This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Michael Howard is an engineer and a mystic. He studied engineering and made his living in the engineering consulting field. But, like many post-modern people, he was disillusioned with modern ‘successes’ and sought something more than the answers he was getting.
So he studied theology and philosophy and found himself drawn more and more into the world's mystical traditions.
Then life chose to teach him more. His wife fell ill with a terminal disease. And his mystical journey got altogether more real.
Reviewed by Romuald Dzemo for Readers' Favorite
On The Fifth Night by Michael Howard is a very beautiful story of a man who struggles to find meaning in his experience of love and suffering, of life and death, a man with his moments of flights. After losing his first wife, Greta, to a terminal disease, Mark Hanson finds love and emotional shelter in Anne, a woman he is going to lose too (and I won’t tell how), but living with Anne brings out the best and the worst in him, leading him on a journey that will transform his life in unimaginable ways.
The book reads like a journey into another’s consciousness, into another’s experience of madness, one of those stories that make readers pause and wonder who they are, because it reminds them of their insanity and the strain of life. For how can big “blow-ups” become an aphrodisiac and how can people feel more connected by the very thing that should pull them apart – violent fights? There are a lot of unusual things going on in Mark’s life, and it is interesting to watch how he develops from an ordinary person with a strong passion for traveling the world to a man capable of feeling “All of life’s perfections and imperfections … more pain, more love, and compassion.”
Michael Howard has developed a very complex character in Mark Hanson, a character who will appeal to many readers, and it is interesting to follow him in his astral travels --- which can be very symbolic of the flights most people take from the crude reality called life. It is also interesting to see how the author can weave the skirmishes of life into a moving story, capturing those intangible things that bind one human life to another in clear, beautiful prose. There is a lot of telling in the story, and while some readers might think this could be a weakness, it seems to result from the author’s gift for descriptive prose and I enjoyed the telling even more, especially those occasional commentaries on life that make readers think about the essentials.
Michael Howard artfully uses backstory without distracting readers from the powerful plot lines. On The Fifth Night is one of those books that will remind readers of the pain of just being human, a pain they can’t escape, because no man can run away from himself. A highly recommended read, thought-provoking, laced with symbolism, and utterly entertaining!
