Colene A. (colene) reviewed on 8/25/2010 + 44 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

This is the second book by Ron McLarty (who is both an actor and an author) I have read. The first was The Memory of Running, which was his first novel and one I loved. That book begins in Providence, RI. Its compassionate and insightful look at the inner life of a depressed, overweight man in a dead-end job and a difficult family situation is a quiet treasure. That this man came to redeem his life through a cross-country bike ride undertaken on an impulse makes it a wonderful story of how one can exchange an unhappy life for a contented one.

This book covers what might be McLarty's loving memory of a childhood in Providence RI--it is rich with characters and is at bottom the story of the protagonist's love for the people of his childhood, for Providence of that time, and for a childhood sweetheart and an incident that occurred in their childhood affected everyone's lives over the long term. It is also a story of a murder that took years to become a murder, and the solving of the mystery of who dun it, and the flashbacks are at the center.

I look forward to more books by McLarty, and recommend this one.

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