Book Review: Sting by B.J. Rowley

Book:  Sting

Author:  B.J. Rowley

Pages:  272

Format: Paperback

Publisher:  Golden Wings Enterprises  (March 2001)
Book Source:  Private Loan

Category:  Young Adult Speculative Fiction

Style:  Page-turner

Here is a classic case of "don't judge a book by its cover".  I guess it could also be a lesson on how the right cover art is vital to that all-important first impression.

When I saw this book sitting on the shelf in my family room, I confess, I didn't think much of it.  It looked rather—well—cheesy unprofessional.  However, when my daughter-in-law recommended it and I understood her friendship with the author, I felt courtesy demanded that I should read it.  I was quite pleasantly surprised.  That was earlier this year.

I was reminded of it again when I read this book, Master of Emotion by D. Ogden Huff.  Like that work, a socially outcast teenager, Stephen Ray "Sting" Fischer, who shuns physical contact out of necessity, is rescued from his lonely fate by the new girl in town, Connie Phillips, who hasn't been around long enough to learn the "rules" about him.  His "abilities" (a great word in speculative fiction) capture his attention.  Her mysterious past intrigues him.  Romance ensues.