Synopsis

A pair of high school seniors are pressured into a blind date. They end up in the back seat of a car and pregnant. The mores of 50’s Americana mandate they drop out of high school and marry. They have a baby girl. Both are emotionally unstable before meeting. A marriage in Hell only throws gasoline on already smoldering embers. Meanwhile, a young man gets brutally beaten up in an after school fight. He vows never to be humiliated again. He then enrolls in a martial arts school. During his freshman and sophomore years, he spends more time in the dojo than in the classroom. His prowess becomes lethal. However, it comes at a price. He is flunking out of high school. Home for Thanksgiving, a friend tells him how seriously his school takes its sports program. In particular, the Director of Admissions is a big wrestling fan. With help from his mother he secures an interview at that prep school. Impressed by his tryout, the Director of Admissions offers admittance, scholarship, and a personal tutor to help him prepare for the SAT’s. The tutor is a twenty-seven year old Yale post grad then studying for her PhD in English Lit. When not in the dojo, the young man spends time with a senior who has taken him under his wing. The senior’s older brother runs an illegal drug operation. The young man becomes ensnared in the world of dealing leading to a violent conclusion revealing surprise relationships among the actors.

Review

This coming of age book touches on many different “hot” topics – rape/incest, drugs, forced marriage, and abuse.  At the same time, it is hopeful and reflects determination from several characters.

There are several characters that are central to this story line.  Chester and Shirley – the young couple that is forced to marry in the 50s due to an unexpected pregnancy.  This of course changes their lives forever.  There is no love between them and I think they resent each other because of their forced situation.  Chester, despite missing out on college, is able to turn around a vending machine business and provide for his family.  However, there is a lot of tension, and possibly even hate, between the couple.  This results in a life altering situation for their daughter, Patricia/Patty.

Patty was raped at 11 and that experience shaped her beliefs and outlook as a woman.  Because of the rape, Patty became pregnant.  I will say this is the only part I had a hard time believing.  From what we are lead to believe, she had not reached puberty, however, being raped once and she was pregnant at 11?  While it is not impossible, girls were averaging age 13 for puberty in the 1960s.  I was also surprised at how clueless her mother was to the situation.  How did she not notice for 6+ months that her daughter had a problem and was pregnant?

Logan was adopted by an older couple and while they provided for him, he lacked the father figure he desperately wanted and needed.  His father was a doctor and not at home very often.  His mother did the best she could, but I think the couple was in their 50s when they adopted him.  This book is really his story as he dealt with bullies, learned to channel his anger through martial arts, improved his educational situation, and created a successful business – despite its illicit nature.

This book captured my attention from the beginning.  From the dysfunctional families, bullying, and to drug/alcohol use and distribution.  I was amazed at the depth of the characters and the scenes and I could picture them quite vividly in my mind.  There were various times that I felt for Logan, but at other times I was impressed that he took initiative to better himself.  I was amazed at how much the youth in this book drank and partook of drugs (mostly marijuana).  Was it because the parents didn’t care?  Was it the time period (late 1970s)?  While I wasn’t a teen yet during this time frame, I’d say my upbringing was more wholesome compared to these characters.

There is a part near the end that was not a surprise because the cast of characters is laid out and their relationship to one another.  While you might guess how one story line plays out as you near the end of the book, the ending did leave me hanging wondering how the characters were going to handle the situation all things considered.  I don’t know if the author was leaving this open for another book or to let the reader create their own ending.  It left me wanting more.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and had a hard time putting it down.  At times it was like watching a train wreck where you can’t look away.  But that is a good thing since it had me on tenterhooks waiting on what would happened next to the various characters.

We give this 4 paws up

About the Author

D.B. Moffatt was born in Lancaster, England, on the last day of 1974. He was educated at the stiflingly all-boy Lancaster Royal Grammar School, where he spent much of his time playing computer games, rolling dice, and drawing maps of places that don’t exist. He went on to Manchester University to study Psychology. The dice and the maps stopped, but the computer games continued. Having long dreamed of single-handedly redefining the fantasy genre, he started to write an epic trilogy based around the misadventures of thinking man’s barbarian Logen Ninefingers. The result was pompous toss, and swiftly abandoned.

He then moved to London, lived in a stinking slum with two men on the borders of madness, and found work making tea for minimum wage at a TV Post-Production company. Two years later he left to become a freelance film editor, and has worked since on a dazzling selection of documentaries, awards shows, music videos, and concerts for artists ranging from Barry White to Coldplay.

He now lives in Bath with his wife, Lou, his daughters Grace and Eve, and his son Teddy. He still occasionally edits concerts and music festivals for TV, but spends most of his time writing edgy yet humorous fantasy novels.

Website

Giveaway

I was sent a copy of this book to review and I’d like to share it with a lucky reader!  Open to US only due to shipping costs

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