The Memory Tree (eBook)

The Memory Tree
by John R. Little

About the eBook:
A heartbreaking story of love and evil.

Sam Ellis is a middle-aged stock broker living in Seattle, successful, married to a woman he dearly loves, with everything he could want. But below the surface, there are scars.

Then his world changes. For reasons he doesn't understand, Sam is thrust back in time to 1968, the summer he turned thirteen. He meets his parents and his own childhood self.

That summer changed Sam's world. Monsters walked the streets of his hometown, and now Sam will come face to face with those monsters again, this time as an adult.

Nothing will ever be the same.

John R. Little was born in London, Canada, and started writing short stories at the age of twelve. The stories he wrote at the time are not memorable.

After graduating university with a major in Computer Science and a minor in Math, he moved to Vancouver, one of the most beautiful cities in North America. His first publications trickled in. At the same time, the business world called and kept John busy working on designing large-scale computer applications.

John has two wonderful grown children, Peri and Christian, and two grand-children. Christian's daughter is Mariechen, and Peri's daughter is Cavell.

Recently, John has started writing again with a passion, and has had a number of publications, with others planned for the coming year.

His first novel, The Memory Tree, was published by Nocturne Press in 2007. It was nominated for the Bram Stoker award for best first novel. A novella, Placeholders, was then published by Necessary Evil Press. This book was nominated for the Black Quill award.

Praise for the Book:
Gary A. Braunbeck:
Writers work their entire lives in the hopes of one day producing something this astonishing.  The Memory Tree is a  privilege to experience.  I don't think a finer first novel will appear this year.

Booklist:
Little's elegantly crafted, stripped-down prose sustains a quietly powerful meditation on the ghosts of memory and will appeal to anyone harboring a secret yen to exorcise childhood demons.

Thomas F. Monteleone:
The Memory Tree is a beautifully written and well-plotted story . . . Simply put: this is a great debut novel.

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction:
I loved how John Little brought the blue-collar lives of small town characters to life.  And that he showed that while it might have been a simpler time back then [1968], people are always complicated.  I always appreciate a good time travel story . . . and if you give this a try, I think you’ll like it, too.

Cemetery Dance Magazine:
A well-crafted and self-assured debut, I had to remind myself I was in the hands of a newcomer . . . Grab this one, folks and keep an eye on Little—he’s the real deal. I can’t wait to see what he’s got next up his sleeve.

Horror Fiction Review:
. . . the first great debut of 2007 . . . First novels rarely pack this much punch.

Apex Science Fiction and Horror Digest:
I wouldn't be surprised to find The Memory Tree on different nominee lists for 2007 Best First Novel.

From Ronald Kelly:
The Memory Tree is a journey unlike any I have ever taken before.  This masterful novel by John R. Little is brutally disturbing and, yet at the same time, tenderly poignant.

From Hellnotes:
I’d stack many a phrase captured within The Memory Tree with anything Bradbury or Keene has produced. The Memory Tree puts Little at the top of my watch list for fresh new voices, and I anticipate that his future works will prove me out.  He is a writer with which to be reckoned.

From Horror Drive-In:
I knocked out The Memory Tree in record time and I absolutely loved it.  Frankly, it’s one of the best novels I’ve read all year.

From Horror World:
Fans of Ray Bradbury may find some similarity in style here, but John Little is definitely a writer with his own unique way to tell a story. The Memory Tree is very highly recommended!

From John Paul Allen:
The Memory Tree is one of the best . . . maybe the best work I’ve read in the last two to three years.

From Kealan Patrick Burke:
It’s a heartbreaking and at times, deeply unsettling read.  Little doesn’t pull any punches with his descriptions of the tragedy that lies at the core of Sam’s life, but it’s handled exactly as it should be – with brutal unflinching honesty.