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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 A nice message, but like an old home, a book with a lot of potential Apr 18, 2010
By J.R. Reardon
"J.R. Reardon, author of Confidential Communications (2008) and DISHONORED (2010)"
Like the old Victorian house purchased by fictional characters Joe and Linda Murphy, Robert Kerr's first novel, COMPETELY RESTORED has a lot of potential.
When I first started the book, I was a bit distracted by the overuse of exclamation points. Thankfully this did not continue throughout the book. I was also a bit confused with the titles of the chapters. Several, but not all, had headlines from newspapers which enabled the reader to follow the timeline. Unfortunately the headlines did not necessarily coincide with the language within that chapter. Then there were a couple of storylines that seemed to trail off (i.e. the key to the front door).
The story does have a nice underlying message: the importance of family and the affect that modern life has on the family unit. All of us at some point or another wish for simpler times and this book does just that: it takes a family back to simpler times. But with simpler times come a different set of problems for the modern family that we all take for granted: transportation, clothing and modern medicine. Mr. Kerr is doing a noble thing through his work by making the reader appreciate what he or she has. And in this crazy world, balance is key.
I think that Mr. Kerr's book has a lot of potential. What a fun concept: restoring a house only to be taken back 100 years! But as the doctors of 1909 may have prescribed, there is a need for a stronger skeleton and more muscle. I would have liked to see the characters developed a bit more, perhaps more storylines. For example, many things could have happened to the modern teenage Murphy children being thrown back to 1909 to provide humor, concern...whatever Mr. Kerr as our entertainer chooses to provide.
I imagine Mr. Kerr to be a great storyteller in person, and encourage him to continue writing.
J.R. Reardon
author, Confidential Communications and Dishonored
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Less HG Wells, More Richard Paul Evans Feb 18, 2010
By Kendal B. Hunter
This is a time travel story, but a heart-warming one at that. So expect the standard conventions of both a Back to the Future movie, and a Richard Paul Evans book. Keep in mind that this book is heart-warming, not mind-bending, so the paradoxes are kept to a minimum. Enjoy the ride, without a headache.
As I read, I fell in love with Kerr's symbols. The Grand Central Symbol is the Completely Restored house. This enchanted house parallels the re-enchantment that the aged and weathered family undergoes as they travel back 100 years. Again, families do not need to go back 100 years to experience the good things that 100 year old principles and practices do for families.
For me, the key scene was Christmas 1909, sans tinsel and Gold Cards. Our little trinkets and baubles are as out-of-date as the living antiques the family bought one another in their temporal flashback.
So expect a book with a healthy message about families, and what we need to to to save society and the world.
There are two things that kept this book back. The first was that the ending was rushed. We get this rapid-fire ticking time-bomb scenario, and then the story is resolved in a flashback. It didn't work for Harry Potter, and it doesn't work here.
The second is the language. Here and there words creep up that might offend my grandmother's soul. The editrix should have caught these and been hard-line.
This book is worth a revised edition to iron out these two flaws. It would make a great holiday Movie of the Week, and could spawn several squeals.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Completely Restored Jan 26, 2010
By Carolyn Strickler
Generally " time travel" novels are not ones I pick up to read, but Completely Restored gathered my interest and peaked my curiosity the more pages I turned.It was nice to read about an American family who cared for each other and which came together,not pull apart, to solve different dilemmas. Robert Kerr seems to have the knack to intertwine suspense with history. Not only did I find myself wanting to know "what is going to happen next" but I learned more about the history of 100 years ago and of life in a smaller midwest town. I wonder what his next novel will be about?
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
HISTORY, TIME TRAVEL, AND SOME VERY NICE WRITING...What more could you want? Jan 24, 2010
By D. Blankenship
First, I have to admit that I am a complete pushover for time travel novels, the good, the bad and the ugly of this particular genre...I love them all. Fortunately for me, this one fell into the category of "the good," and was a complete delight from cover to cover. Now before I go on, do be aware that this is not a SiFi time travel book. There are no "time machines," magical swords or enchanted trinkets, no wizards or "holes in time. No, the time travel here has a rather mystical quality to it that leaves the reader wondering. I usually do not like this, but in the case of this book...it works! The author was able to pull it off in grand style. I am a bit jaded when it comes to this, so I was a bit surprised...delightedly so, as a matter of fact.
The Murphy family, which are just about as typical of an American family living in the Midwest as you could find...husband, wife, three kids and a dog. They have spent three years restoring an old Victorian house in a small town in Iowa. The year is 2009. The long, grueling, and I know for a fact, an expensive task, of restoring the old three story home is about finished and the last touch, a completely authentic and restored front door is being completed and hung. All is well. Our little family goes to bed that night knowing that the only task left to perform is to find or have made a replica of the key to the front door...again, all is well.
Bam!
The Murphy's wake up the next morning and their world is suddenly turned upside down. They are no longer living in the Marshalltown, Iowa of 2009 but rather the Marshalltown, Iowa of 1909! Life as they have known it is simply gone! Think about it, remember your history, and think of your family and current community and all the changes that have occurred over the past 100 years. Imagine how you and your family would react under similar circumstances. Could you survive? How many ways would you stand out like a sore thumb? Could you feed and cloth yourself, find employment, help your children adjust to the educational and social system of that time period, adjust your attitude in regards to just about everything? The situation the author has thrust his fiction family into gives one great food for thought!
Robert Kerr obviously knows his history. Being quite involved with the study of bygone eras myself, I can attest to the fact that the author is speaking with some authority. I suppose I did identify with most of the aspects of this work, from the restoration of the house process (something I have done myself) to the medical aspects of the story...an area I have worked in for more years than I care to mention. Add those bits of fact to the fact that I love a good read, and this work becomes a complete winner as far as I am concerned.
The author uses an easy writing style which is quite smooth and easy on the mind's eye. He is obviously a natural story teller and this fact shines through on each page. He has a good command of his subject matter and when you mix all of this together, again you come up with a very good and interesting read. And this brings me to the only critical aspect of this work I could come up with. Even this criticism falls more into the category of personal taste and preference than anything else. I do feel that this work should have been at least twice, possibly three times as long. The author had a golden opportunity to follow quite a number of sub plots and go down some interesting and twisted paths with his story but failed to do so. Now this work is his work, not mine, so I suppose he had every right to create the story he wanted. The author has the obvious writing talent to do so, i.e. to take his story where ever he desired. Perhaps space and time restrictions had an impact here. But this minor critical complaint does not, and should not in any way distract from the work what-so-ever. Again, this is personal preference...I like extremely complicated plots and subplots and lots and lots of minute details...that is just me. This is a fine and well written story by any standards. The author obviously did what he wanted to do, and did it well.
I hate to throw around the overly used expression a "page turner" when describing any book, but I will promise you that after the first couple of pages into this book, you will be completely hooked and have a difficult time putting it down until the conclusion.
Highly recommend this one and highly recommend you put it on your reading list.
Don Blankenship
The Ozarks
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
A long wait Nov 07, 2009
By L. Elliott
I've waited a long time for this book. I've nearly stopped reading novels mostly because they just seem so very much alike. This book is most certainly not the run of the mill, easily predictable story line. As I was reading,I was just getting to the point that I was beginning to wonder if this book was going to hook me--then it did. From that point on,I couldn't put it down. First, the author clearly knows what he is talking about (something different). He did his homework. Second, it's written about the midwest and it actually sounds like someone from the midwest is telling the story. Third, there are simply delightful quirks in the story. Fourth, the author's writing is amazingly expressive. Fifth, and certainly the most important, this author knows how to tell a story. In fact, this is the primary strength of this novel. It is a great, well told story. My only complaint--it kept me up. I didn't want to quit reading until it was done. Cost me some sleep.
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