In case you missed it, please check out part 1 and part 2 of the interview with Taking Three author and Atlanta native, Mark McCullum.
Comedian Robin Williams once joked about getting pulled over for speeding in a small town in the South. The sheriff who pulled him over wore mirrored sun glasses. The mirror was on the inside. The type of small town everyone jokes about. Where someone sneezes on one side of town and everyone on the other side knows it.
This is like the town named Soke where Taking Three is set. Like many small towns there's always a town legend. A legend that's true to some and unbelievable to most. Soke is no different. In fact, it is exactly that. This is what made the book intriguing and interesting.
The legend in Soke is name Old Coals. Just what or who is Old Coals? That's what the reader is left to find out for themselves. The story centers around a boy named Robbie Callahan, Officer Merl Burt and, of course, Old Coals. There is a good mix to the cast of characters. Just like you'd expect to find in a small town. Personalities of all types that really stand out.
The reader is taken through a variety of scenes and emotions left to wonder what's next. From the vivid imagination of 11 year old Robbie Callahan to the skeptical, yet inquiring, Merl Burt. To Robbie's mother Mallison who can't bear the thought of losing her son. The story will definitely keep the reader turning the pages.
Mark McCallum did well with the characters. Robbie Callahan's imagination is just what I would expect from an 11 year old boy. The way the scenes are acted out in his head make the reader wonder if it's really happening. Add the emotions of his mother who thinks she is about to lose him. And then right in the middle of Robbie fighting a battle with his imagination there is Officer Burt investigating, yet never satisfied with the answers he gets.
Of course, Old Coals is always in the background even when he's not mentioned by name. There is a good cast of characters, but you'll have to read the book to find out where folks like Wacky Jacky, Alex Simons and Bucky fit. And what about the pennies? You'll have to read.
I liked the format of the sentences and chapters. The author combined short and long sentences with some chapters as short as one page. This kept the book moving steadily along. The short chapters were great for breaking up the reading while giving insight into another place in the story. It was a great story about the unknown. It kept you wanting to know just what it is you don't know.
Over all it was a good and enjoyable read. While this book is not like The Shack it was a story of faith of sorts, but in a different way. A more general and generic faith not necessarily the kind that one seeks for eternal life. Not that McCallum ever claims this in the book, however, I wanted to point that out. You will have to read the book to make that judgment for yourself. The author did a great job of leaving the mystery and faith aspects of the book opened for each reader. It's more of a pursuit of just what Old Coals is, what role does faith play and how is he defeated. I had to go back and re-read the ending. I'm still not settled on Old Coals.
Give this book a read and you may be the one putting on the sun glasses with the mirror on the inside. Those glasses just may give you that good, needed look inward.
Taking Three by Mark R McCallum. Sense of Wonder Press. Rockville, 2008. 256 pages.
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