BLOG TOUR: Lifting the Wheel of Karma, Review + CONTEST!

Hi there!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers....the bookish place that's like a box of high end chocolates, you never know what you're going to get....but it's sure to be delicious.  ^_^

Today we have a special guest on the site thanks to Tribute Books Blog Tours (thanks, Nicole!), as we play host to a stop on their current promotion for a rather unique book.  It works in both the Fiction and Young Adult genres and carries a spark of something....different.  How so?  You'll see.  Without further adieu, today's book of choice is....

Lifting the Wheel of Karma:

A Profound Spiritual Journey of Extraordinary Healing and Redemption

by

Paul H. Magid

From the back cover....

Joseph Connell is a gifted high school athlete from Montana, loved deeply by his family, yet tormented by nightmarish visions he can neither explain nor escape.  He believes the answer to what threatens to crush him can be found in the knowledge possessed by a mystical old wise man, who lives deep within the remote Himalayas of India.  If Joseph is ever to find the peace he so desperately seeks, he must get this wise old man to reveal what he truly knows, but that will not be easy…for this sage knows far more than he admits.

Oh so many ways to go with this one.  From page one, it is apparant that the author has a particular fondness for nature.  Rolling hills, running streams, wild horses...the works; all are beautifully detailed as we explore Joseph's hometown in Montana.  When we meet this young man, we find a troubled soul trying to make sense of the oddities that life has thrown his way...his means of escape, karate.  To say he was a black belt would lower his standings...that's how good he was; of course, that's what nightmares about fighting for one's life will do sometimes, push you in real life to be able to handle everything and anything.  Unfortunately for Joseph, there is one "anything" he couldn't see coming which leads to a chance (or is it?) meeting, a terrible (and strange) accident, and the beginning of a journey that would last a lifetime.

Admittedly his meeting with Lahiri and the accident that followed, through me for a loop.  His desire to warn him about the impending failure was admirable....but I was left wondering, why?  Who was he to him?  Why would he show up out of the blue JUST to tell him not to participate in the coming fight?  Then we have the fatal meeting with a GIANT deer....okay ALMOST fatal, but really a GIANT deer.  I couldn't see where the animal fit into the puzzle being revealed.  Was it a means to meet an end?  Sort of.  It's briefly touched on later in the story (thank goodness) and the explanation given makes sense even if it's more philisopical. 

Once Joseph is confined to the wheelchair (told you it was a BIG accident), his spirits are dampered....understandably.  It takes an unexpected news broadcast about an unusual form of "treatment" to break him from his cycle of self-pity and restore his hope.  Hope is a powerful thing; it can move mountains when necessary and in this case, send a lost soul across the globe in search of a new future.  His experiences with the sage (who shall remain nameless because it would spoil the surprise if I revealed it here....suffice it to say that it's a familiar face) are intended to heal his body yes, but more importantly his spirit for when balance is achieved in both areas, the soul can be at peace.

There were only two drawbacks I experienced during my reading adventure; both small, both connected but both mentionable.  First, I didn't always connect with Joseph and his family.  It could be the confusion that was abundant in his life from the nightmares to the fight matches but I wasn't always able to stand beside him in his adventure.  That being said, the second occurance was a little outburst around page 102.  It's so unlike the Joseph we came to know, so out of character that it felt off.  I understand he's in a foreign land seeking out an unsual means to conquer his limitations but it simply felt like another person altogether. 



Author Paul H Magid



The final reveals are unexpected but allow the journey to come full circle.  Does he find enlightenment?  Does he ever walk again?  Yes and yes but those simple answers will not give you the same satisfaction as following Joseph's journey will.  Who knows?  You may even discover something about yourself along the way.  A strange and at times complex journey, but one that was worth taking. It's not a story to be rushed through despite the short length of the novel.  It's a story to be read, felt, and pondered.  There are a lot of aspects of India's culture covered within the pages and ideas that may be foreign to you and me but if anything, that just adds a little something extra to the overall story.  You're exposed to a culture far removed from many of us and yet shown the common threads we share; a surprise for certain, but an enlightening experience nonetheless.

Recommended for teen readers through adult.  For more information in this title as well as the author's current works in progress, feel free to check out his official website or 'like' his Facebook page.  To discover more about Tribute Books Blog Tours, be sure to visit their Facebook page.  This is just ONE stop on a tour of many; to follow its progress, visit the official tour blog...and if you simply have to get your hands on a copy of this book now, it is available via Amazon (+ the Kindle version) and Barnes and Noble...but there's one more way to get your hands on a copy.  CONTEST TIME!

That's right....thanks to author Paul H. Magid and Tribute Books Blog Tours, I am please to announce that YOU have the CHANCE TO WIN 1 of 3 paperback copies of the book!  Exciting, isn't it?  ^_^  Hang on, try to control your enthusiasm for a moment, there are a few NEED TO KNOW rules to read first.  From now through midnight CST January 30th, simply leave a comment on this post with your email address, and BOOM, you're in it to win.  Contest is open to US addresses only, no P.O. Boxes please.

So there you have it!  Another bookish find to share and be shared...this time around it comes with a message that's good for the soul.  Good luck to all that enter! 

Until next time...happy reading!