It’s A Long Way Down

Welcome to this week’s Mystery Monday, my fellow Book Dragons. This week’s Gem is made of Gold. Well it’s not pure gold, it’s 24 kt gold plated. It is only 3 inches tall. It is a Knight, holding a sword and standing atop a reel of film. It is a small copy of an Oscar. For many, even those not in the entertainment industry, when One sees an Oscar it causes thought of fame, fortune, arriving at success, in a phrase “having it all”. But does One? Really, have it all, I mean? Are those actors, actresses, directors happy? Do they feel settled, secure, satisfied? Are they able to go home, put their feet up and say, “I have arrived. I shall want no more for nothing?” This little Oscar is modelled after a large, fictional Oscar whose owner couldn’t answer those questions yes, at first. This Oscar was created by Gem Maker Ian Canon in his debut novel “It’s a Long Way Down”. Ian created a Gem to feed Book Dragon’s for some time to come!
What if you were finally in possession of everything you ever wanted? Everything you ever thought would make you happy, secure, satisfied? Money in the bank, no more worrying about where you next meal or the next electric bill was coming from? You were married to the perfect spouse, not for a day or a year, but for 25 years. You knew you both had love in the bag, tied with a big red ribbon and you were both happy? Your career was not just ok, it was soaring, you couldn’t go any higher, do any better? You were at your zenith? You were given life’s Oscar? But you felt empty, completely empty? Think about that for a moment or three while I tell you about this tale.
” It’s a Long Way Down” is loosely based on the life of Phillip Seymour Hoffman. An excellent actor in this Book Dragon’s humble opinion. In this, our protagonist’s name is David Emmeret Smith. He is not just an actor. He is THE actor of his day. His movies may not be box office gold all the time, but they are critical successes and his performances call to mind the Golden Age of Acting, the Gregory Pecks, John Waynes, William Powell’s and Spencer Tracey’s of yesteryear. The buzz around Hollywood and elsewhere is this is his year. Smith will get the Oscar. Everyone who likes him is excited for him. Those who love him are over the top with a mixture of adoration and excitement. Especially his wife of 25 years, Alice, whom David calls “Little Mouse”. She who loved him before he struck gold. They have always been crazy in love.
But come Oscar week, something changes in David. He starts to really look at himself. He isn’t as confident as he once was. He knows he’s in his 50’s, on the backside of them actually. He isn’t sure if he even wants the award. What if it’s the chase that has been fueling him on all this time? He sees his paunch. He sees some wrinkles. He’s never been overly concerned with his appearance, finding it to be part of his persona that people like, but this week, something niggles at him. Irritates him. He misses his mother who died just three short months ago, all too quickly from a swift moving breast cancer. He and Alice have no children. He looks about himself and sees not success, security and satisfaction, he sees…well, he’s not sure. The night before Oscar night, he goes on a bit of a bender with a young actor friend and gets a bit drunk. He finds he likes the letting go. It’s what happens the next night. Oscar Night that our mystery begins. David disappears. Alice loses her husband in a way that is nightmarish indeed. Will she find him? Will David find himself? After all ..”It’s a Long Way Down”.
I am not going to go further because, you all know I don’t do spoilers, but I am going to tell you this. I LOVED THIS BOOK. From the three color cover, that is stark and hits you in the eyeballs as though it is very much trying to get your attention, “Hey, Constant Reader, I am here and have something to say! Read me now!” to the very last page. This book grabbed me by the gut and didn’t let go for 48 hours. I am not a Hollywood insider type, but I do love humans. I find them quite interesting, like Gandalf found Hobbits. They never cease to amaze me and David Emmeret Smith most certainly did.
Ian Canon’s writing is fantastic. He writes this story in such a fashion that One feels One is there, watching, but can do nothing to change the circumstances, as though seeing through a glass darkly, as the Apostle Paul would say. He had me rooting for David, for Alice. I am glad he did not write about a younger man. All too often stories like this use young people and older people discount it, chalking it up to youth, to stupidity. They never believe they could fall for anything so blatantly out of character for themselves. This is not so. Older people are being sucked in every day. Very successful older people. At any rate, I used more than one tissue. I put the book down a time or two and walked away to get my breath, can’t be breathing fire all over the room and ruining the cushions and pillows.
He writes everything so realistically that he describes the nature of the Beastie without glamorizing the nasty thing and yet so down to earth a being can’t help but want to grab a weapon and help the human fight. This is a fight to the death. Will David win? Will he lose? Will Alice get her husband back dead or alive? Ian Canon has written a debut novel that will stick with you long after you have closed the back cover.
Get this book today. It’s currently free on Kindle Unlimited and extremely affordable in paperback. You won’t be sorry. And I’ve a feeling we will be hearing the name Ian Canon more and more in the Literary World.
Until tomorrow, I remain, your humble Book Dragon, Drakon T. Longwitten
I received a copy of this book at my request for an honest review.