Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Review: The Last Line of a Goat Song by Jonathan Doyle


Genre: Literary Fiction

Description:

“Living a life of self-imposed isolation, a lonely man finds himself on a road trip to Mexico with a woman whose life becomes intertwined with his. Forging an unlikely friendship, they must learn to navigate the dangers and chaos of their adventure while confronting ghosts from the past.”

Author:

“Jonathan Doyle is a screenwriter and novelist based in Los Angeles with his large collection of books and his trusty DVR. A native of Phoenix AZ, Jonathan grew up in Southern California and is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University with a degree in Psychology, but still can’t overcome his fear of freeway overpasses. When he’s not busy working on a new novel/poem/song/screenplay, he enjoys reading Virginia Woolf, lamenting a Lakers loss, or watching Siberian tiger videos online.”

Appraisal:

First, this is the story of William, an older man who has never been able to speak. He knows about the lives of the neighbors in his apartment complex in great detail. The neighbors may or may not be vaguely aware that he exists.

It’s also an adventure story. Or maybe it could be described as a road trip story where a couple of friends take a road trip and stuff happens. Except in this case the “friends” really aren’t. They are William and Maggie, a twenty-something neighbor of William. Yeah, one of those who barely knows him. The reason they’re taking the trip is that William has a van he has no use for and Maggie’s family in Mexico who she hasn’t seen in years really need a van.

If all this seems slightly strange and yet a bit intriguing, we’re in agreement. And just as in those road trip stories our intrepid travelers will encounter things that make you laugh and others that make you cringe and worry. In the process, William and Maggie learn a little more about the world and themselves. An entertaining, offbeat read.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Some adult language and mild adult content.

Format/Typo Issues:

Review is based on an unproofread pre-release version, so I can’t judge the final product in this area.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 55-60,000 words

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Thanks for for taking the time to read and review Jonathan's book. Glad you enjoyed it!