Review of "Tempered Throne" @Solsticepublish, @Solsticeshadows

I just finished reading “Tempered Throne” by Ray Owen.  It was a well-conceived piece of literature.  This is actually several stories going on simultaneously running parallel to one another but not intersecting for nearly the entire book.  The main storyline revolves around Stewart Finney, a high level engineer who displays few redeemable qualities.  He is a gambler and thief.  Stewart attempted to steal his friend’s wife, tried to kill the same friend and would seem to have an obsessive compulsive disorder about being clean all the time.  He is being followed and murders keep happening around him.  Then there is a pesky problem he has with birds; particularly blackbirds following him and showing up at the oddest times.
Then there is the story of a young boy named Pig.  If ever there was a dysfunctional family poster child, it was Pig.  His alcoholic father abuses him physically and emotionally without caring for the boy or his basic needs.  The father takes up with Tina, an evil woman who hates Pig even more than his father and makes the boy’s life unbearable.  Both stories continue independently until the very end.  A word of advice to the reader.  Go over the last chapters slowly or you could miss some things.  The author took characters that a person would not usually pull for and makes you care about them.  He leaves clues along the journeys for you to piece the story together.  It’s like a jigsaw puzzle.  You don’t see what you have until it’s finished.  When it is done, though, you will be glad you read it.