Rating: 
Summary: WE NEED THIS HERO
Review: What can you say about a bright, young writer after you've just completed reading his first novel? You observe the energy that launched its publication, you scour the reviews noting all the richly deserved accolades, adjectives and high praise that is given, and you wonder what one can add without appearing tediously repetitive.Indeed, Mr. Hunter could have take the easy route and heaped scene after scene of action on the literary plate and, on the way, developed a passably believable character who would zig and zag at all the right places and move the story forward to one massive climactic display of heroic legerdemain, efficiently destroying the enemy and wrapping everything up into a nice, neat, tidy package. The end. Not so with Mr. Hunter in his vision of "Who Needs a Hero." Enter Aston West: An imposing presence? He is thin, bordering on the skinny side. Coming, then, from a romantically appealing occupation? A detective, a doctor, a professor? Aston West is a galactic garbage collector, for Pete's sake! But, what of a love interest? Well, the nearest thing to a love interest would be Jeanie, an onboard computer, sporting a female persona. What you soon learn about Aston is this: things happen to him. He is not the Master of his Fate. He is not the great mover, not the initiator. He is swept up and moved along by the vagaries of life, he is embarrassingly out-drawn by a weapon-toting female, is later rescued by her; he is cheated out of what he rightfully has earned, is imprisoned, then released only after he promises to deliver human cargo to another part of the galaxy. Starting to sound familiar? Aston West is none other than "Everyman." He is "you," and he is "me." -- with this one, important caveat: Aston West is morally driven to do the right thing, at all costs. So, when push comes to shove - and it does -- when courage is called for - and it is -- he digs deep into his reserves and he rises to become a most laudable hero. . . and that makes all the difference.
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