Title: Null and Void
Author: Lewis Ashman
Publisher: XlibrisUS
ISBN: 978-1984526380
Pages: 116
Genre: Mystery / Suspense
Reviewed by: Jake Bishop

Read Book Review

Of the many thoughtful lines that Lewis Ashman has written in his compelling novel, Null and Void, perhaps the most profound is this, “Nobody knows everything.” If you accept the perspicaciousness of those three words, then you will likely be enthralled by this spellbinding story that is relatively short but remarkably memorable.

There is a Stephen King quality to Ashman’s narrative. Not the Stephen King of The Stand or The Shining but more the Stephen King of The Green Mile or Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption. Those latter King pieces featured incarceration as the setting, though his themes were more about transcendence of the spirit. Ashman’s novel is more about incarceration of perception and the potential for transcendence of the mind.

Detailing the plot would blunt the impact of many situations, scenes, and sequences. Let’s simply say that violence is involved—mayhem, murder, and more—and that the chronicle weaves its way from a highly dramatic beginning to a particularly riveting climax. Along the way an intriguing cast of characters keeps both interest and emotional investment high. There is Lance, a potentially disturbed and perennially disturbing teenager who propels much of the action. Michelle is a clinical psychologist who tries to understand Lance even though she’s having a difficult time coming to grips with herself. There’s Happy, not a feeling but rather the actual name of a private detective more accustomed to discovering hidden information than actually having to go toe-to-toe with real criminals. Dan is a county prosecutor with a lush for a wife and a job he’s initially comfortable retreating into. Rita is a damaged young woman both outside and in. And last, but certainly not least, is Cheryl McGovern. She’s a woman of a certain age who has the ability to take life as it comes or as it doesn’t. The author describes her this way; She didn’t judge or measure or think to name this or that; all of it was everything, and it was all rich and strange and beautiful.

Ashman’s writing feels original. His dialogue is spare and without artifice. His prose sounds like the internal conversations that plague intellectually honest people from time to time. His depictions of the environments that surround us, both physical and mystical, imbue landscapes with qualities too frequently overlooked. This is an exceptional writer who’s written a gripping book. That’s a rarity today when it seems everyone who has a keyboard fancies themselves an author. Read Null and Void. You’ll be reminded that there’s a difference between the amateurs and the pros.