Long Drive Home by Will Allison

The Book:

A devoted father and husband, Glen Bauer has a rough day while driving his daughter Sara back from school. He has a series of annoying road incidents that anger him and when it happens for the third time he decides to teach the rash driver a lesson. One wrong step and the driver of the Jaguar, sixteen year old Juwan Richards is dead. No one else witnesses the accident except for his daughter Sara and when the cops question him he lies to them. The suspicious cop still wants to talk to Sara but Glen and his wife Liz protect her privacy.

Is he going to be building up on the lies that he has already started telling or will he open up? Will that one moment of anger cause him his family and happiness? Will he ever be able to look into Sara’s eyes and be honest?

The View:

I read ‘Long Drive Home’ the day it reached me and you all know that we rarely get to do that. With all the unread books mounting up on the TBR pile (overflowing bookshelves and maxed-out Kindle) this is a near miracle. Few things dragged me to the book, the cover design, the 200+pages and the promise of a great story. A no-brainer!

‘Long Drive Home’ is a story that would touch your heart the minute you start reading it. A captivating tale of a man who makes a momentary mistake and repents it for a long time. Guilt overtakes his life and he chooses to explain himself to his daughter Sara by writing a letter. The letters are very personal and depict the struggle he has between doing the right thing and preserving his life.

I loved Sara, she stood out in the book and the author clearly seemed to understand a young girl’s state of mind. Every scene that Sara appears in is filled with a child’s innocence and a lot of overwhelming love. Glen’s character is well-developed and his commitment to his family, daughter and his marriage is visible in every action. The guilt he carries and the dilemma he faces between making the right choice and preserving his family life is portrayed remarkably. Liz’s character had some shortfalls but that would be attributed to the fact that this story is being told from Glen’s perspective only. Every now and then Glen makes it a point to mention that he does not want to blame Liz thus leaving Sara to make the decision of good versus bad.

The style of writing was crisp, to the point but yet the author managed to capture a wide range of emotions. The book not just stands out as an exceptional story of a man, one mistake and a life-time of guilt but also has some valuable lessons on anger, guilt and love. Rated a 4 on 5.

Have to share this little something on ‘Anger’

“Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame”

~~ Benjamin Franklin

To access Will Allison’s author video click here

I received a complimentary copy by Free Press in exchange for my honest review.

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