From the River - Gaertner, James

. .

Résumé :
This innovative and action-packed coming-of-age mystery is set in 1982, in the small fictitious town of Hopewell, Michigan. Three years after the death of his emotionally withdrawn father, nineteen-year-old Jake Burton is still attempting to understand who he was. As his life fails to gain traction after high school, Jake retreats to a secluded sanctuary near the river, gradually insulating him from reality and bringing his search for answers to a crawl. At the river, a chance encounter with an elderly black man named Lewis Shields results in a fast friendship. When Jake's best friend, Chris Messinger, returns from college for the summer, new details about Jake's father come to light and Jake enlists the aid of Chris and Lewis to help him complete a recently discovered scheme of his late father's, while at the same time hoping to rehabilitate his father's somewhat reclusive image. His plan: Enter a grueling 70-mile canoe river race set to run past Hopewell in three months. While the three of them are all dealing with their own secrets, the river holds secrets of its own. At the same time as Jake struggles with several issues, he must also find a way to navigate the difficult path of his first real romance. This page-turning novel is rich in friendship, mystery, romance, and above all, emotional growth. At times funny and heart rending, the story provides a glimpse of life in a small town and will especially appeal to those who have lost someone special and struggled for meaning.

Biographie:
Following a tour of duty in the military, James Gaertner graduated from Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He worked for several years in the private business sector as a writer and editor, while periodically finding time to create travel and local interest articles, as well as celebrity interview pieces, for various regional publications. From the River is his first novel. He was inspired early on by the writings of Philip Roth, Joseph Heller, and Kurt Vonnegut, attracted to their books' offbeat and laughable characters, as well as their unique storylines that still managed to hit their mark. Growing up in a small town in Michigan and being an avid camper and a fledgling recreational canoeist in his Michigan years was invaluable in the writing of this novel. James currently lives in Arizona with his wife, Shirley, and when not writing, his greatest pleasures, other than the company of friends and family, are travel and reading.

Sommaire:
This innovative and action-packed coming-of-age mystery is set in 1982, in the small fictitious town of Hopewell, Michigan. Three years after the death of his emotionally withdrawn father, nineteen-year-old Jake Burton is still attempting to understand who he was. As his life fails to gain traction after high school, Jake retreats to a secluded sanctuary near the river, gradually insulating him from reality and bringing his search for answers to a crawl. At the river, a chance encounter with an elderly black man named Lewis Shields results in a fast friendship. When Jake's best friend, Chris Messinger, returns from college for the summer, new details about Jake's father come to light and Jake enlists the aid of Chris and Lewis to help him complete a recently discovered scheme of his late father's, while at the same time hoping to rehabilitate his father's somewhat reclusive image. His plan: Enter a grueling 70-mile canoe river race set to run past Hopewell in three months. While the three of them are all dealing with their own secrets, the river holds secrets of its own. At the same time as Jake struggles with several issues, he must also find a way to navigate the difficult path of his first real romance. This page-turning novel is rich in friendship, mystery, romance, and above all, emotional growth. At times funny and heart rending, the story provides a glimpse of life in a small town and will especially appeal to those who have lost someone special and struggled for meaning. ...