Rating: 
Summary: A sensitive, redemptive novel about a horrifying subject
Review: "Reservation Road" is a remarkable achievement. Its story is the one story every parent is in terror of living. It is a story which resides only in nightmares and whose power cannot be allowed even to the edges of consciousness. In John Burnham Scwhartz's hands this appalling story of the death of a child unexpectedly becomes a redemptive tale of the power of life over death.The novel, like most good novels, is both simple and complex. A young child is killed by a hit and run driver. The entire family, mother and daughter, father and son, is returning from a concert. They stop at a gas station. His father might have prevented the tragedy by his very presence, but he has walked away to do a mundane errand and he has left his son by the side of the road because his son requires that small bit of independence to assuage some inexplicable inner turmoil--perhaps anger at his father. The driver of the other car is also a father, a man divorced (in every sense of the word) from his wife, his son and his son's "new" family. He is just returning with his son from a day at Fenway Park, another in a series of efforts to repair a mangled relationship. They are late; the boy's mother will be furious. They take a shortcut. The results of the tragedy range from unconquerable grief to rage; from a desire for revenge to reconciliation; from guilt to endurance. Each man is a father after all; each man suffers the rupture of a marriage which has been the birthplace of a son. Through the twists and turns and coincidences of small town life in which there are few secrets, the mothers and fathers cope with their separate tragedies until, inevitably, their lives comingle. It is a horrible tale brilliantly told and what is most remarkable about it is the author's age. He is a young man, married without children. How could he possibly know all of this? How could he possibly know what such an event could feel like, how it could shatter lives, how starkly devastating it could be? I do not know, but if a writer lives in his imagination and draws upon it for the life of his work, the world can expect a great deal from John Burnham Schwartz. This book wrings from the reader all he or she has to give.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books you'll read
Review: A very haunting book that prompts one to re-examine the black-and-white condemnation of hit-and-run incidents. The reader is encouraged to see all the varying shades of grey that make both the victims (i.e. Ethan and his family) and the perpetrator (Dwight) real and worthy of sympathy. The emotional climax of the book, when the two fathers confront each other, was beautifully written, and very poignant. The scene was accompanied in my mind by Bruce Springsteen's song "Missing", which served on the soundtrack of the film "The Crossing Guard", which has a very similar story line, and impact, to Schwartz's book.
Rating:
Summary: Haunting, and definitely worth reading
Review: A very haunting book that prompts one to re-examine the black-and-white condemnation of hit-and-run incidents. The reader is encouraged to see all the varying shades of grey that make both the victims (i.e. Ethan and his family) and the perpetrator (Dwight) real and worthy of sympathy. The emotional climax of the book, when the two fathers confront each other, was beautifully written, and very poignant. The scene was accompanied in my mind by Bruce Springsteen's song "Missing", which served on the soundtrack of the film "The Crossing Guard", which has a very similar story line, and impact, to Schwartz's book.
Rating:
Summary: remarkable, insightful, haunting and truthful
Review: After hearing Schwartz read the first chapter of Reservation Road at a recent Writers' Conference, I was intrigued by both the quality of his writing and the stylistic audacity in which he creates his story. (The male characters tell their story in the first person while Grace's story is told in the third person.) As a parent of young children, I can't say I was looking forward to reading a tragic story that confirms one's worst fears, and yet I found myself intrigued and surprised with Schwartz' ability to so clearly get inside the head of a parent. His understanding of parental guilt, fear, anger, grief and ultimately attonement and redemption are all the more remarkable considering the author is married without children. This first rate page-turner should be required reading for any parent.
Rating: 
Summary: I really wanted to like it...
Review: Although Reservation Road is well written in places, I can't say that it's a very good book. The author's first misstep is to plunge into the tragedy before even setting up the characters. This leaves the reader shell-shocked, yet still empty of genuine feeling. As the story progresses, the coincidences as the two families begin to intertwine are far too convenient to believe. And because the characters (especially Grace) are never fully realized, their emotional progression is meaningless. The end, which I won't reveal here, seems like a device of any third-rate vengeance novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Intense reading
Review: Anyone who has experienced grief in their life will empathize with the parents of the dead child. The writing is vivid and moving and elicited many emotions as I was reading this book. My only negative comment would be that the character of Dwight (he hit and run driver) did not always ring true. At times he was sensitive and insightful and other times he was an ignorant lunkhead. But overall, an excellent book giving you an idea of what it would be like to experience on of the worst losses imaginable.
Rating:
Summary: A memorably told story of unravelling lives
Review: Burnham brings our full attention to the fragility of our lives of conventionality and routine by focusing on three individuals shattered by the hit-and-run death of a child. The characters are people we all know, and the dialog rings true.
Rating:
Summary: Cherish What You Have
Review: Creative, insightful, literary fiction which tells the story of a hit-and-run car accident which killed Josh Learner,the 10 y.o. son of a small town college professor. The driver, a small town attorney also has a 10 y.o. son, but is divorced in part because he lost his temper one time and while drunk, hit his wife and his son. The story is told from the perspective of each father, the mother and the little sister of the victim. This structural technique allows us to watch each character's developement through their ability to deal with conflict and tragedy. Their is plenty opportunity for empathy. I found by placing myself in the shoes of each father, a wide range of emotions surfaced and made it very difficult to judge anyone's behavior. The lesson for real life: cherish every moment; you don't know when fate will intrude on what you've taken for granted.
Rating:
Summary: less than enthusiastic
Review: everything about this book felt "written." I never felt as if i'd lost track of time and where i was or who i was while i read this book. everything felt like a scene as opposed to life. it felt like i had the author standing in my face telling me over and over again "these people are sad! do you hear me, sad!" but the sadness wasn't palpable to me. it was a hollywood producer's version of what sadness does (see: emma breaking the violin, dwight's guilt and descent into violence). the way schwarz draws the plot together was too neat, too tidy (again, a hollywood producer's version of solving a crime) for my taste. and was i the only one who knew the moment that grace's father's pistol was mentioned way, way back at the front of the book that it was going to be central to the resolution? judging from all the 5 star reviews, i was. i don't think that schwarz is a bad craftsman which should not be confused with being a good writer. in the end, i didn't care about the characters as much as i cared about the resolution which, ultimately, was a wet firecracker. if anyone's interested in what i would call great writing and great writing about a child's death please read frederick busch's "girls." the sadness is on every page but busch doesn't resort to easy, emotional "scenes" .
Rating:
Summary: riveting read
Review: Holds readers who enjoy psychological fiction spellbound, on almost every page. A real accomplishment since it deals with--how dull!--morality in the 90's, specifically the dynamics of choice involving guilt and confession, rage and remorse, despair and hope. Absolutely compelling in its plot, its themes, its insight into the relevance of psychological (read:moral) health.
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