Vern Turner

Demon Slayer Vern Turner

Invoking the old saw, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts begins this story. While the sum of a person's parts may be formidable, the whole person may be greater still if those parts are melded together by pain, tempered by acute stress and polished by maturity, intelligence and, yes, love.

Demon Slayer continues the saga of Sonya Keller, an extraordinary person with physical skills and strength of purpose that are rarer still. In earlier times Sonya was forced to endure unspeakable humiliation and debasement by none other than her own, desperately addicted father. From those ashes of the being a victim of gut-wrenching human depravity, she rose up like a Phoenix to become an exceptional woman in every way. The continuation of that story describes, in vivid detail, Sonya's reconstitution of her new life centered around education, making real friends and eventually finding her way into the comfort and safety of real love and spectacular athletic success known to fewer still.

As this story unfolds, Sonya must confront a new challenge when her newest best friend is murdered by white supremacists. This triggers the rage and sense of duty that she practiced in defeating the drug ring in her hometown. Bits of the earlier story included in this book magnify and justify the actions and decisions made by this magnificent woman.

So, as my favorite broadcaster, Vin Scully would say, "Pull up a chair...." and become involved with someone you might like to be, or wish you knew. In any case, you'll wish you knew more people like Sonya Keller. The sum of her parts makes a whole that is the pinnacle of human endeavor. Become involved with the joy of meeting her newest friends, partner, lover and support network that allow and facilitate Sonya's achievements. The parts may be too many to easily add together, but the whole, as you will see, is a plausible, yet staggeringly spectacular thing to see.

Perhaps Albert Einstein, in quite another context, explained excelling and overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds when he posited: I want to know God's thoughts. Everything else is details. This story doesn't presume God's thoughts, but the events and actions in Sonya Keller's life are astonishing.