Drugs, sex, and rock n’ roll, psychic vampires, and telepathic spies,
fill the pages of Brian’s High, a young adult novel about tragedy and
redemption.
Brian Barrington is fourteen when two deranged shooters enter his
school and gun down his best friend, along with his favorite teacher and
mentor. Brian is a gifted musician and songwriter. Having already lost
his father to an explosion in Baghdad, Brian’s mother finds comfort in a
radical anti-war group, an action that alienates Brian and deepens his
depression and negativity. This propels him into the seedy world of
drugs, rave parties, and unprotected sex, guided by the dark and
duplicitous Jessica Waters. Jessica is a psychic vampire that takes
Brian’s innocence and demands her hedonistic lifestyle. Their
relationship reaches a critical mass and Brian turns away from Jessica
just in time. He “coincidentally” meets the Ellison’s, a strange family
with unique and quirky gifts. This wealthy, Tea party family becomes
the most influential force in Brian’s life, as he discovers his own
psychic abilities to glimpse into the past, present and future. They
teach him the promise of hope. Through them he discovers a unique method
for differentiating truth and deception at any given moment, by any
given person, and at any given time. His own political beliefs emerge
based in a background of truth.
The young protagonist encounters current events confronting such
issues as spirituality, politics, Middle East conflicts, anti-war
demonstrations, and abortion.
The choices and actions that Brian makes drive the story. This
results in a character arc that is relevant to a teenager’s journey of
discovery. The story is edgy, sometimes visceral, but offering hope and
promise, even in the face of tragedy and adversity.
The first readers of Brian’s High champion the story’s originality as
the first of its kind written specifically to stimulate an urge in the
youth to contemplate, pursue, and engage in spiritual deliberation and
current events, especially the political landscape.
A must read for every adult, young and old.
