Promise (A Book of Death) by D.P. Applebury

 

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Outline

Promise (A Book of Death) tells the tale of a man who dies and passes on to the afterlife where he becomes a sort of apprentice to the Grim Reaper. We follow his adventures through time and various locations.

My Review

My over riding impression after reading this book is one of confusion. At only 159 pages it should have been a quick read. However, it was more heavy than it need have been.

I found the prose very thick (especially in the first third of the book) and often found myself re reading a sentence several times before getting to grips with its meaning. It is not an easy read. See selected quotes for examples.

The plot jumps from place to place and era to era, which can add to the confusion.

The author is trying to describe the afterlife and time,  which are abstract concepts in and of themselves and are difficult to describe and understand. Added to this is the fact that there is only limited dialogue due to the fact that our protagonist often travels on his own and even when he doesn't the Grim Reaper isn't a great conversationalist.

There is a decent, head warping twist at the end and there is a potentially interesting tale within this book. The author clearly loves the English language and has an extensive vocabulary but I feel it needs to be very much more user friendly.

Selected Quotes

Furthermore, and this is the principal of paramount predominance, I have been, I currently am, and I forever will be entangled as a cohort and acquaintance of eternity.

Light, and the absence of it, shared tone with pigment in a beauty that would feign to mask its foreboding.

I could still hear its gentle babbling meld with the hypnotizing throb of my puissance. 

Having gained the knowledge of choosing my destinations, I subsequently reclused completely into individuality as I made history my home.

About the Author

David Peter Applebury's debut novel "Promise (A Book of Death) is

the first of many more tales to come

David is a musician  vocalist, award winning poet, a decent cook and a self proclaimed nerd. Born and raised in the Pacific North West of the USA. He currently lives in Longview Washington. You can find him on Twitter as @dp_applebury