You had me at 'Howdy'

**Disclaimer I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

The Charlatan's Boy is the most original novel that I have read since Harry Potter.  The voice is unique on the contemporary American stage and the setting created by the author is engaging, charming, and totally believable!  As a lover of Mark Twain's American satire, this book had a real draw for me.  The vocabulary, style of writing, and well-crafted narrative were a true joy to experience as a casual reader and a nice break from the heavier scholastic works that I have as part of my regular diet.

The story follows Grady, an orphan adopted by a showman in an imaginative world called Corenwald.  Picture the Old West or the Deep South of the Mark Twain styling placed on an island somewhere on the globe.  Initially, the cover and design were part of the draw and attraction for the story.  It's as though everything about this book draws you into the story created and told by Dr. Rogers.  Even the cover art and design are reminiscent of cowboys, snake oil salesmen, and itinerant "lecturers" common in the US during the late 19th century and into the early 20th.  From the first few words of the story you are introduced to a lovable hero.  We follow Grady and his "partner" in crime as they try to scrape and scheme their way to the fortune they know that is out there waiting for them.  Through swamps, cattle ranges, and podunk villages we follow one hilarious anecdote after another until the final moment of truth.

The book was a very fun read.  There are a few problems that keep it from being a five-star in my book.  The "reviews" on the back and inside covers make it a point to call it "faith fiction" or "if Mark Twain were a Christian" or "If C.S. Lewis wrote Huckleberry Finn".  I understand that the publisher is an organization which produces Religious books and that the author is a graduate of Furman University and is unashamed of his religious faith.  However, this book is NOT "faith fiction".  This book is an whimsical story which certainly has a biblical worldview and moral lessons, but it is not an allegory or "Christian" book a la much of the contemporary "religious fiction" available today.  If I were to pick this book up and read those reviews, having no interest in "faith fiction," I would put it back down again and not give it the time of day--let alone the fact that Mark Twain was a Christian and wrote incredibly powerful books with strong moral truths.

The book definitely falls flat at the end.  Everything was wonderful right up until the last two chapters.  I'm not sure if Dr. Rogers got bored, was rushed, or just had no better idea; but not only was this ending incredibly predictable, but it was a poorly written predictable ending!  I was completely sold on the story right up till the last six pages.  I'm still feeling as though I was robbed of a proper resolution.