I recently was sitting in class at my college university when out of the blue, a classmate leaned over and produced a book from the bottom of her striped canvas bag. "I bought this just for you. I thought that you could relate," she confessed. The book was Full Tilt by Atlanta-based author, Creston Mapes.
The second in Mapes' popular Rock Star Chronicles series, Full Tilt is the riveting 2006 sequel to his 2005 debut, Dark Star. In short, the series tells the fictional story of Everett Lester, the once out-of-control frontman for the platinum-selling heavy metal band, DeathStroke. A man battling many demons — the usual rock and roll suspects — sex, drugs, booze, greed, ego and the like, Lester ultimately experiences his own "Damascus Road" awakening and realizes his true life purpose. But even after discovering and accepting the love, grace and forgiveness of Christ, his troubles are far from over. Darn those Badinos!
Simply put,
Full Tilt pushed all of my buttons. At the risk of abusing a perfectly good cliche', it literally had me on the edge of my seat as I burned through each chapter like a hot knife through butter (cliche' #2). In fact, Mapes' vivid accounts of mobsters, murder and
meth often gave me chills.
Mapes is an amazing storyteller, captivating me with non-stop suspense while remaining focused on a broader faith-based message. From my own first-hand past experiences in the rock and roll world to my current path pursuing Christian ministry, I've personally lived out much of
Full Tilt. Hence, I can endorse the story as being completely authentic and believable. Mapes paints his characters with
Picasso-like precision — so real and endearing that I felt personally connected to them all — even those darn Badinos!
So much, that I actually felt as if I was an unmentioned extra placed in the middle of every scenario.
But despite the gripping intrigue, Mapes presents greater messages — one of Christ's radical love, and a challenge to us
all to love the unlovable. Solid stuff to be sure.
Although I'm somewhat accustomed to getting things bassackwards in life, I thought initially that I might miss something by diving into this two-part series in reverse. However, Full Tilt stands up just fine on its own — loud and proud. And I was left with no unanswered questions — that is until the very end, when I found myself salivating for Part Three.
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Christopher Long
(April 2013)
http://christopherlongshowbizguru.blogspot.com/
