ROUGH WAY TO THE HIGH WAY by KELLY MACK McCOY.
... When your plans unravel it may be God who is pulling the strings ...
Mack suspects he is being followed and is in the sights of a killer who plots a revenge no one could have seen coming.
Hoping your some windshield therapy and peace of mind behind the wheel of his new rig, Mack gets neither after God nudges him to pick up a hitchhiker near the Jordan State Prison outside Mack's childhood home of Pampa, Texas.
The man reminds Mack of his father, a hard living, hard drinking oilfield roughneck who died in prison. God begins to do a work in Mack's heart as Mack seeks to minister to his new passenger. But Mack soon rues the day he let the hitchhiker into his truck.
God continues to work His mysterious way in Mack's life steamroller-style all the way to a satisfying surprise ending that will leave you thinking about it long after reading The End at the bottom of the last page.
- Back Cover Blurb
Mack's eyes locked onto the sight in his mirror as his rig's eighteen wheels rolled away from his boyhood home of Pampa, Texas.
- First Sentence; Chapter One: The Hitchhiker (Friday, 9.00AM)
Georgia and Uncle Jake walked step for step with one another toward the greater light. A pulsating, blinding flash of light came from its center as a door opened, welcoming their return. The two became engulfed in the light as they entered through the door.
- Memorable Moment: Page 129
SOURCE ... Received with thanks from the author.
READ FOR A CHALLENGE? ... No.
MY THOUGHTS ... Unapologetically billed as Christian Fiction, OK so for myself personally I could have done without the Bible quotes (as well placed and relevant to the story as they were) but otherwise...
A debut novel by what I felt was an author with a strong literary voice all of his own, as it turns out, full of a humour, excitement and plot twists that I simply wasn't expecting, Rough Way To The High Way proved itself to be one of my surprise reads of the year.
Taken right back to my days at the local comprehensive school where one of my friends was seriously into Citizen Band (CB) Radio, I loved all of the 'trucker talk' ... even if I had to seriously think about/look up some of the terms used.
As for the characters ...
With characters like diner waitress Barb of whom its said ...
"That woman could talk the ears off a mule. We don't have need for newspapers in these parts. Everybody just comes to see Barb for all the news around here." (Pg 39) ...
I dare say it could be argued that some of them were a tad stereotypical but for me (as a Brit) they were reassuringly recognisable; the fact that most of them were given nicknames (Officer Smiley and Officer Pipe Cleaner to name but two) something I rather enjoyed them thinking them great fun.
A gritty action packed read (something I'm guessing isn't that common in Christian Fiction but then what do I know?); Mack a character I feel has a lot of mileage (apologies for the pun) in him which is just as well as whilst not exactly ending on a cliffhanger things were certainly left open enough to suggest this won't be the last we'll see of the trucker-turned- pastor- turned- trucker.
9 comments:
Sounds interesting. The book blurb sounded a bit overbearing with the Christian message. I think that I would be thinking and digging into that message as I read it.
glad you enjoyed it, but i would probably pass. thanks for sharing
sherry @ fundinmental
I use to read far more Christian Fiction than I do now and this sounds like one I'd really enjoy, Bible quotes and all ;) . Perhaps surprising for those who haven't read much of it, Christian fiction really isn't all sappy and preachy. I can remember a mystery series I use to highly recommend because it was so intelligently written. I always preferred to say they were novels written by a Christian rather than Christian novels, if that makes sense.
I'm glad this one was a winner for you. That adds to its appeal for me.
I forgot to say... I was really into the CB scene back when I was in college and drove long distances alone. My handle was "sunspot". :)
This action packed book is new to me. Interesting review, Felicity!
A trucker turned pastor character sounds interesting. Thanks for sharing about this book.
Hi Felicity,
I read your quoted blurb and great review, but somehow found myself feeling confused and totally at odds with what was going on in this story. I resorted to Amazon and then Goodreads to try and see if I could sort out my thoughts, but I'm afraid I just had to give up on it all!
I am pleased that you enjoyed it, but it definitely isn't one for me, and that is not a reflection upon the Christian nature of the writing, just of the style of writing itself!
I liked what Kelly had to say ... "I always preferred to say they were novels written by a Christian rather than Christian novels, if that makes sense" … makes perfect sense to me!
Hubbie was very much into listening into the CB radio frequencies as a teenager, it is still one of his trips down memory lane :)
Thanks for sharing
Yvonne
xx
Felicity,
Thia aounds interesting and
I will keep it in mind. But
thank you for your excellent
review.
Raven
This one sounds interesting, I have read a few Christian Fiction before and enjoyed them. So long as they don't get too preachy I don't mind.
Great review!
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