InScribers Review: One Smooth Stone (Marcia Lee Laycock)

 

 

Book Review by Bonnie Way

One Smooth Stone
by Marcia Lee Laycock


One Smooth Stone (Castle Quay Books, 2007) is the story of Alex Donnelly, a young man who has spent the last five years hiding out the Yukon Territory in northern Canada, trying to escape his past, the police, and God. But with the passing of his twenty-first birthday comes an inheritance from his parents… money they left in trust for him before they died when he was a child… money that came from the lawyer’s settlement in a court case against a doctor for failing to abort Alex.

When the lawyer shows up at Alex's cabin in the Yukon, he isn't happy at being found. But his questions about his past cause him to return to Seattle to find out more. He isn't prepared to meet the lawyer's daughter, Kenni, who both intrigues and confuses him. Just as they start getting to know each other, Alex discovers that his mother wanted to abort him and runs back to the Yukon.

Marcia Laycock writes a grimly realistic tale of one man’s struggle with his past and with God. Alex was raised in foster homes, abused and mistreated, and the memories of those days still haunt him. He is angry at God for letting those things happen, angry at those who abused him, and just wants to forget about them. But God is after him, and uses even a blizzard and a grizzly bear to get Alex’s attention.

About the Author

Marcia Lee Laycock grew up on an island in Lake Huron. She attended Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, before "running away" to Alaska and the Yukon. She became a Christian in 1982 and with her husband went to Briercrest Bible College in Saskatchewan in 1985. Since 1988, she has lived in central Alberta. She and her husband have three daughters.

Marcia began writing as a child. Her devotional column was published for over a decade in various Alberta newspapers. She is the author of three devotional books, The Spur of the Moment, Focused Reflections (devotions for specific occasions), and Abundant Rain (a writer's devotional book). Her short stories have appeared in various anthologies, including A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider, and several are available for free at Smashwords. She is a member of Inscribe Christian Writer's Fellowship, The Word Guild, and American Christian Fiction Writers.

About the Novel

One Smooth Stone (ISBN 978-1-894860-34-5) won the 2006 Best New Canadian Christian Author Award from Castle Quay Books. It was also nominated by the Ontario Association of Christian Librarians for their "One Read" Award in 2009 (the award went to the Hot Apple Cider anthology, which included two pieces by Marcia Laycock).

Best-selling Alberta author Sigmund Brouwer says of One Smooth Stone, "Laycock delivers an engaging and imaginative story so effectively that it's difficult to believe the novel is her debut. I'm looking forward to more!" Most of Laycock's readers are also looking for the sequel; A Tumbled Stone tells the story of Alex's hunt for his sister and was published in 2012.

To read the first chapter of One Smooth Stone and more reviews, and to view the book trailer and discussion questions on the novel, visit Marcia's website at http://marcialeelaycock.com/.

The Opening Scene - Marcia Laycock

This is the opening scene to my novel, One Smooth Stone. It's about the fourth or fifth time I've changed it, but I'm quite happy with it at this point, and so is my editor. Any and all comments are most welcome. :) Marcia

Alex Donnelly was alone. That’s how he wanted it. He told himself that’s how he liked it. That was a lie.

He twisted the throttle on the boat motor to the off position, leaned back, pulled his floppy-brimmed river hat off his head and turned his face toward the sun. The silted water hissed against the bottom and sides of the boat. A breeze tussled his thick black hair. He heard a hawk whistle from a high cliff and squinted to watch it plummet from its perch.

Closing his eyes, he slumped low. He would let the current take him home. He had all day and there wasn’t anyone waiting for him, except his dogs. They’d howl their welcome in anticipation of food but Alex knew there was no love lost between them.

The hawk whistled again and Alex opened his eyes, letting them fill with the sweeping green hills and wide brown Yukon River. As the boat caught and circled in a whirlpool he dipped his hand into the cold flow. Two minutes, he’d been told. If he fell in – or jumped – it would take two minutes for this river to kill him. He knew it was true because it had almost happened. He’d been looking for the cabin where he now lived, had beached at the mouth of the wrong creek and decided to wade to the other side to search for a trail. Half way across he realized he was in trouble. It was deeper than he’d thought and his legs were giving out. Then the bottom dropped off completely and he’d had to swim. He barely made it to the shore in time; he couldn’t stand when he got there. His legs were useless for several minutes, even though the sun was high and hot that day. He remembered he’d shivered for two days.

His eyes caught the gray shifting of mist in the rift of a small valley far ahead as thick clouds spilled their burden of moisture down toward the river. He could smell it as the wind brought the fragrance of poplar toward him. The trees on the banks seemed to turn their leaves toward it. He pulled his hat back on and shrugged into an old slicker. As the rain came toward him he started the motor and steered the boat closer to shore. He knew a wind could come up strong enough to keep him at a stand-still. He snorted as he thought about that. It was the story of his life right now. Standing still. But at least he wasn’t running anymore. He wondered how long it would last.

Just before the rain hit him a sudden shifting of light curved over the hills in a faint rainbow. God’s promise. Funny how he always thought that when he saw a rainbow. Someone somewhere must have said it to him. He pulled his hat down and cut the motor again, to listen, as the first softness of rain touched him. Everything around him seemed to whisper. He breathed deeply and almost smiled. Out here a person could almost want to believe in God and promises. Almost.