Contemporary Authors

• Silence - 2010 Rippo Press,
• South by Degrees - 2010 Rippo Press ,
• Water Flow Down - 2011 R. P. Poe,
• The Consequent Touch of McHenry Feathers - 2012 R. P. Poe,
• In a Hollow Land - 2013 R. P. Poe,
• Chancer's Almanac - 2014 R. P. Poe ,
• The Fourth Book of Five - 2015 Rippo Press,
• The Long Forgetting - 2016 R. P. Poe ,

• Amazon -

  A native Texan and longtime resident of central Texas, I make my home in the hills west of Austin near the small town of Driftwood. Living in various locales from the Gulf Coast to the High Plains while weathering the occasional hurricane, flood or blizzard has played a prominent role in my writing. I have a particular interest in the real or imagined boundaries between countries, cultures and people, including their effect on the mercurial concept of family. Visit my web site at http://rppoe.com/

  Stories of loss, regret and renewal, set in modern-day Texas and filled with characters you won't soon forget.

  Why read these books?

  Want a look at current day Texas peopled with memorable characters? These books are about ordinary folks thrown into unexpected and sometimes dangerous circumstances. Follow them as they work to forge a future out of their broken pasts.

  About the books

  My goal has always been to write a book that I would want to read, the sort I would recommend to a friend. Silence, Water Flow Down and South by Degrees are character-driven novels set in various locations across Texas and Oklahoma. These stories capture the essence of people, places and experiences that inhabit and in some ways haunt my past. While the characters are no doubt influenced by people I have known, they are in no sense living persons but rather unique personalities in their own right and as real to me as the memories of people long passed.

  When I start a book I have a general idea of the story but the book soon takes on a life of its own as the characters and plots develop. At times, I honestly have no idea where the narrative might go next. The truth is, I’m often surprised by the end result. Lucky for me. If I knew the complete storyline prior to beginning I would soon lose interest. In that sense the process works well for me.

  My intent is to establish a strong sense of place inhabited by well-drawn characters swept along by a compelling plot. Although the novels carry a tangible essence of the Southwest the stories are universal in message and feel.

  -RP Poe

• R P Poe - https://www.rppoe.com/

  The author of eight novels, R. P. Poe lives west of Austin, Texas, near the small town of Driftwood. He has a particular interest in the real or imagined boundaries between countries, cultures and people, including their effect on the mercurial concept of family. His most recent novel is The Long Forgetting.

Poe, R.P.: THE FOURTH BOOK OF FIVE

Kirkus Reviews. (Sept. 15, 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Poe, R.P. THE FOURTH BOOK OF FIVE Rippo Press (Indie Fiction) $10.75 8, 18 ISBN: 978-0-9905845-2-0
In Poe's (The Long Forgetting, 2016, etc.) dramatic novel, a drifter and a wayward teenager find common ground at a boardinghouse for people with disabilities. Truman Birdsong has been moving from job to job, tarred by an ex-wife's false accusation of child molestation. After the Weeks brothers, who own a local plant, renege on a promise of employment, Truman gets an offer from Parfit, an enigmatic older man, who says that Mercer, the owner of a boardinghouse for the disabled, is in need of a hired hand. The few who reside at the boardinghouse include Julius Rose, whose curved spine gives him a perpetual hunch, and Aiden Burns, who's been blind since the age of 10. Parfit also brings in 13-year-old Nicolai Tate, whose mentally ill mother is in the hospital and whose father is in jail. Both Truman and Julius are wary of having the boy at the boardinghouse, particularly as he's clearly avoiding a probation officer. But the real threat comes from the locals, who treat the boarders as pariahs and may have formed their own militia group. It turns out that the Weeks brothers have a cache of weapons to arm such a group--and may also have eyes on the boardinghouse's land. Parfit makes a cryptic prediction, implying that Nicolai is in danger. Although Poe touches on serious, real-world subjects, such as violent "antigovernment types," the story also has an otherworldly overtone. Parfit, for instance, seems to have unexplained abilities--at one point suddenly appearing just when Truman and Nicolai need help. Aiden's odd, verbose speech is an endearing quirk: "You need a moment to think...a moment and no more, no, not a bit," he tells Julius. There's a clearly developed theme of fatherhood throughout; Truman, like Nicolai, has an estranged dad, and it's hard not to see Truman becoming a paternal figure to the teen. The romance between Truman and Kennis McDuff, Nicolai's probation officer, is also welcome, although that relationship pales in comparison to the bond between the boardinghouse denizens. A playfully surreal but enthralling story of society's castoffs.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Poe, R.P.: THE FOURTH BOOK OF FIVE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Sept. 2017. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A504217482/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=752e22df. Accessed 17 May 2018.

Gale Document Number: GALE|A504217482