The Collage

by Rene Natan

Overview

A clever plot entraps beautiful Allison Summer in a web of deceit and violence. Alone in her struggle, she doesn’t know whom to trust: not her father, not her husband, not even the handsome man who pledges his love to her.
But when the life of the man she loves is at stake, Allison takes control of her destiny. And she will not stop until the innocent are free and the guilty secured behind bars.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940044796713
Publisher:	Rene Natan
Publication date:	08/16/2012
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	755 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Since I was a little girl I wanted to be a storyteller. At recess time I would gather some of my schoolmates and entertain them with stories—some of my own, others just summaries of books I read. When I retired, after a career as a professor of computer science at The University of Western Ontario, I reverted to my old passion. I took several e-courses on fiction writing and began putting down my plots. So far I have written eight novels, several short stories and co-authored a novella. The genre varies from romantic suspense (Mountains of Dawn, The Collage, Cross of Sapphires, Operation Woman in Black, The Red Manor) to thriller (The Jungfrau Watch, The Blackpox Threat, The Bricklayer). Most of these books are available on Amazon.com; The Blackpox Threat is also available at Smashwords as an e-book.HONORSThe Blackpox Threat won First Place in the 2012 Five Star Dragonfly Award and was a Finalist in the 2011 National Indie Excellence Award; The Bricklayer got an Honorary Mention in the 2012 San Francisco Book Competition.Visit me at vermeil.biz or send an email to [e-mail] the Tone:Review of Rene Natan’s Mountain of DawnsBy Frank MundoMountain of Dawns opens with a bang, literally: an explosion which kills one young woman named Kathy Alcin and injures another named Tanya Caldwell.22 year-old Tanya Caldwell is an artist, “a dreamer” and a student at the Mackenzie Academy for the Visual Arts in Vermeil, Ontario, 80 miles outside of Toronto. “…Quiet. Well-mannered. Neat,” Tanya’s “a bit strange…like all creative people”. Orphaned as a child, Tanya dreams of dusty roads and the fosters homes she has bounced in and out of throughout her childhood. With no family, no money, and with no apparent connections to the world other than her art, Tanya seems harmless and rather insignificant in the grand scheme of things. So, why in the world would anyone want to kill her?The explosion we learn, however, is not an accident, but a car bomb. A mob-style hit which seems to have been intended for Tanya, who had only loaned her car to her roommate for the day. Oddly enough, we learn that this isn’t the first (and won’t be the last) attempt on Tanya’s life as we follow her through the twists and turns of Rene Natan’s novel billed as a Romance/Thriller.Okay, I know what you’re thinking: Oh no, Romance novel, right? Those cheesy books at the grocery store with a glossy, embossed picture of a pastel, ruffle-bloused Fabio and his big tan man-boobs on the cover. That’s what I was thinking too when I was asked to review it. Thankfully, this is not one of those books (which, depressingly, by the way, are among the most sellable and most sought after manuscripts in all of genre fiction these days). Mountain of Dawns is far more thrilling than romantic in that sense. As Tanya flees to the Riviera (a safe haven for her art as well) she does have a romantic affair with a publisher named Kevin Matwin, and does meet up with an Italian Count with suspicious international connections and serious clout. But the “romantic” element, if anything, is linked more to a type of storytelling made famous by “sentimental” writers of the past, writers such as Harriet Beecher Stowe or the Bronte sisters, and not the modern, escapist bologna that titillated housewives hide under their mattresses. In fact, Tanya Caldwell resembles, as a character, the character Jane Eyre in many ways, from her orphaned childhood to her mysterious ancestry and surprising windfalls.The plot of Mountain of Dawns owes quite a bit to the plot of Charlotte Bronte’s famous feminist romance Jane Eyre as well. Those familiar with Bronte’s story know that I can’t say much more about the plot of Natan’s novel without spoiling the twists and surprising turn of events which link the innocent Tanya Caldwell to the financial motive of her corrupted and desperate would-be killers. Those unfamiliar with Jane Eyre (which I was forced to read in five different lit classes over the years) will just have to take my word for it.Natan’s style, however, does differ from Bronte’s in that it lacks the strong biased tone and the heavy-handed ultra-sentimentalism of the old-fashion Romance novels. At times her prose even seems a bit journalistic and somewhat detached, (void of that tone or bias so apparent in those early romantic works) despite her story’s extremely personal nature and clever plot twists -- a story which closes, as it opens, with another surprising bang. Personally, I think her book might’ve benefited from a first person point-of-view, with a biased Tanya Caldwell at the wheel. After all, there’s nothing wrong with a bias in fiction. Honestly, I prefer it. I’ve even come, in many instances, to expect it. It is what creates the tone of most fiction.But, then again, I’ve always had a bias toward the first person narrative.Mountain of Dawns is Rene Natan’s first novel published in 1999 by Juppiter99 (available both in eBook and paperback versions) at very reasonable prices. Her other novels include Cross of Sapphires and The Collage (reviewed by Adrienne Jones and available in The Swamp’s “Review Archives“). Natan is also the author of shorter works Killing on Mount Yula, A Pair of Wings for Christmas, and Operation: Woman in Black. She is currently at work on a new novel.From the Social MediaFrom the Press: newsblaze.com/story/20110320075530zzzz.nb/topstory.htmlcentralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=18849From the Frankie Boyer BLOG: frankieboyer.typepad.com/blog/2011/07/ frankie-boyers-guest-line-up-for-wednesday-7611.htmlFrom KEMW-FM radio station Dr. Jim Lee presents Rene Natan: Interview

Read an Excerpt

Allison tried to shake off the fog that muffled her mind. Shaking her head was a mistake. Her skull pounded with a throbbing pain. She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the pain to subside. That's when the musty smell of old floorboards invaded her nose and seemed to reach deep into her stomach.

Ian grabbed her shoulder. "Oh, no. You're not passing out on me." He pulled her to her feet, holding her at arm's length.

The feel of his hands cupping her elbows was enough to lift the fog, as tears of humiliation and grief stung her eyes. All she wanted was to get out of the house, away from herself, and the terrible ache tearing her up inside.

Ian's hand tightened on her wrist. He moved towards the den, dragging her with him.

"I don't know why you pretended to--to love me. But it's all been a big mistake. All we can do now is forget about it all and go our separate ways." Her voice trailed off to a sob.

He didn't say anything, just kept pulling her along. She didn't want to go into the den...not ever again. Allison dug in her heels, throwing her weight back to stop him.

"Why are you doing this? Ian, let go."

"Just a big mistake, huh?" He glared at her, his face tight with anger. "We should just forget about it, right?"

Allison stumbled over an end table and crashed into the wall. The tears she'd been holding back blurred her vision. She was cold to the marrow, her head hurt and her whole body felt sore, as if her heartache was a physical pain. Ian's face swam in and out of focus as she blinked back her tears. "What do you want from me, Ian? Why won't you let me go?"

He made no reply. Instead, he grabbed a fistful of her nightgown and steered her towards thefireplace.

"There's your mistake," he said. "Now tell me you can walk away from it."

A young man lay sprawled on the rug, one arm thrown up as if to protect himself. His face was dappled with blood; part of his skull was crushed. Bits of scalp clung to the cast-iron poker next to his head.

"You were drunk," Ian said.

Allison shook her head, numb with shock. Her eyes were glued to the poker. She'd bought it at an antique shop a couple of days after the wedding, only to find out that the fireplace wasn't working.

"Drunk, and choked with rage."

"No." Allison staggered back, shaking her head. "No!"

"Yes. You killed him, Allison."