The World of Pondside
4.5/5
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About this ebook
In a game of life or death, the seniors at Pondside Manor risk it all.
With help from Pondside Manor’s quirky, twentysomething kitchen worker Foster Kresowik, resident Robert Kallman creates The World of Pondside, a video game that delights the nursing home’s residents by allowing them to virtually relive blissful moments from days long past—or even create new ones.
One-legged Duane Lotspeich is overjoyed when he can dance the tango again. Octogenarian Laverne Slatchek cheers on her favorite baseball team from the stands at Candlestick Park with her beloved husband—who died years ago. Even the overwhelmed Pondside administrator escapes her job by logging into a much more luxurious virtual world.
Robert’s game enlivens the halls of Pondside Manor, but chaos ensues when he is found dead, submerged in the pond, still strapped into his wheelchair. If any resident witnessed his death, they’re not telling—either covering up or, quite possibly, forgetting. And it’s far from clear to anyone—including the police—if the death of this brilliant man, who suffered from ALS, was suicide or murder.
When Robert’s video game goes dark, its players grow desperate. The task of getting it back online falls to young Foster, who enlists help from a raucous group of residents and staff. Their pursuit—virtual and real—has unintended consequences, uncovering both criminal activities and the secret plans of Foster’s friend Robert. From Pondside Manor, this unlikely bunch of gamers embarks upon an astonishing journey—blissful, treacherous, and unforgettable.
Packed with sharp wit and compassion, The World of Pondside is a rousing, perceptive, and utterly unique novel.
Mary Helen Stefaniak
Mary Helen Stefaniak is the prizewinning author of The Turk and My Mother and Self Storage and Other Stories. She lives in Omaha and Iowa City.
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Reviews for The World of Pondside
5 ratings1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The delightfully flawed characters in Mary Helen Stefaniak's story will charm you from the beginning. As the pages turn you will realize the video game in The World of Pondside is just a front created by Robert, a brilliant ALS patient who lives in house, The purpose of the game is to do far more than just entertain his housemates. Now he is dead, and solving the mystery of how that happened is just the beginning of the thrills. The game has gone dark, Robert's military buddy everyone thought was dead has showed up, and a lot of patients in the US disenfranchised from the drugs they hope will save them have lost their hero. Does anyone know how to solve the secrets of the game? And, who will negotiate the secret trip to China now that Robert's elderly mother is in the hospital? Much is at stake, and it is all on the shoulders of this unlikely group of hacker-sleuth international spies fighting dementia and/or self-dought to the end. I will admit I had to reread and rethink a few layers of this mystery before I could settle my thoughts about the characters' fates - and that is exactly what made this a mystery unlike any other I had read - and I loved it! Narrated by George Newbern with just the right voice to make this quirky and humorous tale come alive.
Thank you Net galley and Blackstone Publishing Audio books for providing this ARC in exchange for a fair review.