Jonathan Arnold reviewed November Road by Lou Berney
Review of 'November Road' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Excellent read. Good fun. Would make a great movie. 4.5 stars.
Full review to come.
A short, sweet and yet violent book, set at the time of John F. Kennedy's assassination. Guidry is involved, albeit indirectly, with the killing and feels like he is being set up for his own assassination. So he goes on the run.
Meanwhile, Charlotte feels locked into life in a small Oklahoma town and decides to head to California, taking her two little girls with her. Guidry decides she and her family would make the perfect cover and wheedles his way into their lives. Of course, complications ensue, as the deaths stack up.
I really enjoyed how the two main characters were gradually fleshed out and how they came together. Charlotte's feeling towards her two daughters was obvious, and Berney did a good job of making even the girls real characters themselves. You kind of …
Excellent read. Good fun. Would make a great movie. 4.5 stars.
Full review to come.
A short, sweet and yet violent book, set at the time of John F. Kennedy's assassination. Guidry is involved, albeit indirectly, with the killing and feels like he is being set up for his own assassination. So he goes on the run.
Meanwhile, Charlotte feels locked into life in a small Oklahoma town and decides to head to California, taking her two little girls with her. Guidry decides she and her family would make the perfect cover and wheedles his way into their lives. Of course, complications ensue, as the deaths stack up.
I really enjoyed how the two main characters were gradually fleshed out and how they came together. Charlotte's feeling towards her two daughters was obvious, and Berney did a good job of making even the girls real characters themselves. You kind of know where it is going, but it is a nice time getting there.
In some ways, it reminds me of [b:Randomize|47137575|Randomize|Andy Weir|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1563467829l/47137575.SY75.jpg|72182564], in that the story seems destined for a truly expected outcome and you can't really see any way around it. But the story takes a couple interesting turns and ends, while not entirely satisfactory, very believably. I am not entirely sure I buy the ending, but it does work.
The other problem I had with the book were some of escapes that Guidry had from the implacable hitman that was on his tail. The hitman had his own foibles that led to some of the escapes, which became a little hard to swallow.
But all in all, a very nice read and a book I think would make a really great movie. I'd even star the husband and wife team of John Krasinski and Emily Blount as Guidry and Charlotte. It would be romantic and violent at the same time. As long as they didn't try to fairy tale the ending!
