Story Behind The Book
Manhood, it is that imaginary line that every teenage boy must cross but when a teenage boy takes what he believes is a first step out of adolescence he has no idea how close to the line of adulthood he is stepping. Summer starts innocently enough with the gift of a gun, and an invitation to join his father in the upcoming hunting season. However, the innocence of that moment quickly evaporates as the son learns that his father is dying. The Cold November Son takes the reader on a voyage that explores the boundaries of love and mercy as a son watches his once mighty father ravaged by terminal cancer. It is a love story unlike any you have read before. Will the son honor his father's final wish to ease his pain in one final violent act of kindness? Come along on the journey and see for yourself.
Media Links
Reviews
If you read one book this year, make this the one! For about the first 30% of the book, it appears as though it's going to be a coming-of-age book or something along the lines of a book for youth. While it starts out that way, hang in there and you'll be glad you did. Tommy longs to talk to his mother about what's going on in his life but she is cold and distant. Fortunately for him, his father is not. His father loves to laugh and enjoys life. He has his own construction company and the summer Tommy turns 14 is the summer his dad brings him to work with him on a daily basis, introducing him to Easy (Carl) a 20 year old from a halfway house. His mother, a Christian, knows less about compassion than Tommy and Tommy knows that his mother will never allow Easy, an ex-con to eat at her table. This is the summer when Tommy's dad teaches him how to drive a stick and shoot clay pigeons at the firing range. How to hang sheetrock. The summer when Tommy learns about compassion and anger, life lessons and regrets. The compassion Tommy's father has is amazing! Tommy has compassion as well but since he lacks life experience, it's not as mature a compassion as his father. As you read, you'll discover what I mean by this. The reader reads about choices and consequences, not only to ourselves but to others. Because consequences don't only affect the one making the choice but often affect those around them. Life lessons. Whatever you do, don't skip this book thinking it's merely for youth or young adults. Far from it. This book "The Cold November Son" will have you all over the place with your emotions. It plucks at them and leaves the reader asking "What would you do?" after his father asks him "What is the right thing?"