Brain Boxing

Brain Boxing by Rodney Johnson is a collection of short fictional stories that have many and varying themes. Many of the stories are thrillers, as they are full of tension, drama, and suspense. The author aims to describe events and explore numerous themes, while he writes using a direct style, spontaneously and clearly, thereby engaging the reader in his stories.

The author begins his collection of stories by briefly introducing each story by providing a small summary of each story. The book contains fifteen short stories in total, while most of them contain elements of horror. This means that the author creates thrillers that grasp the reader’s attention, evoking pathos, emotion, and suspense. The first story in the book is about the reactions of a person after encountering a horrific event. The rest of the stories follow a similar pattern, with death, horror, and revenge being prominent themes in the book.

There were several elements I appreciated in this book. More analytically, the author utilizes linguistic devices and narrative techniques to create horror, suspense, and tension in his stories, which engages the reader in the stories. Moreover, I encountered only a single error in the entire book, which means that the book has been professionally edited, so it is easy to read. Furthermore, what I liked most about this book was that the author was original and spontaneous, as I felt that the author had experienced the stories he wrote. The presence of dialogue and the use of the present tense also added originality to the text, making the book seem realistic.

Nevertheless, the book also contained numerous negative attributes. More specifically, I felt confused in many places in the book. I believe the author has failed to add significant details, therefore creating confusion in the stories, as there is no logical, coherent flow in certain places in the book. To add to this, the book contains many vulgar expressions, as well as explicit violence, while some sexual descriptions are also present. This undermines the author’s credibility, distracting the reader from the main plot in the story, making the book hard to read.

This book is likely to appeal mostly to male adults that enjoy reading thrillers. The book is not suitable for young readers since it contains vulgar words, violent scenes, and sexual descriptions. Besides this, men are more likely to enjoy reading this book, as the author writes from a man’s perspective, and some parts in the book may be offensive for women.

Selectively, I rate this book with 2 out of 4 stars. I did not give the book a higher rating because it was confusing to read and hard to understand in certain places, but also because I encountered many profane words in the book. However, a lower rating would have been unjust, as the author has successfully created short thrillers that engage the reader.

- Online Book Club for Readers