Living Jackson Magazine

The Gift Horse
A review by Nick Bledsoe

As a book collector, I am always fascinated by an author’s first book. I am also partial to southern writers, especially Georgia authors. Normally I limit my collecting to hardbacks, but I have recently finished reading one in “wraps”— a sophisticated term for a paperback.

Pamela J. Dodd is a Jackson County author who has two books, both in wraps. Her first is The Gift Horse printed in 2004 by Booklocker. The second is Trinity on Tylos printed in 2006 by Whisky Creek Press. Trinity is science fiction. The information on the cover makes it plain that the Trinity at hand is not related to the Christian concept. Both printers are services to authors who self-publish and offer little promotional support. When Dodd makes the big time, those who have these books in their collection will be glad they acquired them.

In Gift Horse, 294 pages cover a time span of epic proportion. The tale begins when Angela Donalson, a seventeen-year-old Georgia high school student from a meager, moral background, seeks a scholarship as a path to material success. Her benefactor is Marc Avery, a man of old south wealth who wants a female companion tailored to his specifications.

Angela is abducted and trained in a remote, luxurious home in Tennessee by a staff that is bound in strange loyalty to Avery. The lead trainer, Billie Chapman, is a former Marine who uses boot camp methods to bring Angela to heel. Her tactics include bondage, humiliation, physical training, and corporal punishment. Angela is groomed in the finer things of life including dining, clothing, personal care, and cooking—all the amenities she coveted as a young girl. She is being transformed to become Avery’s mistress. A tutor is provided to complete her high school work and, under strict supervision, she is allowed to become a day student at a small local college.

Law enforcement officers have discovered that kidnap victims will eventually develop ironic loyalty and bonding with their captors. As time passes, Angela exhibits this phenomenon, going from being a forced lover to willingly being in love with Avery. The bubble bursts when Avery marries a Charleston socialite to produce his heir. When the two women are brought together, it is not pretty; but circumstances force them to be cooperative for survival.

The plot will keep you wondering what will happen next and how these episodes can come to a romantic conclusion. Do not let your mind question the leaps in time and the logistics needed for some things to happen. I think a flashback style similar to Pat Conroy’s Prince of Tides would have helped in dealing with the time jumps. Still, it is a story well told.

In response to a young author’s question about how hard it is to get something published, Stuart Woods said that it was not hard to get something published. The hard part was writing something worth publishing. Dodd reveals the difficulty she had in trying to sign with a publisher on her website (www.pamelajdodd.com). I think in time she will find a good editor who can carry her into the hardback field with a major publisher.

Where to find The Gift Horse
• Downtown Interiors in Jefferson
• And these web sites:

Booklocker
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Books A Million

Nick Bledsoe is a book collector, retired engineer, Rotarian and a Rotary Student Trustee. He has served on the Jefferson Library Board and the East Georgia Chapter of the Red Cross. A resident of Jefferson, he sometimes demonstrates tools at woodworking workshops.

Jefferson native Pamela J. Dodd is a former Jefferson High School teacher, a mother, and a long-time lover of speculative literature. Her debut novel, The Gift Horse, is a contemporary suspense piece and her newest novel is a futuristic story with romantic elements entitled Trinity on Tylos. For more information, visit her web site at www.pamelajdodd.com.