Independent Author Hits Number One

Feb. 19, 2013 - PRLog -- Independent author, Jim Musgrave’s ebook, Freak Story: 1967-1969 hit number one in African American Historical fiction and number fourteen in Coming of Age novels over the weekend of February 16th.

Freak Story opened to rave reviews from readers and critics alike. One reader has this to say, "This novel has everything: a coming of age story, a family drama, and a thriller, all in one splendid read!"

Jacob M. Appel, author of The Man Who Wouldn’t Stand Up (winner of the Dundee International Book Prize, 2012) states, “…Part zany alternate history of the late 1960s, part moving drama of family and personal growth, Freak Story creates a unique and thoroughly engrossing universe all its own. Like Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test or T. C. Boyle’s Drop City, Musgrave’s novel adds another layer of depth to our understanding of the American psyche at the height of the counterculture revolution. It’s a fun, fast-paced and strikingly original accomplishment—in short, an adventure not to be missed.”

The story covers the life of Buddy Hartman who was adopted by a woman to please her husband. When her husband leaves, the woman becomes a prostitute and drug addict. Buddy learns early that life teaches you to be selfish.

At 31, Buddy is a music promoter who writes mysteries on the side, yet he feels incomplete. He goes in search of his biological mother and discovers she is still alive, living in Charlotte, North Carolina. However, she is a freak who is 1/2 of the famous Hilton Twins, Siamese sisters who were vaudevillians in the 1920s and '30s, and are now living in poverty.

Buddy's life is changed forever when he takes his mother and aunt to the 1968 Chicago Democratic National Convention. He learns what being a freak really means, as the power of the State meets the power of the counterculture heroes. But this is the late '60s, and heroes are falling all around him. When Buddy meets up with his father he receives the biggest surprise of all.

Freak Story is available for download from Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Freak-Story-1967-1969-ebook/dp/B00BBKEVFS/

Mr. Musgrave is available for interviews. Contact him at 619-286-8936 or email him at jimmusgrave@cox.net.