Bend in the Road, A

Rating:
Summary: Excellent writing that gets bogged down on occasion....
Review: I love the first line of this book: "Where does a story truly begin? In life, there are seldom clear cut beginnings, those moments when we can, in looking back, say that everything started." I read that sentence and sighed deeply - gorgeous beginning.

Most of the book followed with a satisfying flavor - I enjoyed the characters and recognized many of the familiar components in this genre. Tough, macho yet vulnerable strong guy with a difficult and heartbroken past (naturally a widower from childhood sweetheart wife), Miles Ryan and nightmare bearing, loveable soccer playing son, Jonah Miles, child meets smart, beautiful yet sadly divorced (who could have let her go?) second grade teacher, Sarah Andrews.

We can all predict what will follow.

I had somehow figured out the "who-dun-it" right as the character who did it came into clear focus.

Nonetheless, the writing and the characters were so good, I kept going.

The part that I simply couldn't continue reading was Miles' obsession and hatred of the community thugs with whom he has a lifelong rivalry. Otis, Otis, Otis. The scenes involving Otis and his brothers could all have been nixed for my reading, though I realize they are another common element of the genre..... to me, they added unnecessary pages in a 368 page book. I bet they would be fun to cast if this title is made into a movie, like some of author Nicholas Sparks other books.

The words in this book are wonderfully crafted. For that, I give 5 Stars. The execution - not as good to me - I give three stars.... Which is why I come out with a 4 rating. If you are interested in writing this genre, read it. Learn from the artistry of the words within. If you want to be entertained by engaging characters, read about Sarah. Jonah, Miles and their supporting folks (Sarah's parents, Brenda, etc) and when you see Otis and "the boys" show up, skip it.....



Rating:
Summary: unsatisfying ending
Review: Brief summary: Miles Ryan is a deputy sheriff in a small North Carolina town. Two years earlier his wife was killed in a hit-and-run accident, and now he's raising their seven-year-old son alone. Sarah Andrews is the new teacher in town. She moved to town after a divorce, which occurred as a result of her infertility. Miles and Sarah fall in love, but problems arise when new information is found regarding the hit-and-run driver.

I *wanted* to like this book, but I had a difficult time doing that. I thought the characters were one-dimensional and had very little depth. The mystery portion of the book was easily solved (the backcover alone gave a huge clue). And I thought the ending was very unsatisfying. I've read reviews that have mentioned the book as being one about `forgiveness' and apparently I just totally missed that, because I didn't see any forgiveness. Just 16 pages prior to the end of the book Miles says, "You killed my wife. I'll never forgive you, and I'll never forget." And that attitude didn't change in the last 16 pages. In the epilogue, which occurred approximately ten years later, I got the impression that Miles is still hanging on to his anger. He starts out an angry man and ends up an angry man--there was no character growth at all. His anger is, to some extent, justified, but in my opinion, he's entirely too angry. Yes, there was a tragic accident. It had a huge affect on many lives. It's hard to let go of the people that you love. The `driver' should have reacted to the situation differently. But the bottom line is that it was in fact an *unavoidable accident*. And Miles seems totally unable to accept that fact. I would have liked to seen a different ending for Miles. The book was a disappointment for me, but clearly, I'm in the minority in that opinion :)