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"While not our usual fast-paced action tale, this story moves. And in following one man's search for his roots, you may find answers to questions haunting you."
--- ActionTales.com

Tony, an architect-engineer, is suddenly and inexplicably overwhelmed with antipathy for a total stranger. He attacks the man. Without the intervention of Tony's co-workers, the man would have died.

Tony is badly shaken by what he has done. He lacks even a hint of an idea that might explain it. He knows nothing of himself that could possibly account for the sudden surging rage, the overpowering urge to destroy.

He is certain of only one thing. He must discover what triggered his actions else face a grim, unpredictable future. Doctors can not help. The answer lies within himself. And he must find it. Alone.

Convinced he must search in the distant past, that "genetic memory" is more than the idle speculation some unraveling our genetic structure claim it to be, Tony returns to his earlier roots in Italy. In this journey, lies the tale, a journey many of us take in one way or another.

Tony looks without. And within. But in the latter there is none of the psycho-drivel that seems so common. Instead, he examines all about him with total honesty, then seeks to attune his inner being to what he discovers.

Who has not asked right out loud, "What made me do that?" Nick Taddeo seeks to answer this question for all of us in "August In the Mind." While there is no attempt here to provide definitive answers, what Tony discovers may also relate to you, your concerns, and your fears.

This story will haunt you into the foreseeable future. Bits and pieces will linger indefinitely. And some may help you find a better way.

Nick Taddeo personally is tightly bound to his Italian heritage. He has walked the streets of which he speaks. He knows how they came to be. And he has examined each with care. Thus his narratives bring alive both the Italy that was and the one that is today.

If there is a flaw in this work, it lies in the abundance of tightly crafted descriptive elements that reveal this ancient culture as you may never have seen it. While some may say there is a bit too much of this, travelers and history buffs will plead for more.

"August in the Mind" by Nick Taddeo is a must read for those seriously interested in people, the world about them, and all within that we have never even glimpsed.

ActionTales.com

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Engineer Tony Antonelli is stunned speechless when, for no apparent reason, he attacks a stranger visiting his construction site. The incident leaves Tony bewildered and afraid. He decides that maybe he has some neurological problem, so he goes to the library and begins to research genetics. He discovers a theory about "genetic memory" that intrigues him enough that he leaves his wife and two children to travel to Italy in the hope of finding some answers in the ancient archives of the Antonelli family.

On the ship, he meets a young, mysterious woman. Tony is attracted to her, but he knows he has more important things to worry about. Still, he invites her to his hotel when she returns from a trip. He is consumed by what he might find in Italy to explain his aberrant behavior. After docking, he explores some of the more picturesque towns and villages near Perugia and has an accidental meeting with an art history student, Arthur, who becomes a faithful friend, helping Tony navigate this terra incognito.

Tony continues his investigation in churches and at libraries. Then he remembers that the woman on the ship would be visiting. He feels close to an answer in his exploration and doesn't want to stop, so he asks Arthur to meet the woman and take care of her. He does, and they make time. The next day Arthur is bewildered that she leaves without a word.

As Tony searches for answers, he joins Arthur at a university lecture that fascinates him completely . The lecturer, a neurobiologist, discusses aspects of the human mind. Afterwards, Arthur introduces Tony to the beautiful scholar and they enjoy a brief affair. The doctor gives Tony more information on genetic memory, and raises more questions that send him again in search of the truth. Along the way he runs into trouble with some of the local ruffians and gets thrown in jail. Arthur shows up to help him and Tony finds himself developing a bond of trust with his young friend that can't be completely explained by current circumstances.

Tony finally finds a place in a village that seems familiar somehow. He sits on the stairs of an ancient duomo and allows his mind free play to make any association that it could. Suddenly, Tony has a vision of an ancient life where one man kills another and he witnesses the crime as a small boy. In an epiphany, Tony realizes that the murderer had been an ancient relative of the man he had inexplicably attacked back in the states. He is deeply ashamed of having attacked the innocent man and decides to make it up to him somehow.

Armed with an understanding, he journeys back to his home only to find that his wife, who was deeply hurt at his departure, claims right of vengeance. Tony tries to tell her that he wants the family to move back to Italy, but his wife has other ideas. She pardons herself to prepare for a date - the knowledge of which shocks Tony to his core….

Nick Taddeo has created a fast-moving, intriguing story that gives a glimpse into the phenomenon of genetic memory. We travel with him as he deftly describes the charm of the Italian villages that he visits and in the process, we learn something of present-day Italian life. But be prepared, this story is a cliff-hanger. Taddeo is a fine writer and story-teller. I look forward to reading more from him. ***

K. Ann Barnett
kab+anv.net
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The reader's attention is captured before he's aware that he's been hooked, in the first few pages of August in the Mind. One of the most chilling scenarios in any novel is the juxtaposition of the protagonist, 'ordinary man' with a briefly glimpsed, nearly palpable evil. The author accomplishes this integration so seamlessly that the reader can't recall the page number when he first started holding his breath.

Tony Antonelli, a husband and father of two, who works as an engineering draftsman is not exactly "everyman" but he goes through the daily motions required of "everyman" to sustain the rhythmic cadence of his life - which includes wife, children, home, and job. Tony is not happy with his wife, job or lifestyle. He fulfills his obligations as breadwinner and wishes nightly that his wife would lose the extra pounds she has gained around her middle and her thighs.

One day on his way to work, he glimpses a stooped, older man walking toward him. When the man passes and looks directly at him, Tony's immediate reaction is a violent, murderous rage toward the stranger - and one thought - to maim and then kill him. The unexpected vehemence of his hatred leaves him shaken, drained and frightened, and much confused.

Tony's obsession with the stranger begins to consume his every waking moment, and his failure to reconcile the reason for it impacts his job and marriage. A few days after the encounter, he is at his draft board when his boss walks up to introduce him to their new hire - the stooped, older man whose eyes mirror the same level of loathing that is in Tony's. An all-consuming atavistic blood-lust obliterates all reason and Tony jumps on the man, knocks him to the floor and attempts to choke him before his co-workers pull him away.

The remainder of the novel details Tony's obsessive quest for answers: Why did he attempt to kill a total stranger? What is the origin of his rage? He quits his job, ignores his family and spends his time reading and researching scientific data on the possibility of genetic memory - recalling a course in college which explored Freud and Jung's theories on archaic remnants - stored emotional memories passed on via DNA from ancestors who lived thousands of years ago.

The protagonist's journey to Italy, his exploration of his father's birthplace, and search for his own genetic history is compelling. The reader wants answers to the same questions Tony poses, and the author has a knack for knowing when to end his descriptive prose and place his hero in a totally unexpected dangerous scene, thereby keeping the reader alert and eager to read whatever comes next.

Overall, August in the Mind educates, stimulates, interests and entertains ...

Sonya Rolls
srollss+netscape.net
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Tony Antonelli leaves his wife and two young children in California to travel to Italy to solve the mystery of his bizarre violent impulses against a man he's never seen before. Researching his ancestry and guided by instinct, Tony drives to the medieval town of Montepulciano and experiences an intense physical reaction to the fortress city. There, the mystery deepens when he receives an ominous warning from a young waitress and then is attacked by an unknown assailant. What trauma happened in the Antonelli family's far distant past that was so terrible it scarred every generation after it?

What could have been a compelling mystery gets bogged down by Taddeo's obvious love for Italy. The landscape, people, food and customs are vividly presented, which is fun, but if it's a mystery you're hungry for, itemizing the courses of Antonelli's lunch isn't going to do it for you. Taddeo kept me coming back, though, if only for the fascinating historical detail that was an integral part to the mystery.

This psychological thriller could have had more "thrill," but all in all, Taddeo takes us on a twisted ride with a memorable conclusion. Worth the journey.

Nadine Berezowsky, Reviewer
eBooks Reviews Weekly
http://www.ebook-reviews.net
http://www.ladyoracle.com

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"'August in the Mind' takes you along with Tony Antonelli on a journey into the unknown, buried in the past beneath your feet in modern Italy. A journey that will both haunt you and bring questions of your own."
--- ActionTales.com

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