Hey, lovelies!! It gives
me great pleasure today to host Chiuba Obele and his new book, “The Orientation
of Dylan Woodger,” here on FAB!! For
other stops on his Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the
banner above or any of the images in this post.
Be sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $25
Amazon OR Barnes and Noble Gift Card!!
Also, come back daily to interact with Chiuba and to increase your
chances of winning!!
Thanks for stopping by!!
Wishing you all lots of good luck in this fabulous giveaway!!
Also, I would like to
point out that the author, Chiuba Obele is donating 25% of book sales proceeds
to RAINN, the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network!!! As if there wasn’t already a fabulous reason
to buy this book – now the money you spend will be going to help sexual assault
survivors, like the one you will be reading about!!!
The Orientation of Dylan Woodger
A Central New York Crime Story
by Chiuba Obele
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE:
Crime Fiction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Solving mysteries is never
easy. Dealing with an infuriated mob boss and acute amnesia only makes it
worse.
"The Orientation of Dylan
Woodger" is the story of a young man who is torn
between his capacity to do evil and his desire to do what’s right. This book
explores racism and feminism, and addresses controversial topics such as male
rape, hate crimes, and misogyny toward women. Readers may be disturbed by the characters,
but the book aspires to be hopeful, as these characters ultimately succeed in
finding some measure of humanity.
Dylan
Woodger is a college student who is captured and tortured by the mafia. After
amnesia obscures the last three years of his life, Dylan learns that he has
stolen three million dollars from a ruthless mafia boss. When, how, and why –
he doesn’t remember. But someone betrayed him and gave him a drug that erased
his memory. He was then given over to be tortured.
Determined
to recover his memory, Dylan begins delving into the events of the past. But as
each new piece of the puzzle falls into place, Dylan realizes that no one is
who they seem . . . especially himself. People who claim to be his friends are
hiding secrets from him. And his girlfriend is beautiful, but that’s all he
knows about her. Who are these people? And who is Dylan? Even he doesn’t know!
But he has links to rapists, white supremacists, and murderers. And his quest
for the truth is made even more complicated by the presence of assassins,
gangsters, and detectives.
There are so many
unanswered questions . . . But first, Dylan must survive the torture.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT TWO:
As
the men approached, their boots crunching on twigs and fallen branches, I
rushed over to them. I kept my left arm still — the pain of moving it alone
caused my vision to flash white and my ears to ring. I stumbled a bit, but soon
I could see them clear enough. The men wore plain clothes, just any random
winter jacket and jeans someone might get at the nearest Walmart. They weren’t
uniformed as you would normally expect police to be.
“Thank
goodness you’re here. I thought I would freeze to death.”
The
men looked at each other in confusion, until one of them finally said, “Are you
here with anyone?”
“No,”
I replied. “I found myself tied up and managed to escape, just before you got
here.”
“This
guy is lying to us,” one of them said. “This must be an ambush.”
“An
ambush? What are you talking about?” I struggled to keep my voice even. “I just
woke up, and I haven’t seen another person until you guys showed up. I’m glad
you got here, though. Can you please take me home?”
Just
at that moment, one of the men pulled out a gun and pointed it at me. My hands
flew out in front of me, and my blood ran cold when I saw the barrel. “Wait,
hold on! What are you doing?”
“You
better tell us right now. Is this an ambush? ’Cause if bullets start flying,
you’ll be the first one to die.”
“No,
sir. I promise, this isn’t an ambush.”
“So
where’s our money?” he demanded.
I
was confused. Then I thought I had pieced it together. “Yeah, okay. You guys
obviously want money for going through the trouble of finding me. That’s fair.
My mother’s pretty well off, and she probably offered a reward to find me. I’ll
make sure you get it. That’s how these things work, right? So can you please
take me home now?”
The
man kept the gun pointed at me. I heard a click and knew he had cocked it. I
realized then, that this was no ordinary search party.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MY BOOK REVIEW:
This book is an interesting, intriguing, and suspenseful
crime fiction read filled with intense, emotionally sensitive themes, storylines,
and plot points.
This
book starts off with the main character, Dylan Woodger, claiming to having lost
his memory, and having been kidnapped, tortured, and interrogated by the Utica mafia. Dylan states that he is suspected of stealing
three million dollars from the mafia but doesn’t remember where the money is or
if he actually took it. However, if he
doesn’t tell them where the money is, they plan to kill him.
This
book then quickly shifts to Dylan reflecting on his last recallable memories,
which include his arrival to Utica, New York to attend college in 2016, three
years earlier. Dylan goes into great
detail describing his road trip journey with his mom to Hamilton College while
trying to recover additional memories that led him to his current predicament.
This book covers many important and difficult
topics that the author pushes the characters to face head on. The author clearly doesn’t shy away from
making the characters and on occasion the reader uncomfortable, hesitant, and unsure
while the author drives the reader to be completely swept up in the storyline. The author was able to create deep, complex,
multidimensional characters that he enjoyed pushing them to their limits to see
how everything would fizzle out – and he held no punches.
Many scenes in this book felt realistic, raw,
and well represented. The author clearly
seems to have done his research and/or possess insider information that truly made
these scenes genuinely authentic and well detailed. The author does include an acknowledgement at
the beginning of the book that he did meet and interview actual residents of
Utica, alumni from Hamilton College, and real sexual assault survivors, among a
variety of other sources to help create truthful and accurate details for his
book.
This
book is certainly not a quick read as it is in on the much longer side, divided
up into three parts, spanning over 19 chapters and covering 448 eBook pages.
I
appreciate the author having included a vitally important trigger warning at
the beginning of the book, which cautions readers that this book does contain
scenes of rape, which may be upsetting and uncomfortable to readers who have experienced
sexual assault. As an avid reader and
someone who has been a survivor of sexual assault, I truly appreciate the
author enclosing such an important detail.
It is very upsetting when authors don’t, and these types of scenes are
just sprung on readers.
Furthermore, I would like to point out that I
found the author’s note at the very beginning of the book, inspiring and
encouraging. The author stated that he published
this book on April 5th, 2022, in recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness
Month and that he wanted this novel to help make a difference for rape
survivors. In addition, he pledged 25%
of this book’s earnings to be donated to RAINN, the Rape, Abuse, and Incest
National Network!! Even more reason for
readers to pick up this book and help support such an important cause!!!
There are some predictable scenes. However, there are still a few very
unexpected twists and turns that you won’t see coming but will enjoy watching
unfold!!
While this book is on the lengthier side, and covers
a large array of material, it does conclude with a thorough ending wrapping up
any loose ends and is sure to leave the reader satisfied.
This
book is not currently listed as part of a book series. It can easily be read as a standalone.
All in all, I enjoyed reading this book and
would recommend it!! I think all crime
fiction readers and mafia book fans will like this book too!! As this book supports such an invaluable
cause, RAINN, and was created to help sexual assault survivors cope and heal; I
would recommend this book to other survivors for guidance and support to
encourage them that they are not alone; it’s not something you just get over
but there are ways to push through; and the trauma will probably always stay
with you, but you learn to carry it, live with it, and even grow from it. A sexual assault does not define you; it is
one page in a very long book. So, add it
to your TBR List and get to reading - you won't be disappointed!!
**Disclaimer: I received a
complimentary copy of this book and have voluntarily provided an honest, and
unbiased review in accordance with FTC regulations**
Did you find this review helpful???
If so, please, please, please mark it as helpful on Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R29V61FM83OIHZ
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
CHIUBA EUGENE OBELE is a
poet, writer, and author of The Orientation of Dylan
Woodger: A Central New York Crime Story. He can usually be found reading a book, and that book will
more likely than not be a crime fiction novel. Chiuba lives and works out of
his home in Boston, Massachusetts. When not absorbed in the latest page-turner,
Chiuba enjoys spending his summers vacationing with his parents, siblings, and
nieces and nephews.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH CHIUBA:
Website:
https://chiubaobele.com
Email:
chiuba@gmail.com
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/chiubaobele7
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/ChiubaE
BookBub Author Page:
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/chiuba-obele
BookBub Book Page:
https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-orientation-of-dylan-woodger-a-central-new-york-crime-story-by-chiuba-obele
Goodreads Author Page:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22199682.Chiuba_E_Obele
Goodreads Book Page:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60288723-the-orientation-of-dylan-woodger
Amazon Author Page:
https://amzn.to/3KH6IFE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AMAZON BOOK BUY LINKS & BOOK SALES DONATION DETAILS:
**The author, Chiuba Obele,
published this book in recognition of April’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month AND
is donating 25% of his book sales to RAINN, the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National
Network!!**
Amazon US Kindle eBook:
https://amzn.to/39Czuub
Amazon US Paperback:
https://amzn.to/3MP91rz
Amazon US Hardcover:
https://amzn.to/3kE8cpm
Amazon CA Kindle eBook:
https://www.amazon.ca/Orientation-Dylan-Woodger-Central-Crime-ebook/dp/B09RG39YH6
Amazon CA Paperback:
https://www.amazon.ca/Orientation-Dylan-Woodger-Central-Crime/dp/B09X4YHNQW
Amazon CA Hardcover:
https://www.amazon.ca/Orientation-Dylan-Woodger-Central-Crime/dp/B09XGV68C9
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFO:
Chiuba will be
awarding a $25 Amazon OR Barnes and Noble Gift Card (Winner’s Choice!!!) to a
randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
**This
post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a purchase is made, I may
receive a small commission to help support this blog. This does not cost you anything, it just
helps pay for all those fabulous community outreach projects and awesome
giveaways on here**
This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish
Promotions. Prizes are given away by the
sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish
Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
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