Give Me Shelter Review

 

Writer: David B. Seaburn

Publisher: Black Rose Writing

Paperback: $19.99

Kindle Unlimited: Free

Release Date: December 15, 2022

 

In his novel Give Me Shelter, David B. Seaburn whisks readers back to 1962. As air raid sirens rock Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, eleven-year-old Willie cowers behind the couch, clutching his dog Smoochy. Fears that the Cuban Missile Crisis will fan the flames of war incapacitate the boy. Perhaps he wouldn't suffer panic attacks if his parents still lived or his brother Denny hadn't gone to college. But then, Willie is hardly alone in his fears of nuclear war. His neighbor, Robert Ashwood, has followed the advice in government pamphlets and dug a pit in his backyard. Once his bomb shelter is complete, Robert can fill it with his stockpiled supplies and wait for radiation from any blasts to subside before returning to the surface.

 

Willie doesn’t remember how his parents died. His grandfather Hal never speaks of it. After their death, Hal traded his job at the car dealership for a custodial position at school to be closer to Willie and his older brother. But now Denny is off at college, overcoming his shyness around girls, leaving their house quiet in the evenings, as losing their daughter brought his wife to an early death. Most nights after supper, Willie does his homework, and Hal drinks beer while watching cartoons, the news, and his favorite TV show, "The Twilight Zone."

 

Everyone struggles to hide a secret pain in Give Me Shelter. Willie's friend Lucy dreads the periods between her mother's jobs, believing she's why Trish can never hold a job. Willie and Lucy's friend Preston looks forward to his father returning from military service, not realizing how the stresses of war afflict him. Robert Ashwood's painful upbringing led him to overeat. At least Denny seems capable of coping with college life, even if he struggles to leap the academic gulf. But then a girlfriend enters his life, and the difficulties she faces each day soon complicate their relationship.

 

David B. Seaburn marches his characters down a difficult road. In doing so, he risks creating a meltdown into a soap opera. Yet, as Seaburn gradually reveals aspects of the characters’ repressed past, their intersecting lives help them to find a way forward and help each other heal. Give Me Shelter reminds us of the dangers of giving into fear, the power of uniqueness, and the importance of treating others—and ourselves—with dignity and respect.

 

Thanks to Black Rose Writing for providing a copy for review.

 

Give Me Shelter is available at Amazon.com