The Tinker of Petros Book #1 Trilogy
UCS Press
April 10. 2011
Kindle
118
Amazon
Shelley Ballard’s debut novella is an allegory for the ages in the tradition of Tolkien and Lewis. It will strike a chord in readers’ hearts. The confrontation between Carl and Clovis will sear into their minds for a long time. Readers will never forget how Clovis collects his fee. Or the surprising sacrifice Carl makes to free people’s hearts from the clutches of the evil tinker.
An exceprt from this book:
All had gone well.
Or had it?
He couldn’t exactly remember. Such a strange feeling he had. You might be wondering what it feels like to a person who has just had a tiny piece of his heart plucked from his chest. For the baker, it was like a cold emptiness coming from some intangible place deep inside. He couldn’t quite locate it, but when he rubbed his hand over his chest, he could feel the tiny cut left by the blade Clovis had used to open his chest. That’s when the night’s events came back to him clearly and an involuntary shudder passed through him.
A short distance away, a pair of compassionate eyes had been watching the baker, noting all that had happened. They saw the confusion in the eyes of the baker and also the shudder that went through the man’s body. Tears rolled slowly and silently down the kind face of the tinker of Petros.
Review By S.C. Principale
Member of the Paranormal Romance Review Team
If you love C.S. Lewis or Tolkien, this is your cup of tea. Enter the quaint little village of Petros, which has always stood in the mountains, waiting for its inhabitants with homes already cut into the rock, kind people who know one another well, and Carl, the Tinker of Petros.
Carl makes only two requests. Let him fix what you break and share a bit of bread and meat with him. For this, he’ll fix anything broken and you’ll never need another tinker. This isn’t some sinister trap. Carl is genuinely a good man. He’s been there since the first people came to the mountains, since before Petros had its name. His kindness and willingness to help have imbued the town with much of its gentle character.
But over time, people began to doubt in Carl’s skill. Look how old he is. Look how ancient his tools are. People shut him out. They broke their promises. But did Carl become angry? Did he leave them? No.
One day, Clovis, a tinker from another city comes to the local cafe. Slyly, he points out that there MUST be other tinkers in other cities. Maybe the tinkers are better. After all, the people of Petros don’t know how good Carl is, since they have nothing to compare him to. Once his words sink in, it isn’t long before someone from Petros follows his trail of verbal breadcrumbs and ends up at the tinker’s in the next town. It’s none other than Clovis himself.
Clovis doesn’t demand money, either. He just wants a little piece of your heart. With his hypnotic eyes, people feel no pain as a tiny slice is removed from their still-beating hearts. But the next day, they can’t remember a thing, their eyes are a bit duller, and their hearts are colder and harder. Of course, since no one remembers exactly why they feel uneasy going to Clovis, the people of Petros keep going… until at last Carl goes to the City of the Gate to do battle for the people he loves. He’ll offer Clovis his entire heart, if there’s a tool worthy enough to take it.
A twist on a salvation story teamed with fairytale elements makes this a stunning, simple allegory. It speaks of pure love and hope for humankind… but this is only the beginning. What happens when Carl takes on a tinker’s apprentice? We’ll have to find out.