Hero

by Kevon Brown

Standing in the shadows of his friends Jason and Byron, Timothy Spears goes out determined to find his place. With his young sister Miley watching and his father breathing down his neck he was determined to prove he had something to offer. His frustrations and deep pains drove him to the edge as he was willing to do whatever it took to taste success. Breaking out of his friends’ shadow Tim finds himself on the side of a world that for so long he could only dream of. But when the world that he worked so hard to create is threatened Tim begins to learn the true colors of the people around him including himself.

266 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Hero' by Kevon Brown was a very interesting read since I was reading the story printed in the book but couldn't help 'reading between the lines' about what is going on today in society.

In the book the main character is Tim with important characters being his friends Byron and Jason. The three of them hung around together all the time in school and out. Tim was more of the shy quiet one with little confidence or even know what he really wanted to do once he was out of school. Byron was a talented football player following in his father's footsteps (he was a college player) and had a calm and cool style that will aid him going pro and Jason worshiped the ground his father walked on and wanted to go into politics himself.

The three of these friends really didn't do much 'different' than any other teens in their last year of high school. They partied and met girls, hung out and played video games. They were always together or at least where one was the other two weren't that far behind. However as each of them 'grew up' and went off to college things changed in some very unexpected ways.

Tim, the one who had it the hardest growing up facing tragedy after tragedy ends up being CEO of a gaming company. Political favors, back stabbing, and giving up his values or at least changing them, all had a hand in his success. By the end of the book it was hard to recognize him as the same person at the beginning of the book since he traveled the road he had chosen to follow. The real questions that he should be answering is; why he wasn't among those playing hero and was it worth it?

Although this is a work of fiction, the events in the book taking place remind me of the Automotive and Bank Bailouts, Occupy Movement, even Martin Luther King and Micheal Jackson. I am not saying that these are really what the author intended but I see the similarities.

There was quite a bit of cursing and also a few minor errors in editing, such as hoping for hopping. At first I found it very hard to read because of the 'slang' but either it wasn't used as much as the story went on or I just ignored it. Even with that being said, I would recommend this not only for teens but parents of teens so they can see just what can happen even in the best of families. Even with all the 'heart to heart talks' and 'fatherly love and advise' and no matter how hard you try to do everything right, it is the things that you don't see that can destroy you or your son/your family.

[Martha Bryce · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kevon Brown has a lot of ideas - a lot of very good ideas, but I think that he was a bit too ambitious in trying to cover so many important topics in one novel.
The protagonist, Timothy Spears is a nice guy in high school who doesn’t go to college but manages to get a job at a technology magazine whose emphasis is gaming. He has played a lot of games in his life but has no experience in coding and has no charisma, so how he gets and rises to the top at the magazine - other than through long hours and hard work, is a real mystery. He played things safe in high school but had a couple of friends who seemed destined for greater things. One friend has a future in football and another, whose father is already a Senator wants to go into politics. Oddly enough, it is Tim who rises to a CEO position with the gaming magazine (on the coattails of a brilliant guy who his posse ignored in high school) and ends up making tons of money. Although he falls in love with and is engaged to a warm, beautiful woman, he ignores her to work, work and work. Tim’s only truly intimate relationship is with his little sister Miley. Tim betrays both his limited moral code and his fiance on the night she discloses her pregnancy by spending the night in the bed of an old girlfriend. That is definitely not the move of anyone’s hero. The book tries to cover a lot of ground, with allusions to racial inequity, social mores and Tim’s rap idol selling out to the man. Toward the end of the book, the author also brings in the dissolution of the middle class while the wealthy, like Tim himself, make egregious amounts of money through Tim’s personal confrontation with a group like Occupy Wall Street, that is protesting outside his building. The ending tries to pull all of the disparate themes together in a vision that the author thinks is tantamount to Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Unfortunately, his “vision” is incomprehensible babble that falls as short as the rest of the book.
I do understand that Brown was attempting an ethnic stream of consciousness type of format but it takes an extremely gifted writer and editor to successfully pull that off. Because the editing was not done by a highly skilled professional who has worked in stream of consciousness, much of Brown’s passion is lost through the extremely poor editing of the book.

[Stephanie Wolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of three high school friends, each different in their own way, and what happens to them while in the senior year and after graduation. One who is a very talented football jock, but who also knows that others are important. One who is the son of a politician and believes his father to be different from other politicians. The third being one with a harder life. His mother died, leaving his dad to raise him and his little sister. Teaching him to work hard for what he wants, not to expect things to be handed to you just because you want it, one of the most important lessons in life.

What should have been a good story, seeing what each of the three boys grew up to be, and where their lives took them, became a very difficult book to read. I am hoping it was just my Kindle copy, but unfortunately, I don’t think so. A good mix of characters, three boys who would not seem to be best friends by their personalities. However, it is very annoying to be reading and repeatedly have a series of numbers and either the title of the book, or the author randomly appear, sometimes at the end of a sentence or paragraph, sometimes in the middle of the sentences. In addition, numerous spelling and grammatical errors made for a slower and more complicated read. Run on sentences without any punctuation just seemed to add to the frustration. The book has great potential, but the author needs some editorial/publishing help.

[Kevon Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my writing of HERO TMP it was my objective to bring two cultures together and their thought processes through a middle man that was Timothy Spears. One of his friends was a son of a politician in a rich family while the other was a football star in High school living with a working class family. Through these two families weaving their ideas and concepts of life together, Timothy goes on to find himself. But he realizes that not all these ideas can co-exist similar to his friends, you had to choose one way or the other. As he works his way through the rest of High School and college he transforms himself knowing his sister Miley is looking up to him and his father is expecting something great from his oldest child. I took on alot in this first novel, but I believe I did a great job in weaving this story together giving my readers a lot to think about. Great for teenagers still trying to figure themselves out.