Neighboring small towns, Coon Creek and Golden Springs, Ohio, enter their own little war, and may never be the same after the coming Fourth of July celebration.Coon Creek, a conservative, industrial, blue-collar town, has seen better days. Golden Springs is home to Antaeus College, a private institution with a tradition of liberal politics. No love lost between those two.Mazie Tuttle, a … those two.
Mazie Tuttle, a professional dog walker, knows both towns well. Born and raised in Coon Creek, she enrolls in the Antaeus College summer literary program being taught by the famous radical novelist and pie lover, Roscoe Alolo. As tensions flare between the two towns over a statue of Coon Creek’s founding father standing in the town’s square, one act of vandalism follows another, and Mazie increasingly feels caught in the middle of the hostilities.
Groups in both towns plot to disrupt the other’s Fourth of July celebration. On one side, the schemers include Mazie’s brother, her ex-boyfriend turned drug dealer, and a Methodist minister who’s running for mayor. On the other, Professor Alolo urges his class to take action to “liberate” Coon Creekers.
Sooner or later, Mazie will have to take a side. She just doesn’t know which she’ll choose.
EVOLVED PUBLISHING PRESENTS a satirical, down-right funny novel sure to keep a smile on your face. [DRM-Free]
Books by Gregg Sapp:
- Fresh News Straight from Heaven
- Holidazed – Book 1: Halloween from the Other Side
- Holidazed – Book 2: The Christmas Donut Revolution
- Holidazed – Book 3: Upside-Down Independence Day
More Great Fiction from Evolved Publishing:
- Hannah’s Voice by Robb Grindstaff
- The Colonel and the Bee by Patrick Canning
- Memoirs of a Transferable Soul by W. Town Andrews
more
This is book three of the Holidazed series and a somewhat meandering read. There are lots of characters, from both Coon Creek and Golden Springs, two towns across the creek from each other, but with totally different vibes. The number and odd names of a lot of the characters just get really confusing as you go on. One of the main characters is Mazie Tuttle, who was actually brought up in Coon Creek and still has all of her family there, but doesn’t want anyone to know she comes from there. She is in Golden Springs on a scholarship to the overly long named Antaeus College Emerging Writers Summer Literary Arts Residency and Workshop! As part of her scholarship conditions, she has to walk Professor Roscoe Alolo’s dog Shabazz. Another scholarship student writer, works as the Professor’s assistant and supplier of weed.
Professor Alolo was a radical author, but hasn’t written or published anything for decades, but was hired by the college’s head, after many other A-list writers refused to do the summer workshop. He was bribed with the famous pies made in Coon Creek, which are his favourite dessert. The Professor has a weird method of teaching the summer workshop, or should I say telling them to learn for themselves. When they are split into groups and told to write a manifesto, actions are taken against a statue of a famous founding father in the adjoining town of Coon Creek. Animosity soon grows between the two towns and Mazie will need to decide on which side of the line she wants to be! Sides are taken and involve her brother and even an ex-boyfriend from her high school days who has let himself go and makes his living as a drug dealer now. Plus a preacher who wants to mix God with government and put himself up for the position of Mayor of Coon Creek. It all culminates at the annual Fourth of July Independence Day fireworks and celebrations which are ripe for disruption by both sides.
I can’t say this is a riveting read, it was anything but! There were too many characters being brought to parts of the story, with no real end in sight. It took me days to get through this book, all the time hoping that something other than a doggy get together would happen. There are acts of vandalism and a few articles in the local rags and a billboard used by one resident of Coon Creek to make odd comments all of his own making. The story really never gets very far and it was a disappointing end to a tiresome read unfortunately. Happily, it ended after 80% of the book and the rest was a preview of another story. Certainly not something I would want to pay for and I count myself lucky not to have read the other books in the series. Definitely not for me! I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.