Memoir offers lost souls a viable path to self-respect and renewal

The Burn Zone: A Memoir, by Renee Linnell. She Writes Press. 305 pages. Trade Paperback $16.95.

Heartbreaking as it is, this is a most important book. It is the harrowing journey of an accomplished, multi-talented woman whose need for spiritual enhancement leads her into a trap. Though it took too many years for her to admit it to herself, and even more years for her to extricate herself, the author had become the prey of a cult. In the name of bringing her gift of enlightenment and true peace of mind, her teachers turned her into a psychological slave.

Ms. Linnell, who grew up in Florida, was a vibrant, adventurous seeker who became an abused woman. Sometimes she knew it, sometimes she didn’t. In a way, being the target of abuse gave her some degree of definition, but of course such an identity is not much to build upon.

Renee (will keep it in the first person from now on) was physically slight, but nonetheless she had trained her body as a surfer and a processional dancer. She had the kind of looks that made her a successful surf model.

Renee Linnell

And beside body, she had brains and she put them to good use. She earned an MBA for NYU and she was a successful entrepreneur. Some of these accomplishments took place under the influence of the teachers whose brand of Buddhism denied her worth and attacked what they called her oversized ego; Renee accomplished more once she had freed herself from their destructive, perhaps psychotic, influence.

Though the narrative is mostly chronological, there are times when segments of Renee’s life are set against one another without temporal continuity. Vignettes become linked by thematic overlap or in the simple way that one memory triggers another. Changes of mood can be abrupt. Success and failure, however judged and by whom, knock against one another, sometimes rapid-fire.

It takes a long time for Renee to define herself in a healthy way, to offer herself the respect FROM herself that she deserves.

Readers will find themselves sympathetic to Renee, but they will also find themselves silently foretelling disasters she has set herself up for by trusting her mentors and rewarding their exploitation. “Renee,” one might think, “why didn’t you see this coming?”

To read the entire review, as it appears in the June 26, 2019 issue of Fort Myers Florida Weekly and the June 27 Naples, Bonita Springs, Charlotte County, and Venice editions, click here:  Florida Weekly – The Burn Zone 

Renee Linnell is a serial entrepreneur who has founded or co-founded five companies. Currently she serves on the board of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation and is also working on starting a publishing company to give people from diverse walks of life an opportunity to tell their stories. Ms. Linnell has an Executive Masters in Business Administration from New York University. She grew up in Florida and visits there frequently while otherwise dividing her time between Colorado and Southern California.

Storms of the heart bring violence, catharsis

Mine, by Courtney Cole. Gallery Books. 304 pages. Original Trade Paperback $16.00.

This scorching-hot novel of infidelity, its causes, and its consequences is structured as a two-narrator duet in which harmony is unlikely. Accomplished and confident Tessa is taken by surprise when she discovers that there is a rival for her husband’s favor. At forty, and with three children and a booming career, she felt she and Ethan were on a steady path.

Twenty-six-year-old Lindsey, gorgeous but insecure about everything except her good looks, has set her sights on Ethan, whom she met online. She offers him literally everything, using her neediness as a weapon. 

Ms. Cole has clearly distinguished her two combatants. She has pitched their voices perfectly to capture the many contrasts in their personalities.

As a coastal Florida storm intensifies into a hurricane, blocking Ethan’s return home from a business trip. A glance at Ethan’s iPad turns Tessa’s world upside down. Ethan has been having a sex-tinged flirtation with a beautiful younger woman whose seductive photos are a challenge and a threat to his wife.

Courtney Cole photo by Christine Arnold

Alternating chapters reveal the two women’s thoughts, emotions, and words. Readers get to know them, and a clever plot device forces them to get to know one another.

Throughout the novel, the hurricane is effectively used as a metaphor for the darkness and danger of the women’s emotional situation.

There are interesting ironies that affect the relationship between Tessa and Lindsey. Not the least of these is that Lindsey, a nursing student, saves Colt, Tessa and Ethan’s oldest child, when he has what could have been a terminal bout with his serious disease. Not only must Tessa thank Lindsey for saving the young man’s life, but she begins to see Lindsey as a person with more dimensions than husband-snatcher.

Seeing the two women in the context of their families provides for engaging contrasts. Tessa’s accomplished brood of two sons and a daughter (her other children are Connor and Ava) reflects Tessa’s care and expectations. Ethan has been in the picture, but Tessa is the driving force. Reader’s learn little about the older generation – Tessa or Ethan’s parents.

On the other hand, there is a well-turned portrait of Lindsey’s mother, who has become the caretaker for Lindsey’s eight-year-old son, Logan, since Lindsey’s situation does not leave her with the resources or confidence to be raising him. Lindsey’s mother, a practical person, perceives and announces the many flaws that she finds with Lindsey’s decisions and expectations. She scolds her regularly.

There are several large-scale flareups between Tessa and Lindsey . . . .

To read the full review, as it appears in the June 19, 2019 Fort Myers Florida Weekly and the June 20 Naples, Bonita Springs, Charlotte County, and Palm Beach editions, click here: Florida Weekly – Mine