed thing. Many of the things that happen over years, such as slavery, wars, and rise of New York City as we know it, were explained in a way I never really thought of.

In many other reviews people did not like how long the intro to Cormac life growing up in Ireland was or how quickly time past in New York, especially once you were starting to like a character and then they would be gone.  To me these were the things I liked. I loved the way Cormac’s life started in Ireland.  It reminded me of my visit to Ireland although Cormac was there much earlier in time. When he was in New York as time past and he met friends, lovers and learned different trades he lived life. Sometimes life was boring, sometimes it was more interesting and sometimes he stayed distant to people because well he was immortal.  They were going to eventually pass and he was not.

Some of the blurbs say this book is as good as Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. That is high praise.  I understand the comparison and it is a good book, very good book but maybe not as good as Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. I would recommend this book as one your going to want to reread and hope for sequels.