www.theethanchronicles.com/reviews.html -
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Published on: 3/3/2006
Last Visited: 11/6/2007
In Marsha A. Willis' heart-wrenching new book, The Ethan Chronicles: Requiem for a Life Stolen, readers join the inner circle of Ethan's family as it struggles to come to grips with an overpowering loss and make sense of the tragedy that ended a promising young man's life.
Willis--program director of a Denver company that advises organizations on matters of U.S./Latin American business and trade, and vice president of the Ethan Foundation, dedicated to raising public awareness of traffic safety--is actually "Ann Williams" in the book.
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Although Willis used creative license in reproducing the thoughts and conversations of others involved,law enforcement officials, relatives of the wayward driver, and various community members,the book revolves around many indisputable facts: Ethan's life and death, the dangerous and controversial intersection at which he was killed, media quotes, and judicial transcripts and outcomes.
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With moving eloquence and graphic vividness, Marsha Willis writes about the death of her twenty-one-year-old son in a senseless automobile accident.Her tone is, in turn, despairing, furious, uncomprehending, and filled with unconditional love.
Her own introduction best defines Willis's subject and purpose: "The Ethan Chronicles is based on factual occurrences as interpreted through my eyes.As such it is a work of 'creative nonfiction'."Nevertheless, she points out, her story is true and factual as it relates to the life and death of Ethan, the dangerousness of the intersection, quotes from the media, findings of the trials, transcripts of the sentencing hearing, conversations of friends and family as well as the emotional devastation wrought upon Ethan's loved ones.
It is her hope that the book might provide valuable insight to parents, drivers, friends of grieving parents, and to members of educational, legal, law enforcement and engineering professions.
In this reviewer's opinion, Marsha Willis succeeds in this formidable undertaking.While her style is smooth and her choice of language is exquisite, it is her absolute honesty that gives the story power.