Status Quo

By: Henry Mosquera
Publisher: Oddity Media
Publication Date: March 2014
ISBN: 978-0991660100
Reviewed by: Diane Lunsford
Review Date: March 4, 2015

Henry Mosquera has set pen to paper and ignited a fire of fantastic reading in his latest novel, Status Quo.

Lemat is more than a brilliant storyteller. He knows how to spin his thoughts onto paper and captivate his audience while doing so. Sadly, Lemat is no different than the thousands of other first time authors in the world. His long road of ‘not yet’ ahead of him before he would be blessed with the Holy Grail of getting published was a road paved with more than a fair share of challenge. This didn’t deter Lemat from taking his personal leap of faith with a decision to leave his native South American roots and migrate to America—America...his land of opportunity. How is it he found himself in such a golden and opportunistic place, yet he settled into the drone of office work and mundane existence? Perhaps it’s what authors endure in order to land the sweet deal via the next Great American Novel about to be birthed. Lemat’s plan was to take the graphic design job for a few months. It would pay the bills and ease financial pressures while he penned his masterpiece.

The life of a successful writer wasn’t ramping up quite as quickly as Lemat had envisioned. This is to say until he met the stranger in the grey suit at his favorite watering hole one non-particular evening after yet another less-than-stellar day at work. Lemat’s life as the writer he was destined to be was about to unfold. It never occurred to him that the sublime suggestions the stranger offered up would give more than cause for pause in launching his career. How unfortunate for Lemat he would not realize the full brunt of his writing compromises until he reached his point of no return.

With the myriad of writers on our planet today, how glorious it is when I have the great fortune of receiving a diamond in the rough. Such was the case when I drew the lottery and received this winning title: Status Quo by Henry Mosquera. This is not his first novel and while I have yet to read any of Mr. Mosquera’s previous work, upon finishing Status Quo, I absolutely will take the time to immerse myself in Sleeper’s Run (also by Mr. Mosquera). I did not have a mindset of comparing this author with known writing royalty, but have to say throughout my read of Status Quo, I often found myself comparing his style with one of the great writers of our time: Gabriel Marquez. Akin to Marquez’ style, Mosquera has an innate way of placing words that deposit his reader into a cocoon of absolute reading bliss. There is passage upon passage of prose that creates a sense of sailing along the ocean on a perfect and cloudless day—the wind propelling the reader along and the reader simply enjoying the ride. The dialogue is fantastically crisp and unquestionably real. The characters are everyday people with everyday issues and their cohesive element is they were all destined to play a role in Mr. Mosquera’s story and play it well they did. Bravo Mr. Mosquera. A truly interesting and thoroughly enjoyable read!

Quill says: Status Quo is a must read for any writer who has embarked upon his or her journey toward publication and refuses to give up because eventually, great writing does find its way into the reader’s hands.

Author Interview