The Devil & Preston Black - Jason Jack Miller - A Review

One afternoon I was on Twitter I clicked "follow" for a publishing company,  I browsed through lists of authors and started adding some of my favorites. Suddenly people started following me back or following me 'fresh' - I found a whole world of authors and book bloggers that I never knew existed.

Because of that afternoon I found an amazing bunch of  'indie' published authors with some really great books! One of those people is Jason Jack Miller - author of The Devil & Preston Black.

Jason Jack Miller is a writer, photographer and musician (and a teacher). You can find out more about him on his blog.

From Jason's blog:

The Devil & Preston Black 

You'd think finding a song named after you on an old record would be kind of cool. But that's not how it goes down for Preston Black.

What starts out as a search for his old man turns into a quest for an original version of "The Sad Ballad of Preston Black". Turns out the song is about his deal with the devil, a deal Preston doesn't really remember making.

When the devil decides it's time to cash in things get really interesting. People he loves get hurt, and Preston starts to wonder if a long fall into an icy river is his only way out.

Lucky for Preston, he has help. A music ethnographer with connections in some of Appalachia's darkest hollows convinces him that his salvation can be found in the music. Preston can buy that. It's the hexes, curses and spells he has a hard time with.

And it's the ghost of John Lennon who convinces Preston to do something about it.

Jason was kind enough to give me a free e copy of his novel and I promised to write a review once I was finished reading his book. As it turns out I started and finished The Devil & Preston Black in a little more than a day, it was that good. From page one I was hooked and couldn't wait to see how the tale unfolded.

Black is a man in his late(ish) 20's who is faced with a decision - follow his dreams of being a rock star ( or at the very least a well loved musician ) or join the grown-up world and get a 'real' job.
Woven in to the tale is a musical journey - Black is in a record shop one afternoon and finds an album with a song on it - it would seem the song is about him. He embarks on a journey of self discovery that afternoon to find out more about the song, to find out if the song is about him and to find out whether or not he made a deal with the devil that he is pretty sure he didn't make.

Music means something different to all of us, the common thread is that everyone loves music. Miller has done an exceptional job of weaving this tale around the world of music. There are references spanning 9 (and probably more) decades of music and it doesn't matter if you know a darn thing about any of it - you are drawn in time and time again wanting to know more. ( I had to stop reading the book just to look up different instruments and musicians because I was so enthralled with the descriptions in the novel). Pretty amazing that I can read a fiction novel and learn so much at the very same time.

You don't have to be a musician or even like a specific type of music to love this novel.
Miller writes a tale that takes us to great spots little known in urban/rural America. You feel as if you are there experiencing things with Preston Black as he fights for his soul and reaches for redemption from this life he's been cursed with.

I won't say more about the plot - I don't want to ruin anything for you.
I will tell you that this book is 5 star quality - you'll be glad you read it, promise.

You can read the first 100 pages on Jason's blog http://jasonjackmiller.blogspot.com/p/devil-and-preston-black.html
Alternatively you can purchase it for your e-reader from Smashwords or Amazon.com

Hi there, How are you today ? What can I get for you ?

It's Friday - that means my work week is just starting, I'm a server aka a waitress and I love my job.

I went to school to become a nurse and after 2 years I realized it wasn't the job for me, what I really wanted to do was be a server - for life. Yep I love it that much. Meeting new people from all over the world and getting to know regular customers locally makes me happy. Everyone has a story to tell and learning about people is so much fun.Plus I love food, and what better place to get to talk about it and learn about it that in a restaurant ?

You know what else I have learned ? Some people think I am lower than them because I am serving them their meals. They talk down to me, they call me names (really bad names) and they are just plain rude. Do you know I make less than minimum wage while I am serving ? I rely on tips to make a decent wage. If you can't tip for good service and good food you probably shouldn't go out to eat, of course I realize not everyone can afford to leave a giant tip - but a gesture of a dollar or 2 is always nice, it shows you appreciate the service you received.

Here's some interesting information about tipping customs around the world All about Gratuity

I completely understand if you aren't satisfied with your service and you choose not to leave a tip - however I am always doing my absolute best to ensure you have an enjoyable meal and a nice time when you are sitting in my section. If you are unhappy with something mention it nicely, I will do my best to correct the problem and if I can't personally do anything I will pass on your concerns to the management.

Please realize I am not the one who owns the restaurant nor am I the person who created the menu or who cooked your meal - all I did was take your order and bring you what you asked for, and I did it really nicely. Don't yell at me because we don't carry something, because your whatever was cold or because you are just having a crappy day. I am not the cause of it. But if you are unhappy please refer to the above mentioned statement regarding it being my pleasure to correct the problem to the best of my ability.

So readers please remember the next time you go out to eat (or get a hair cut or have your nails done etc) We in the service industry are working for our tips - most of us love our jobs and work really hard to make sure you have a good experience at our establishments - consider that when you are paying your bill next time :)

Enjoy your weekend everyone !