This was a slow-burner…I mean that in a good way, however. It ambled along at a steady pace, all the while holding my attention until the wow-I-never-expected-that ending, despite it linking back to the teasing prologue.

John’s travel business takes a nosedive after 9/ll when no one wants to get on a plane. He needs to stay afloat, and when his daughter, Lucy, his beautiful daughter, the light of his life, his sole reason for living, becomes ill with a life-threatening condition, he needs money for her treatment. Time to start calling in money owed to him and his business, in particular a substantial amount by Wanda Johnson, whose income is ‘earned’…let’s say rather dodgily. She convinces John that if they partnered up, she’d be able to pay him back and he’d have enough to take care of his daughter. A decent law-abiding man has a difficult decision to make. But without a viable business and therefore no income, he has no hope of helping Lucy. Desperate times call for desperate measures…

I enjoyed this despite a) the rather stilted dialogue—it lacked ease and naturalness…it was almost as if the characters were reading from a script and b) untidy editing. But the diversity of the two main characters was intriguing: it was hard to imagine how two people from very different backgrounds, with very different histories, were going to work. But they did…albeit dangerously.

I gather this is the author’s debut novel…started in 2003 and then shelved in 2006, before resurrecting it in 2011. A book with a rather ragged writing history which might have interrupted the flow somewhat, but a worthwhile read nonetheless. ( )

If your child was very sick, wouldn’t you do anything to save him or her? Well John Manning let the health insurance lapse and now his daughter needs major surgery. He hooks up with a client, Wanda, and they begin to smuggle cocaine via cruise ships. The deeper in they get, the harder it is to get out.

Slow moving plot with sometimes saccharine, sometimes boring, dialogue. ( )

Shades of Gray is seemingly inspired by a true story. It deals with a travel agent and his daughter, and a drug dealer and her daughter. They get involved and difficulties arise.

The book starts strong, with clear characterization and simple, down to earth prose. In the early chapters, I was impressed. Unfortunately, the book bogs down after about the first third. What seemed at first to be simple writing drops into simplistic plotting. What seemed unaffected conversation turns into stilted dialogue.

The ending is good, but it's not as moving as it could have been. There's a fair amount of deus ex machina going on, and the whole thing just sort floats in and out without much in the way of choices or action. Despite some pretty radical actions, there's little introspection or contemplation. Many of the plot elements seem more outlined than complete.

It's a shame, because I really thought that the first part of the book had charm, and I was looking forward to a good read. I've given it three stars in deference to that first hope, and because the ending, if contrived, was still somewhat effective. Here's hoping Mr. Holloman's next book carries his strengths throughout the story. ( )

What would you do if you were a single parent, and your child has a life threatening disease that requires a transplant surgery? Would you go to the end of the world to make sure your child was taken care of, even if the means to the end was by doing something illegal? What if you were always the type of person that believed things were either black or white, could you now allow yourself to believe that there are times when you have to walk the fine line, the Shades of Gray? And if you walk that fine line, will everything turn out the way you wanted it to be? Well these are the soul-searching questions that single parent John Manning had to deal with in Shades of Gray.

John Manning is a single parent to a six year-old daughter named Lucy. Life has had its ups and downs for John, but Lucy is his whole life. John owns a travel agency in Raleigh, NC, and since the 9/11 event, the travel industry has taken a major hit, money is not coming in and bills are piling up. To add to the stress of a failing business, John's daughter Lucy is diagnosed with a rare life threatening condition, Juvenile Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD), and will need a kidney transplant. He doesn't care what the cost is, he wants the best medical attention for his little girl, the only problem is that due to non-payment, his company's group health insurance policy was cancelled. John submits the payment and the coverage is reinstated, but a change has been made to the major medical coverage, his daughter's medical condition will not be covered by the insurance company, and the kidney transplant will cost several hundred thousand dollars. What does he do now to cover the cost, he can't lose his little girl!

Wanda Johnson is also a single parent to a six-year-old daughter named Tonya. Just like John, Wanda has also had some ups and downs in her life, and the 9/11 event has caused her business to take a major hit as well. Wanda is a drug dealer, and the heightened security at the airports have all but ceased the drug operation that she belongs to in Durham, NC. She had been thinking about getting out of the drug business anyway, but she still needs to collect some more money before she can give her daughter a safer life on the West Coast like she has dreamed about.

John and Wanda's separate worlds collide and bring them together for one simple goal: to get money they both need to get what they want. Can a straight arrow guy who grew up believing everything is either black or white, walk the fine gray line that is Wanda's world? Will Wanda's drug-lord boss foil their plans and seek revenge for working his turf? Can John and Wanda walk away after they secure the money they need? These questions and so much more await you in Shades of Gray!

Shades of Gray is a fast-paced, suspense thriller that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat! This story is so intriguing, I couldn't put the book down, I had to know what was going to happen next. The storyline is well written and so realistic, this could happen in any neighborhood, in any town USA. The characters were well developed, their individual stories and how their lives became intertwined added so much more depth to the overall story. This story took me on an emotional roller coaster ride, there was enough intrigue, suspense and even a bit of heartache, that left me spent at the end of the story! The story has so much to offer, it begs the reader to ponder what they would do if they found themselves in either John or Wanda's situation. The choices made are not always the right ones, but then again, life isn't just black and white ... there are always Shades of Gray in the mix. Kudos to Mr. Holloman on his first novel, this was a wonderful book that will leave suspense fans satisfied, and I look forward to reading more of his books!

Disclaimer: At the request of the author and Virtual Book Tour Cafe, an Adobe PDF version of this book was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest review and participation in the virtual book tour event.

Virtual Book Tour Event: On Friday, January 20, 2012, in association with Virtual Book Tour Cafe, Andy Holloman participated in a virtual book tour event with an Author Guest Post on Jersey Girl Book Reviews.
http://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2012/01/author-guest-post-andy-holloma...

http://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2012/01/shades-of-gray-by-andy-holloma... ( )