• Author
  • Book
  • Story behind the book
  • Media Links
  • Reviews
Bob Frey

Bob Frey

About

 

Bob Frey loves to entertain, make people laugh and think, and, perhaps, shake them up a little. He was a copywriter for several top Los Angeles advertising agencies and received several awards for his creative work. When he turned to writing fiction, he found it was a whole new ballgame and he had a lot to learn. He has since published a couple of mysteries, The DVD Murders and The Bashful Vampire Murder & Comic Book Murders, and Catawampus Tales, a book of short stories, a mixed-bag of fast food for the mind.

Also an actor, he has appeared in some forty independent films and stage plays. He now lives in Sandy, Oregon, with his wife, Susan.

The Sons of Godwine: Part Two of The Last Great Saxon Earls

The Sons of Godwine: Part Two of The Last Great Saxon Earls

0.0
0 ratings

Description

<p>Emerging from the long shadow cast by his formidable father, Harold Godwineson showed himself to be a worthy successor to the Earldom of Wessex. In the following twelve years, he became the King's most trusted advisor, practically taking the reins of government into his own hands. And on Edward the Confessor's death, Harold Godwineson mounted the throne—the first king of England not of royal blood. Yet Harold was only a man, and his rise in fortune was not blameless. Like any person aspiring to power, he made choices he wasn't particularly proud of. Unfortunately, those closest to him sometimes paid the price of his fame.<br /><br />This is a story of Godwine's family as told from the viewpoint of Harold and his younger brothers. Queen Editha, known for her Vita Ædwardi Regis, originally commissioned a work to memorialize the deeds of her family, but after the Conquest historians tell us she abandoned this project and concentrated on her husband, the less dangerous subject. In THE SONS OF GODWINE and FATAL RIVALRY, I am telling the story as it might have survived had she collected and passed on the memoirs of her tragic brothers.<br /><br />This book is part two of The Last Great Saxon Earls series. Book one, GODWINE KINGMAKER, depicted the rise and fall of the first Earl of Wessex who came to power under Canute and rose to preeminence at the beginning of Edward the Confessor's reign. Unfortunately, Godwine's misguided efforts to champion his eldest son Swegn recoiled on the whole family, contributing to their outlawry and Queen Editha's disgrace. Their exile only lasted one year and they returned victorious to London, though it was obvious that Harold's career was just beginning as his father's journey was coming to an end.<br /><br />Harold's siblings were all overshadowed by their famous brother; in their memoirs we see remarks tinged sometimes with admiration, sometimes with skepticism, and in Tostig's case, with jealousy. We see a Harold who is ambitious, self-assured, sometimes egocentric, imperfect, yet heroic. His own story is all about Harold, but his brothers see things a little differently. Throughout, their observations are purely subjective, and witnessing events through their eyes gives us an insider’s perspective.<br /><br />Harold was his mother's favorite, confident enough to rise above petty sibling rivalry but Tostig, next in line, was not so lucky. Harold would have been surprised by Tostig's vindictiveness, if he had ever given his brother a second thought. And that was the problem. Tostig's love/hate relationship with Harold would eventually destroy everything they worked for, leaving the country open to foreign conquest. This subplot comes to a crisis in book three of the series, FATAL RIVALRY.</p>

Story Behind The Book

Has it ever occurred to you, what if there really was such a thing as a superhero? What problems might he or she face? How about sex, for instance? Or what about changing into their costume? How many costumes would he or she have to have? Who would make them? Well, that's what happened to me. Supermale's Gone and Left us is the result. I hope it provides a few chuckles.

Media Links

Reviews

With a title like &quot;Supermale's Gone and Left Us&quot; I think anyone would wonder what this book is about regardless of whether it's their regular reading genre or not. Wouldn't you? I know I did and needless to say I agreed to review it. <br /><br />Weighing in at only forty-four pages &quot;Supermale's Gone and Left us&quot; is definitely not a heavyweight contender, it's a short book, i.e. a quick read, but those forty-four pages are amazingly descriptive and draw the reader in from the very first sentence. I honestly can't remember the last time I saw the word &quot;gloomy&quot; used to describe anything other than the weather but there it was in black and white right smack in the middle of page one. &quot;I took in his hangdog face, the sorrowful eyes, the gloomy mouth.&quot; Nice... I was immediately hooked. <br /><br />So now you're probably wondering what &quot;Supermale's Gone and Left Us&quot; is all about. Well, let me tell you. Supermale is the epitome of a superhero. He's a law abiding citizen, he knows right from wrong and he believes in the innate goodness of the government. Yes, I got a good laugh out of that one myself. Unfortunately for our superhero he has gotten himself incarcerated. No, he didn't break any laws...unless you count the fact that he's technically here &quot;illegally&quot; because he never filled out the correct paperwork to gain US citizenship. Mm hmm... Somehow, in this book, I think the laws regarding immigration have gone too far. So now our wonderful superhero is sitting in jail being a model citizen and yet he is being tormented and harassed by prisoners and guards alike. Finally he is placed in solitary confinement for safety reasons; for the safety of the other inmates who keep injuring themselves in their ridiculous attacks on him. He's the man of steel guys...come on, what did you really expect? <br /><br />Unfortunately I'm not going to share any more than that though because I really don't want to give the story away. Suffice it to say that &quot;Supermale's Gone and Left Us&quot; by author Bob Frey is a great book, it's very well-written, it's a sarcastically humorous tale and you can read it via Kindle for only ninety-nice cents. Bargain! Plus, there's a really nice twist at the end that will make you sit up and go &quot;huh?!?&quot;--Charlene Ratcliff, RebeccasReads