The author of Gun Lake and The Second Thief is back with a riveting tale of how buried mistakes can resurface at any time. Adventure Company entrepreneur Jake Rivers gets a call from the parents of a woman who has disappeared and who was last seen with Alec, Jake’s best friend from college. The girl’s parents believe she is hiding out with Alec, but Jake hasn’t heard from him in 10 years. Jake’s moved on from his college days, but the memories of what he’s tried to forget—a friend’s suicide, an enemy’s mysterious disappearance— keep surfacing. Someone wants to keep him from discovering what really happened.
This is an author who never disappoints| Posted January 08, 2009
Jake Williams to wakes up one critical morning during Spring Break with in his car, his clothes bloodied, and a gun on the floor. Jake doesn’t remember how he got there and wills it out of his mind. But do his college buddies follow suit or do they carry the truth away at graduation? That’s the question Jake seeks an answer for as he takes on the mission of finding his school buddy, Alec, who’s disappeared with a wealthy businessman’s daughter.
In present time, we follow a concise timeline to meet the buddies that Jake ran with in college. He seeks them out one by one to discover if anyone has heard from Alec. Thrasher alternates this present time hunt with a detailed look at the past where Thrasher reveals Jakes fun-seeking senior year, building up chapter by chapter to the fateful bloody morning.
Thrasher uses changes in point of view to differentiate between the time periods. I have to admit the change in POV caught me off guard. I enjoy reading first person and when Thrasher switched to third person, I had to remind myself that Jake was not speaking about himself in the third person, a dorky trait to be sure. But it was worth the effort to lay the changes aside and immerse myself in the plot, which for the most part moves along and definitely reaches a surprising yet satisfying ending.
Mystery aside, Thrasher uses real life, real people to draw the reader in. His characters are appealing and quirky. He shows us that those who think they have everything in their spiritual lives figured out often end up in the same throws of uncertainty as those who toss their faith aside for a time and reclaim it when life throws a curveball; that few of us ever figure it out, ever attain a level of spiritual trust that gives us ultimate peace 365 days per year.
For me the spiritual take away is, live real, live honest, but live for God. If you do, you’ll provide a much more compelling witness than if you profess to have it all together. God can use your failures, your mistakes, and ultimately your new life in Christ to bring others close to him.
I highly recommend this book.
Worth the Price of "Admission"| Posted October 29, 2008
Sorry I couldnt help myself with the title of this review. This is the first book of Travis thrashers that I have read and it grabs you from the start and you cant put it down. I read the book in less than a day. It it the story of Jake Rivers who after about 10 years being out of college gets a call to help find a missing girl who was last seen with a friend from college. Jake hasnt really spoke to any of his old college buddys since the graduated. They had a one night camping trip were noone really seems to remember what happened and what they did. The author does a great job of making the characters interesting and easy to relate to. Would seriously recommend checking this book out.
