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This novel recounts twenty years of friendship between three boys, their families, and the people they come into contact with as they grow to manhood in a small New England town. Jimmy is a gifted athlete who excels on the baseball diamond. Jason’s musical talents far exceed those of his classmates. Chris is a young man who makes up for his crippled leg with strength and agility on the wrestling mat. Their collective camaraderie is forged over bike rides and fishing excursions that cement indestructible ties to one another. As the lads’ lives unspool, they face the challenges of growing up that virtually all readers can identify with. However, they also are forced to face obstacles both dangerous and life threatening. In one incident, two miscreants who have just robbed the local store run over Jason on his bicycle. Later, the boys have to deal with the ultimate tragedy as murder comes to their sheltered hamlet.
There is a heartfelt sincerity in the boys’ story that overcomes occasionally jarring hiccups in the writer’s style. Voice and tense changes collide unexpectedly. Word choice and phrasing is sometimes challenging given the narrative technique, but the reader seldom loses connection with the principals or the nostalgic environment they inhabit. As each boy confronts the journey to adulthood in his own way, trials and tribulations are overcome both by individual strength of spirit and the trios unbreakable bond of friendship. If you are one who remembers and longs for a simpler time, a time silhouetted by bucolic settings and life lived at a gentler pace, this book may be for you.