Catalyst

Catalyst
Bob Harvey
Synergy Books
ISBN: 1-933538-38-4
Fiction, Contemporary
Reviewed by Dr. Tami Brady

Usually, my reviews focus on the premise of the book and what I thought about the story. However, Catalyst is unlike any other book I’ve come across.
A great deal of effort has gone into the look and feel of Catalyst. Instead of the regular white pages normally seen, this book has magazine-like pages. These full colour sheets contain a different background for each page. Each chapter follows a particular background theme. Most of the text is either black or white depending upon the background colour. However, portions of the text have differential font types, sizes, or colour for emphasis. Sometimes, whole bit of the story fall off the line or have an alignment that varies from the rest of the words on that page.
These aspects create a really unique feel. This lends to a sort of artsy attitude with a big doze of creative imagination. I believe that this atmosphere does indeed add to the ambience of the actual storyline which is fantastical in nature.
Unfortunately, I felt that I didn’t get to experience the whole story completely because of the dramatic look of the pages. I found I could only read about 20 pages at a time because of severe eye strain caused by the backgrounds and differing fonts. Therefore, I could never really get into the story, like it deserved.