 |
A big rig breaks down near an anonymous small town whose glory days are far behind it. The trucker, an unassuming man named Rudy, intends only to fill his diesel tanks and put the place permanently in his rearview mirror. But desperate situations often call for unlikely heroes, and Rudy is in the right place at just the right time to save the day for not one but two people on opposite sides of an unfolding fiasco. There's Peggy, the pretty waitress attacked by her employer's oversized and dull-witted nephew. Then there's Ernie, the attacker, an unemployed cowboy with a history of being bullied and a penchant for committing drunken assaults he never remembers afterward. How will Rudy rise to the occasion to avenge the beleaguered Peggy? And what will it take to free a repentant Ernie from jail and the relentless brutality of two arrogant and bigoted police officers?
This sequel to The End of a Beginning ends with the promise of a third installment. It would probably be beneficial to read the first book beforehand to avoid confusion about certain plot elements, such as the fact that Rudy has only limited use of one hand. A solid cast of blue-collar characters of average or less-than-average intelligence parade through these pages during exploits any fiction fan will appreciate. Dam vividly captures the hospitality of a truck stop diner. Still, frequent misuse of words and complicated language to express simple ideas might deter some readers. Nevertheless, Dam's advocacy of men's respect for women is refreshingly overt in his assertion that Rudy's father always taught him to fight for any woman who cannot defend herself. Feminists and readers from other marginalized societal sectors may also appreciate Rudy's willingness to defend other vulnerable people, including those with mental disabilities.