Review Tour + #Giveaway: The Orientation of Dylan Woodger by Chiuba Obele @ChiubaE @GoddessFish

The Orientation of Dylan Woodger

by Chiuba E. Obele

GENRE: Crime Fiction

BLURB:

Solving mysteries is never easy. Dealing with an infuriated mob boss and acute amnesia only makes it worse.

"The Orientation of Dylan Woodger" is the story of a young man who is torn between his capacity to do evil and his desire to do what’s right. This book explores racism and feminism, and addresses controversial topics such as male rape, hate crimes, and misogyny toward women. Readers may be disturbed by the characters, but the book aspires to be hopeful, as these characters ultimately succeed in finding some measure of humanity.

Dylan Woodger is a college student who is captured and tortured by the mafia. After amnesia obscures the last three years of his life, Dylan learns that he has stolen three million dollars from a ruthless mafia boss. When, how, and why – he doesn’t remember. But someone betrayed him and gave him a drug that erased his memory. He was then given over to be tortured.

Determined to recover his memory, Dylan begins delving into the events of the past. But as each new piece of the puzzle falls into place, Dylan realizes that no one is who they seem . . . especially himself. People who claim to be his friends are hiding secrets from him. And his girlfriend is beautiful, but that’s all he knows about her. Who are these people? And who is Dylan? Even he doesn’t know! But he has links to rapists, white supremacists, and murderers. And his quest for the truth is made even more complicated by the presence of assassins, gangsters, and detectives.

There are so many unanswered questions . . . But first, Dylan must survive the torture.

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Excerpt:

WHO WAS I? Dylan J. Woodger

Where was I? I wasn’t sure.

What time was it? I had no clue.

Why was I here? I didn’t know

What I did know, was that it was fucking cold. I could feel undergrowth beneath me. My eyes darted around. There were trees as far as the eye could see. I had a raging headache. I couldn’t move my hands or feet. I looked down at my prone body and saw rope wrapped tightly around my ankles. I couldn’t move my hands — they were tied behind my back. My wrists hurt, and whatever bound them also cut into my arms. I had a pain in my shoulder. It hurt bad. But it was nothing compared to the pain that I would suffer once I fell into the hands of the Utica Mafia.

But we’re not there yet.

In my mind, it was yesterday that my mother dropped me off at Hamilton College. I went to sleep, then woke up in the woods. It was warm and sunny when Mom left me. But now, I woke up in the freezing cold. I thought it was August and I couldn’t figure out how it could get so cold. And why was I tied up? And could the pain in my shoulder be…a bullet wound? But how could it be a bullet wound? I’d never been shot at!

I knew I had to get outta there, or else I’d freeze to death. Most people aren’t experts in rope tying. Usually, the average person without formal training doesn’t know how to do a good job. And this rope tying definitely wasn’t the work of a professional. So I felt confident I could escape. I managed to free my arms with some wriggling though it took more skin off my wrists. Then I focused on freeing my legs. I kicked off my shoes and pulled my feet out of the rope. Once my feet were free, I used my hands to pull the leg bonds down. I was now free, but still clueless. Who had done this to me? One thing I knew for sure: this was the work of an amateur who didn’t know how to properly tie someone up.

Oh, and I noticed something strange about myself. I grew facial hair and had put on some muscle. But when did that happen? I hadn’t looked in a mirror, but I doubted I was the same baby-faced boy my mom had dropped off that morning.

Just then, I heard a group of men shouting out of sync. “Hello, is anybody here? Hello?”

I felt relieved. Did the police send out a search party for me?

I was eager to get out of the cold, and my first instinct was to shout, “Over here!”

That was my first mistake.

My Review:

The last thing Dylan Woodger remembers is being dropped off at college by his mother. The next thing he knows he wakes up and three years have gone by. He has lost three years of his life. Dylan awakens to a life of crime. He can’t believe all the things he is being told that he has done. He doesn’t believe that he would do half the things he is being told that he did.

The mafia claims that he stole three million dollars from them but of course, Dylan has no member of this. The mob captures Dylan and torches him trying to find out where their money is but of course he doesn’t know. Hoping to get him to spill his guts Dylan is raped and beaten. They threaten the lives of his extended family hoping that he will corporate.

I guess after a while they start to believe him and let him go on one condition and that is he has to find their money or they will kill him and the rest of his family. Oh and he can’t go to the police either.

After the mob lets him go Dylan starts looking into his past hoping to find out what happened to him. Dylan learns that he has friends that he never knew about. He couldn’t believe that he had friends, he didn't before. Are these people truly his friends or are they lying to him? Who are these people? What do they want with him?

It took me a while to connect with the characters but once I did I was lost in their world. The more about Dylan’s past was revealed the more I began to understand him. It took a while but he did start to grow on me. At first, I couldn’t figure out who was telling the truth and who wasn’t. The Orientation of Dylan Woodger held onto its secrets revealing them slowly one at a time. The mystery alone is enough to keep the pages turning.

The mafia boss didn’t seem too realistic to me as he didn’t act like you would think a mafia boss would act. I mean he let Dylan go instead of killing him but I guess there are some bad guys with a heart too or maybe he just wanted his money and that was the only way he thought he could get it.

The Orientation of Dylan Woodger is a dark story and may not be for everyone. The Orientation of Dylan Woodger touches on violence, male rape, murder, racism, misogyny, and more.  

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

CHIUBA EUGENE OBELE is a poet, writer, and author of The Orientation of Dylan Woodger: A Central New York Crime Story. He can usually be found reading a book, and that book will more likely than not be a crime fiction novel. Chiuba lives and works out of his home in Boston, Massachusetts. When not absorbed in the latest page-turner, Chiuba enjoys spending his summers vacationing with his parents, siblings, and nieces and nephews.

Twitter ~ Facebook

 

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