10/25/2004
Special to The News-Item
KULPMONT — Unrequited love, existentialism — and a talking Jack Russell terrier named Nick — all figure into the plot in Kulpmont author William B. Smith’s second novel, Starry Night (paperback, 288 pages, 6-by-9-inch, $24.95). Written under the pen name of W. Bryan Smith, Smith’s follow-up to 2002’s “Buddy & the Jack” follows a broken-hearted private eye named Jay and his efforts to reclaim the hand of the woman he loves in a sleepy Pennsylvania village in the Coal Region.
Daizee has left Jay and his world has fallen apart. After a bout of depression leads the private eye to a nervous breakdown, he suddenly hears his faithful four-legged companion, Nick, speak. Convinced he’s gone mad, Jay does his best to ignore the dog. But then neighbor Ned Church hears the dog speak, too, and Jay questions his sanity even further. Ned Church suffers from brain damage, the result of a mysterious accident that’s left the town gossips whispering for years. His revelation that he can also seemingly hear the dog speak, does little to ease Jay’s mind.
But when Nick hatches a plan to get Jay’s beloved Daizee back, Jay reluctantly listens. Soon Jay, Nick and Ned find themselves at the center of a mystery with Daizee at its core.
An excerpt from the novel:
Jay squinted in amazement at the sky, shielded his eyes from the brightness. The stars swirled wildly out of control and the moon drooped, too heavy for the dark to hold. “Nick…” he heard himself call, and he directed his remaining energies toward his dog.
“Nick.”
With that word, that thought, the madness halted and the episode ended as suddenly as it had begun.
Order had been restored.
Almost — except for a voice whispering in his ear.
“It’s okay, old sport. I’m here.”
But there was no one else in the garden, only Nick.
“Nick?”
He found his dog standing beside him — tall, proud, his face white glowing — the starry night reflecting in his eyes.
“Nick?”
The dog’s expression confirmed the impossible.
It was Nick.
But, how.
In Starry Night, Smith returns to Mt. Canaan, Pennsylvania, in a wonderfully philosophical tale of love and a dog’s quest for the meaning of life.
Smith was born in New Haven, Conn., in 1971. He is a graduate of Mount Carmel Area and Reading Area Community College. He works for CNA Insurance in Reading.
Smith is the son of Sandra Smith, 319 N. Orange St., Mount Carmel, and the grandson of Angela Bernetski, 35 W. Sixth St., Mount Carmel. He lives with his wife, Stacy, his stepdaughter, Morgan Cope, and their Jack Russell terrier, Chopper.
He is currently working on his third novel, a ghost story tentatively titled “The Grey Lady.”
“Starry Night” is available through the publisher, Publish America, at www.publishamerica.com, or by telephone, 1-877-333-7422. The book is also available through online booksellers Amazon and Barnes & Noble, as well as Waldenbooks.
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