Leonardo Riveria is a nomad, a trucker, and a spirt hunter. He has seen a million miles and lived a thousand lives. But in his quest to bring balance to heaven and hell, he left behind the one person who mattered most.
Book of Leo: Prequel to Mystical Trash
By maryramsey
Mary Ramsey brings a supernatural thriller in Book of Leo: Prequel to Mystical Trash. Leonard Riveria is a loner who drives truck across the country. His main occupation is being demon hunting immortal. Finding demons and releasing the souls they had captured is a risky business. Leo finds the demon, Clarissa that killed and imprisoned the soul of his lover, Jamie to release it. Leo leaves Jamie behind, remembering the lies and deception that separated them to begin with many years ago.
Book of Leo: Prequel to Mystical Trash displays Mary Ramsey’s zealous writing on complex topics. She keeps this novella interesting by mixing genres that don’t often merge. The pace is quick as Leo travels. The characters are unique and complicated, with added science fiction. She touches intense subjects could be difficult to digest. The author is a one of its kind that has many books written on this subject.
Mary Ramsey’s Book of Leo is an excellent supernatural tale filled with moral complexity and fascinating characters.
Leonardo Riveria, the novel’s chief protagonist is a captivating character and Ramsey’s descriptive and in-depth writing style adds more and more layers to him as the novel progresses. The themes of right and wrong and the ambiguity in some of the characters make for a thought-provoking and intriguing read. It’s a book that you will be thinking about for some time after you’ve finally put it down.
The novel’s premise may sound a little bit heavy but the book is also littered with some excellent humor and Ramsey clearly knows how to strike a balance when it comes to tones throughout the novel.
At under 100 pages, the book breezes by nice and easy and is the perfect book for those who want a quick read over the course of a weekend getaway.
‘Book of Leo’ by Mary Ramsey is a short story that really made a big impact on me. The supernatural novella, that takes a new look at the timeless theme of good and evil and maintaining the balance between heaven and hell. We follow Leo Riviera is a spirit and demon hunter, travelling the world in his quest to bring back balance. But, when he comes across someone from his past, he must decide what matters most to him.
For such a short book there are so many themes that are explored in the plot, including morality, love, sacrifice, and duty. Engrossing, beautiful, and thought-provoking.
Book of Leo Prequel to Mystical Trash is an offputting, undesirable title. If not for a promotional post on Social Media, I might not have clicked into such a brash title.
The author Mary Ramsey is making a statement, She is speaking out to her cause, her fictional creativity of a man who has succumbed so much in his life, only baring his soul to the one person that might believe in accepting him for all that is tragic, twisted and adventure past. Seattle trucker not the average appearance for a profession such as this. Dispositions often get misinterpreted when your main character is something called tri-racial. The book reads like a romantic superhero novel with the complexities of heightened tones of mysticism though not all human.
California author Mary Ramsey is an artist, a writer and a blogger whose credentials include a degree in Cinema. She has served in the United States Air Force and in that role she traveled the world and spent significant time in the Midwest – the locale of this novella. Mary shares her fascination for superheroes, not so much of the Superman or Wonder Woman type, but those of the underrepresented minorities, abuse victims, LGBTQ range. Her books to date include UNEARTHLY DELIGHTS, CATERPILLAR, DAKOTA SON, FOUND LOVE IN A HOPELESS PLACE, CHASING WAVES, OCEAN PRINCE, RAIN DOWN TEMPLE, and now BOOK OF LEO.
Mary’s very short story shares her ability to test the boundaries of imagination as she introduces the principal character – Leonardo Riveria – as he is driving tough South Dakota in his semi-trailer and is stopped by a cop for ‘speeding’ and told to get off the road at the next hotel…Leo is polite and obeys to a point – except his resting place is his semi-trailer. Entering his ‘resting place’ we discover that his ‘space’ is full of mirrors – a manner in which he communicates with spirits, and other strange proclivities.
As sample of both the writing the gist of the tale follows as he summons Clarissa – ‘She smiled and left my side, gliding from one mirror to the next. “My soldiers, my babies, my family.” She seemed proud of her work. There were images of women being drowned, strangled, some just disappeared. The images of male victims looked a little more ‘deranged.’ She loved to tear them to pieces, to take trophies from their bodies. But unlike her female or child victims, she always left pieces behind. “Men over sixteen years of age, they have a certain taste. Spicy like adrenaline, sweet
like sexuality, and salty with just the right amount of tart – the most delicate flavor of all.” “So many wonderful memories,” I said as I followed. “Or should I say, trophies?” One image, in particular, stuck out- a young native American male, with shoulder-length hair. Sitting on the bank of the lake in torn jeans, he was smoking meth out of a pipe. His once beautiful tan skin was covered in lesions, his hands trembled. I knew for a fact; this boy was not even twenty years old.’
And that leads inevitably into an exploration of Leo’s past, his psyche, his sexuality, and his special gifts of the paranormal realm. The story is strange, but at all times fascinating – a tale that is entertaining as well as thought provoking. Try Mary Ramsey on for the exploration of the bizarre!