Realist Fiction with a touch of the macabre and a hint of redemption

by Shane Joseph
|
6 books
Author's Note
I have been a writer for more than twenty years and have favored pursuing “truth in fiction” rather than “money in formula.” I also spent over thirty years in the corporate world and was exposed to many situations reminiscent of those described in my fiction and in these recommended books. While I support enterprise, “enlightened capitalism” is preferable to the bare-knuckle type we have today, and which seems to resurface whenever regulation weakens. I also find writing novels that are closer to my lived experience connects me intimately with readers who are looking for socio-political, realist literature.
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See the source list and commentary at bluedenimpress.com

Victoria Unveiled

In Search of Sentience
Shane Joseph, 2024
With Chatbots and Large Language Models changing the world of writing and publishing dramatically, what happens when we introduce a sentient robot capable of feelings into the mix? Phil Kruger, inventor and serial womanizer, believes he has the answer in his creation, Victoria, the first sentient robot in the world, imbued with beauty, knowledge, and strength, and on a crash course to acquire human feelings through massive infusions of data. Arrayed against him are independent trade publisher, Artemius (Art) Jones and his rebellious and sexually starved daughter, Paula, an editor herself, who is determined to take her father’s failing press, Crimson Literary, into the indie world of self-publishing. The rest of the cast is made up of Sebastian Smyth, AI consultant and robotic lover; Kevin Bartolo, revolutionary poet and passionate lover of women and traditional publishing; Diana Dawson, Art’s ex-wife who dumped him for the younger Phil; Kamala Shah, the charismatic but calculating heir to the throne of Hind Robotics, the company bankrolling Phil’s AI venture; Viresh Shah, chairman of Hind Robotics, thirsting for South Asia to grab the pole position in AI technology. The worlds of publishing and AI clash, leading to some funny, saucy, and scary situations, leaving us with the existential question of how will we share this planet with our digital creations.

Paradise Revisited

Shane Joseph, 2013
Shane Joseph revisits his favourite haunt: the in-between world of the immigrant, where the past is unresolved and the present is incomplete. His characters are damaged, trying to make sense out of their lives, often having to journey back in time and place to find answers. Bandu bilks tourists for a living; Jamie loses love and home to exile; Mark meets the woman claiming to be his daughter and is forced to face the ghosts of those he betrayed; Ralph hunts down his crippled uncle to learn the art of survival; Paul becomes a best-selling author after a life-altering event as a boy in a hill country tea estate; Rohit is propelled to international fame by his arms-dealing father who manipulates him from the grave; and Ben plunges towards the supreme sacrifice by leaving New York and returning to make a contribution of conscience in his war-torn home country. The men are spurred on by powerful women in their lives-mothers, daughters, sisters, teachers, lovers and wives-women who act as motivators, detractors and inspirers. Moving between Sri Lanka and North America, these seven stories deal with the various stages of the immigrant journey. There are no happy endings, just soul-enriching ones, as each protagonist seeks his destiny while gaining valuable insights along the way.

In the Shadow of the Conquistador

Shane Joseph, 2015
After a silence of twenty years, Jimmy receives an unexpected letter from his old friend and nemesis, George, inviting him on a trek along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. Arriving in Lima, Jimmy finds the ailing George as mercurial as ever. They begin their odyssey, catching up on the intervening years, reliving periods when their lives had intersected, and revisiting the events that destroyed their relationship. Both men are haunted by the enigmatic Denise, the woman they had lured, loved and lost in Canada. Their conquest of Denise parallels the plunder of Peru by conquistadors Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro, the topic of a novel that George is writing in an attempt at self-discovery. On the Inca Trail, George and Jimmy meet trekkers Ali and Bea who exhibit the duality of Denise: beauty and introspection. They team up, even share tents. But there are many treacherous turns along the Trail before the travelers arrive in the sacred city where George is forced to confront his personal demons and Jimmy is pushed to reverse the legacy of the conquistadors. In this novel, Shane Joseph explores the hunger for conquest that drives change, the bonds of friendship that sustain faith, and the power of love that transcends evil.

Crossing Limbo

Deep Moments, Shallow Lives
Shane Joseph, 2017
Greed, desire, ambition, loss, illness, death, and the driving quest to find purpose in a meaningless world.--this literary collection tempts your palate with a multitude of themes and subjects, each more daring than the last. The characters in these 13 stories are wading through no man's land, wanting to escape, but first needing to complete their personal journeys through limbo. Opening with "Waiting for the Train," in which a young girl and a forgotten writer contemplate suicide, and closing with "The Long Road Back," wherein a woman uses tantric sex to heal the men in her life, the stories encompass all aspects of life without holding back. Nothing is off-limits: Joseph draws a picture of life in the raw and deals with tough topics in an honest and naked way. - The stories in Crossing Limbo are easy reads and range far and wide, traversing exceptional geographical landscapes and rough terrains of the mind. - Cris Rezel, journalist, Darwin, Western Australia - A Baker's dozen of stories cooked by a master chef are served up in this excellent book. - Wayne Fipke, Author of The Way In: Saga, Songs ans Star of Jesus - This collection of stories is recommended for those who are not faint of heart. - Catherine Gissing�s review in The Book Review Literary Trust of India

The Ulysses Man

A Novel
Shane Joseph, 2011
Martin James is a true Canadian. Born overseas, he is beset by trials and tribulations while growing up. Against the odds, he escapes from his violence-wracked homeland only to find everything he holds dear in North America jeopardized as he tries to keep his personal and professional life intact. A modern-day Ulysses, Martin faces the quintessential question of the displaced, “Where do I belong?” Set in Sri Lanka and Canada, this novel brings the dilemmas faced by many immigrants into sharp focus.

Milltown

Shane Joseph, 2019
Sri Lankan refugee, Sam Selvadurai, fleeing the genocide in his homeland, settles in Milltown, on the northern shore of Lake Ontario; he buys an old hamburger shop and turns it into a gourmet South Asian restaurant, while the town folk eye him with suspicion . The restaurant and most of Milltown are owned by the unscrupulous but charismatic Art Hamilton whose wife committed suicide, while his troubled teenage son, Andy, languishes in a young offenders’ prison on the border of town after having emptied a shotgun in the schoolyard, killing two students. Frank Morgan, the town’s mayor, is on the take, pushing an amendment through council to expand the local chemical plant – for the benefit of key investor Art Hamilton. Frank lusts after his assistant, Sue Miller, whose husband died at Art’s plant and who has her own plan for revenge. Sue is forlornly attracted to the town’s drunken lawyer and failed politician, Rick Jones. When Sam’s teenage daughter, Sarojini, and Sue’s son, Billy, fall in love, and Andy bursts out of prison, the town erupts in violence and disarray. The forces of racial prejudice, parental neglect, sexual harassment, teen pregnancy, and corporate greed meet in a perfect storm in Milltown. The body count mounts, and the town’s inhabitants are forced to examine their own lives before casting the first stone. As the solitary lighthouse swivels and shines its light into the nooks and crannies of Milltown, Sam asks, “Is there evil here too?”