Reviews of An Epitaph for Coyote: A Novel

Henry Pluck lives his life everyday, doing the same thing day in and day out. Henry thinks he is happy. In comes Rosa Santana and she turns his life upside down and inside out. What were shades of tan and beige becomes a rainbow of color and causes Henry to start looking at his life and say, "Am I really happy?" Well done story and hard to put down . It was a really lovely way to spend an afternoon in the sun. Great Job!!

Henry Pluck is a dream employee, devoted to his job, always early and never one to indulge in chit chat with his colleagues. His home is spartan and orderly, his diet predictable and his leisure time unusual for a young single man - he visits a nursing home. He is living the dream, and remembering his mum's pearls of wisdom to make his way in the world. That is until his world collides with that of bug exterminator Rosa Santana.

He's attracted by her manner from the word go, but as he gets to know her realises she is a free spirit who thinks way outside the corporate box. She's firmly in the driving seat in their relationship and introduces him to a world he had never really stopped to take time to appreciate. Until they met he hadn't paid any really attention to the desert surrounding Las Vegas, the moon or the impact of urban sprawl. Henry starts to question what he is doing with his life and how to make it better.

At the start of the book Henry was presented as a deeply unsympathetic character, a man whose life is so regulated and perfect I couldn't see myself liking him. However Rosa makes him take a good look at himself and he grows a lot in the course of the book, and also reveals a sense of humour and compassion on the way. Rather than being dull and overly perfectionist he becomes quirky and caring. Rosa is completely off the wall compared to Henry, has a real sense of fun yet is serious and has much wider world view than he does. I liked her immediately and found that she retained a degree of mystery that made her intriguing.

This is a story of human nature and the quest for meaning among other things. It presents a different side of Las Vegas to the one we see so often. It is beautifully written and I loved the amazing imagery the author uses. His descriptions of many things rang so true I could see those things right before my eyes. His observations and way of putting them into words were just spot on and often beautiful.

The only negative I could come up with was the small number of typos including the repeated use of queue rather than cue. However it was a minor issue in the grand scheme of things. I'd love to read more from this author.

An Epitaph for Coyote is the story of Henry Pluck. He’s a quiet, little guy who’s happy as an accountant in his safe, little world. Then along comes a woman named Rosa. Henry finds himself attracted to Rosa, but she’s not your typical girl. And she ends up changing Henry’s view of the world around him.

I really enjoyed this novel. It turned out to be a lot longer than I thought it would be, but that isn’t a bad thing. The book kept me interested even though it took me quite a long time to finish it! And with a price tag of 99 cents for a Kindle download, the book is well worth the money! Actually, I think it’s vastly under priced.

As you read along, you can see the changes come over Henry little by little. How his work day that was once the center piece in his life, suddenly becomes a vicious drag on him. In some ways, I could relate to him. I kept anxiously waiting for his next meeting with Rosa just to find out what she would be doing next. Taking him up to Redrock to see the sunset, sitting outside a porno shop with kids in her car just to watch customers come out, or teaching Henry how to eat sushi, I loved every minute of it! The story never seemed to drag for me, but there were a few things I didn’t like.

After reading the first chapter, I thought the book might turn out to be some kind of supernatural monster thing. Or that Rosa might be much more than she seemed. And in the book, there are a few parts where she did seem...supernatural. The first chapter seemed a bit disconnected from the rest of the story to me, though. And at the end, we really don’t find out exactly what happens to Rosa. This did bother me just a bit, but in a way the story did come full circle at the end, I guess.

If you’re looking for a very enjoyable book that you won’t be able to finish overnight, (trust me, this one is good sized!) definitely pick up An Epitaph for Coyote. Well worth reading! 4 stars!

Quite possibly this is one of the most thought provoking reads in my library of books that I finished and still could not put out of my mind. Henry Pluck is the character of every man, someone who you might bump into and never notice as his demeanor is such that he pretty much blends into the proverbial wall. That dullness changes when he meets the very charismatic and off-the-wall Rosa Santana. Rosa comes to Henry's house to exterminate cockroaches and soon the two become involved in a friendship that inexplicably works and even turns into a semi-romance at one point...

From Henry Pluck to his elderly friends Vince, Carlos and Irma to the strange young woman Rosa Santana who shines a new light on the darkness that is Henry's life the characters in this story are ones the reader embraces easily.

These are the main characters but the secondary characters that grace a few scenes here and there lend believability to the story as well, especially the co-workers in the cubicles at Henry's work place... Having worked in this kind of environment myself I could easily identify with the boredom and the lack of camaraderie as well...

There are a lot of things that could be pointed out as to why this particular book is a reading experience that should not be missed, however doing so would retell the tale and totally spoil it for those who have not read it themselves. Suffice to say that author Bryan R. Dennis points out that there is more to most people than what we see on the surface, there is a lot wrong with how we act and react towards each other as human beings, there are more wild animals losing their habitats today than there are places left for them to live their lives out as they have for thousands of years and most of all we do not have to "settle" simply because it is easier to do so than it is to stand up for ourselves and be happy living a genuinely fulfilling life.

I have to sincerely thank Bryan R. Dennis for asking me to read An Epitaph For Coyote in exchange for an honest review because it is a truly interesting, funny, sad, happy, gripping and at times bewildering experience that I would have missed out on otherwise.

{Disclosure: this book is the only compensation received by me from the author in exchange for an honest review besides my pleasure in reading the story.}