Title: Birds of a Feather
Author: Michele Wallace Campanelli
Publisher: Ewings Publishing LLC
ISBN: 979-8886403138
Pages: 184
Genre: Mystery
Reviewed By: Jake Bishop
Pacific Book Review
While some novels are content to confine themselves to one storyline, others attempt to pursue multiple plots and/or subplots which often intersect, interact, and eventually merge into the overall tale. Author Michele Wallace Campanelli’s Birds of a Feather is the latter. It appears to initially focus on a horror story—bizarre bird attacks from ferocious Vultures—then it segues into the chronicle of a young man’s conflict between accepting the life he’s been born into, or embracing a more honorable path that might lie before him—it even explores the relationships between what primarily appear to be supporting characters, but soon become part and parcel of the overall narrative.
The novel is told predominantly from the first-person narrative of Laura, a Corrections Officer at a juvenile detention center in Florida. She’s a smart, self-motivated individual who likes her job but also longs to improve herself and become part of CSI, Crime Scene Investigators. But she doesn’t let her desired vocation stand in the way of her current occupation. She’s also determined to be the very best juvie detention officer she can be. Which, to her, means setting kids on the right path, not simply locking them up or simply watching over them. Laura’s married to an Italian hunk who cooks fabulous dishes not only in the restaurant where he works, but also at home. Laura likes his food, but she’s addicted to him. Their romance is even hotter than his sauces.
Other interesting characters inhabit the pages of this book as well. One is Jack, a young man arrested and incarcerated at the juvie center and awaiting a court appearance for swiping a car. He’s supposedly a gang member, but he’s transcended his neighborhood affiliation by also becoming a virtually unbeatable boxer who’s on the verge of becoming a champion if he can get out of his cell in time. There’s also Officer Dirk, a dedicated professional who just happens to have the hots for his Captain McBride, a full figure lady who runs a tight ship, but also uses discretion as well as authoritarianism to make sure both her inmates and officers are cared for. Various parents, other relatives, and both male and female gang members round out the cast that all get involved with the heart of the matter, rampaging Vultures.
Seems something has stirred up the previously carrion-only-eating birds and now they’re literally attacking humans both individually and in groups. In one action-packed scene after another, the buzzards engage in kamikaze attacks to satisfy their blood lust. What’s behind their behavior? What started it? Can it be stopped? And how will it affect Laura’s career, Jack’s internal and external struggles, and all of the other characters’ lives. Who will survive? Who won’t?
All those questions and more get answered in this suspenseful, engaging novel that is part horror story, part coming of age tale, and part physical and emotional exploration of both folks and fowls who are Birds of a Feather.
