The Narrows

By Mark Zvonkovic

The Narrows centers on an "extraction" of two members of a religious cult by a "deprogrammer" known as Black Lightning. Larry Brown, the novel's narrator, is a cerebral and insecure junior high school teacher struggling with an unfaithful girlfriend and public school bureaucracy. He teams up with Black Lightning to rescue the cult members, one of whom is his cousin.

During the course of the novel Larry must come to terms with difficult observations concerning his cousin's precarious emotional state and revelations about their upbringing. Larry's experience offers an insight into many of the issues encountered by the first wave of baby boomers coming of age during the cultural transformation that took place in the early 1970's.

The rescue of the cult members in The Narrows is secondary to the novel's development of Larry's character and his struggle to make sense of his place in a time when many of his fellow baby boomers were rebelling against the conformist ideology of the post-World War II "Establishment." Larry's struggle is depicted through a first person, present tense narrative that spans a ten-day period, utilizing dialogue, interior monologue, reminiscence and the cult extraction plot.

In many ways, these components of the narrative combine into a portrait of the novel's characters and the times, similar to Pieter Brueghel's painting Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, in which an event so amazing as a boy falling from the sky is juxtaposed with the everyday activities of a ploughman, shepherd and fisherman.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1735275123
• ISBN13: 9781735275123
• Release Date: November 2020
• Publisher: 978-1-7352751-2-3
• Length: 308 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

The Narrows

After reading Mark Zvonkovic first book from his The Raymond Hatcher Stories series, A Lion in the Grass, I was excited to have the opportunity to read the second installment, The Narrows. I thought it was a pretty good read. The first quarter of the way, the pace was a little slower than what I have liked but it quickly picked up that made me want to keep reading. It was interesting to go back in time to the seventh decade of the twentieth century when there was so many cultural changes. I thought the plot was one unique for me as I have not read many novels involving a cult and cult members. I enjoyed the character Larry, also, the narrator of the novel. There was a lot going on that included action and suspense. I liked that it was not one that could be predictable and I had no idea what to expect in the following scenes. It is definitely a book worth reading and not to be missed. I am giving The Narrows four and a half stars. Readers who enjoy novels that is thought provoking and historical fiction, particularly set during the 1970s in the United States. I am looking forward to the next book from The Raymond Hatcher Stories series, Belinda, to see what else happens. I received a paperback copy of The Narrows from the publisher, but was not required to write a positive review. This review is one hundred percent my own honest opinion.

A trip back to the '70s

MY THOUGHTS ON THIS BOOK #iReadBookTours  Junior high teacher Larry Brown wants to help his cousin get out of a cult he is in but things didn't go quite like the teacher expected. His cousin wasn't so sure he wanted out of the cult as of then. Larry is wrapped up in all of the changes and challenges of the 1970's, trying to figure his own life out while being concerned about his cousin and all of the cults he could soon be involved, because after all, the 1970's is the decade of the cults, or so it always seemed to me. I like the way Zvonkovic creates his characters and grows them in the story as it unfolds. I think the characters are very life like, playing their parts in the story well, making the plot flow smoothly and enjoyable. I enjoyed slipping back to the '70's for a while, refreshing my memories of what took place. And I learned a few things too while reading, especially about cults, which I knew next to nothing about. I do now have a better understanding of how and why they exist, and I find it sad that people resort to cults. Another interesting thing is, The Narrows spreads across only ten days, so it's a pretty quick read, except I kept going back and re-reading parts so it took me longer. The Narrows is Book Two in The Raymond Hatcher Stories Series by Mark Zvonkovic, who I think is a very good writer. If you enjoy stories set in the 1970's and want a story about the happenings in that era, I think you will enjoy this one. Five Stars is my Rating for The Narrows. A special thanks to the author/publisher for a copy of this book. I am not required to write a positive review, the opinions here are mine alone. I am disclosing this with my review in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.