After interviewing Ross Howard on the phone I had the strangest vision. I was a mouse who happened upon a special folder that Ross kept in the darkest corner of one of his desk drawers. This file held pieces of faded paper with notes on which Howard had written some of the romantic and some "not so romantic" encounters in his life from an every age.

These snippets of paper eventually became chapters of a book which finally evolved into "The Last Mad Lover." He has done a wonderful job of illustrating how a man can look back on his life and share how he experienced fear, joy, pain, love and what he learned from each of these situations.

As I read "The Last Mad Lover" I had many questions and one of them was the reason for Howard talking about an event which happened during a summer project while in Law School before telling us about a time in his younger life when he struggled with the right and wrong of theft. His response to my question regarding mixing the timing of these life events was his desire to do something different from the norm in this book. He feels it lends mystery and a curiosity which will hold the reader’s interest. I agree it does accomplish those goals as well as leave us desiring more information regarding this author’s interesting life.

Another fun experience he shares was how he was seduced by several women when he stopped for coffee at a roadside establishment which happened to be called the Dollhouse. It was a quiet night at the Dollhouse and since Howard was the only man in the establishment, the proceeded to shower him with attention. This experience later led to a friendship with Vici, a bottle blonde stripper/dancer, who allowed him to help her move on to a better, more rewarding lifestyle.

Ross’ first wife died after 18 years of marriage. He discussed his struggle with this event and the pain he suffered. He reveals how women saw him as new single man to be pursued. He remarried and has shared the last 16 years with his wonderful second wife.

One of the most captivating areas of Ross’ book is his encounter with Eustacia. In his book Eustacia was a daughter from an affair with a woman while in his early 20s. I wanted to know more about her and how her life turned out with Ross as her father. I learned from my discussion with Howard that he never had a daughter and though Eustacia is a real person she is not his daughter. His encounters with her in the book were handled beautifully. I admire a man who could manage this type of situation in such a sensitive, caring manner.

He plans a follow-up to book "The Last Mad Lover" which will include more life experiences as well as more about some of characters from this book. These experiences will be more personal but follow the same format as "The Last Mad Lover."

Ross Howard is a real estate attorney living in New York and loves to fish. He always liked writing and chose to do it about the experiences of his own life. When he wrote this book he went back to the actual geographical settings and talked to some of the real people. He did, of course, embellish his characters and story lines but they all have an element of truth and real character traits.

This book is special to me because the opening events Howard discusses took place in Pike County, Kentucky. I was born in Pike County and the Hatfield and McCoy feud took place in Pike County and surrounding counties. I recommend "The Last Mad Lover" and think you will enjoy his writing style and some of the interesting characters he has encountered so far in his life. I look forward to reading about more events and how he handled them in next book.

Readers:
"The Last Mad Lover" was released through PublishAmerica (February 2006).  Mr. Howard's book is also available at Amazon.com.  The ISBN# is 1424118964.

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