By Wayne C. Rogers
Amazon’s Kindle, 99 cents, 2015, 133 pps
This novella is not only good, it’s fantastic, and that’s an understatement!
The story is about Tojo Smith, the Crimson Demon, who happens to be an actual demon, but is disguised as a human being. His parents are also demons and were sent to the earth plane years before to stir up hate and discontent amongst the human populace.
Tojo’s fate is much the same.
When he grows up, his mission is to also instigate hate, anger and discontent. Of course, the main question for Tojo and his parents is how will he accomplish this?
As a child, Tojo Smith watches a lot of television so he can learn the behavior patterns of human beings. One television program that catches his undivided attention is Championship Wrestling. From that point on, Tojo knows he wants to be a professional wrestler when he grows up.
When Tojo is old enough, he goes to a wrestling boot camp and learns the ropes of his chosen profession. Because of his huge size, he’s automatically classified as the villain and is named The Crimson Demon. This is perfect for Tojo. As the villain he can get the crowds to hate and boo him. The only problem with this is that Tojo is a pretty nice guy for a demon. He’s friendly, has a good heart, and loves the audience. But, more importantly, he loves professional wrestling and will do whatever it takes to make the audience happy.
In time, the audience begins to chant Tojo’s name at every wrestling event. The giant doesn’t know what to do or think. Even his manager thinks it might be a good idea for him to turn face, or become the good guy as many villainous wrestlers do in the latter part of their careers. But Tojo doesn’t want to be the good guy. He likes being the villain. The Crimson Demon just doesn’t know how to get the audience to change back to booing him again.
Everything gets more complicated as a representative of Hell visits Tojo with new instructions. Tojo will have to make some important decisions before long, and the reader can only hope that it’s the right one.
I have to tell you that Turning Face is definitely a fun novella to read. You find yourself laughing out loud at some of the antics Tojo goes through, and then before you know it, you’re shouting along with the crowd of wrestling fans…Tojo, Tojo, Tojo!
Make no mistake in that Tojo Smith is a reluctant hero, but a hero never the less. You’ll find yourself forgiving Tojo for being a demon and hissing at the bad guy, who wants to hurt and destroy our favorite wrestler. You’ll even find yourself cheering for Tojo.
If you love wrestling, then this is the book for you. If you don’t know anything about the sport and entertainment of championship wrestling, then you will before the book is finished.
The author, Terry M. West, knows his stuff and has put his love for wrestling into every single sentence. You can instantly tell just how much he enjoyed writing about this subject within the fiction context. Also, the prose isn’t pretentious, but rather smooth and easy going like syrup being poured on a stack of hot pancakes. The reader can find himself reading forty pages and then wondering where the time went.
Like the title says, Turning Face: A Tale of Horror, Comedy and Wrestling, combines all three elements into this exciting story of right and wrong. It certainly offers the reader hours of pure enjoyment. You won’t go wrong in reading this!
THE NEWEST HORROR COLLECTION IS UNLEASHED – ORDER NOW!
