Download Free The Long Drive Home Book in PDF and EPUB Free Download. You can read online The Long Drive Home and write the review.

Gay middle-aged hit men, a pathological interior designer, an idiot savant child and a gun-toting donut shop manager are some of the disparate characters that populate Stan Rogal's first novel. Beginning at vastly different points, geographically and emotionally, these seemingly unconnected people are woven together in the taut fabric of a story that follows the sweet sadness of the search for lost youth. The characters' paths move together gradually until they ultimately converge in an explosive showdown in a sleazy, road-side motel parking lot in Magog, Quebec. Peppered with beauty, absurdity and Rogal's typical rapid-fire dialogue, The Long Drive Home makes for a wonderfully disturbing read.
In this riveting novel, a happily married man makes a mistake that results in a teenager's death and sends his own life into a devastating tailspin.
Nicole awoke to her own screams, shrieking at the very top of her lungs. Her voice was distant to her, as though she was in a cave. Her throat burned with each wail, from days of the same. The dream awakened her at the same time every morning. She lay in a puddle of sweat, the perspiration and tears soaking her eyelashes. Her heart beat without any rhythm, just hurriedly. It was like someone striking a key of a typewriter over and over as quickly as possible until the chime would ring, announcing the margin had been reached. Her whole body ached as though it had been running a race that it was not conditioned for. It would only be a moment before her aunt would burst through the doors to make sure she was okay. She began taking deep breaths to calm herself and wiped her face furiously. She looked around the strange room that was to become her own and felt like a flower that had sprung up in a desert. She was wilting in a foreign land, dying in a place where she was not supposed to be, where she could not breathe.
This narrative unfolds the life of Ernst, a young German soldier during World War II, caught at the crossroads of duty and family loyalty, stretched between Germany and England. At nineteen, Ernst navigates the tumult of his own moral dilemmas against the backdrop of a war-torn landscape, accompanied by an officer who has vowed to see him safely home. As we journey through the pages, we’re drawn into the visceral experiences of war-torn Germany. Nightly, as Ernst and his comrades traverse the roads under the cover of darkness, the ominous hum of bombers overhead is palpable, each man acutely aware that their loved ones are in the crosshairs. In the daybreak’s light, the crimson hue of their burning cities stains the horizon, a constant reminder of the devastation being wrought upon their homeland. The story doesn’t shy away from the shared fear and terror that grips both German and American soldiers, delving into the harrowing plight of US troops captured and held as prisoners of war. Despite the hospital’s eerie quiet, indicating few casualties are being brought in, the war’s end in 1945 doesn’t immediately herald peace for Ernst and his comrades. It’s not until four years later that they can finally part ways. Returning to a country he can call home, Ernst confronts the suspicion and distrust from those around him. It is during this turbulent time that he meets a young woman who helps to heal the bitterness of war. Together, they embark on a life filled with hope, leaving the shadows of the past behind as they step into a shared future.
Ryder Christianson is a bright, adventurous young man who is discontent with the good life he has. He and his older brother, Bobby, live on a North Dakota cattle ranch where his dad, Mike, has been raising them on his own since his wife died. Since then, Ryder has been getting into fights, performing poorly academically, and rebelling against all authority. Although Mike’s faith in God is strong and he unconditionally loves his son, Ryder’s constant irresponsible behavior is making him more frustrated by the day. Even a near death experience is not enough to dissuade Ryder’s rebellious attitude and desire for freedom from all authority and responsibility. While Mike finds comfort in the scripture and his relationship with God, Ryder eventually decides to move in with his aunt in California where he believes he can live without restrictions and responsibilities. Against Mike’s better judgment, he lets Ryder go. Will Ryder’s strong spiritual upbringing be enough to hold him together in a new place or will he stray down the wrong path in pursuit of other desires? In this uplifting story of forgiveness, faith, and hope, a prodigal son on a long road to maturity must detour away from selfishness, greed, and rebellion to find his way back to God.
Bett is a story of the triumphs of young black baby boomers bravery in the South to push forward during the fifties, sixties, and seventies. Bett is by no means meant to make the grandchildren of African Americans frown on their past or to make the grandchildren of white Americans feel guilty. The goal is to show our youth how a people with very little to work with overcame in spite of it.
What is a woman to do when all she’s ever wanted was a happy, healthy family of her own, but now has nothing left to screw up? She has two choices: she can give up completely or start choosing herself, one day at a time. That’s exactly the choice Kimberly Sigurdson made: to heal, moment by moment. Growing up amid dysfunction, anger, and emotionally unavailable parents, Kimberly soon lost her voice and became a people pleaser. As she grew older, this led to dysfunctional relationships, where she put others’ needs before her own and made unhealthy choices. She felt stuck and unworthy and struggled with low self esteem. When an autoimmune disease flare-up landed her in the hospital at thirty-seven, Kimberly decided it was time to change her life. As her healing journey progressed, she found writing helped her release her thoughts and feelings and allowed her to share with the people she needed to. As Kimberly healed from her past, her letters changed. Her growth mindset provided a path to evolution, and she grew from writing from a place of self-pity to writing from a place of feeling grateful and empathetic to those who had hurt her. Follow Kimberly on her healing journey as she realizes it was never about not being good enough. Learn alongside her as she discovers that the way people treat others reflects how they feel about themselves and what they’ve been through in their own lives.
On a crisp October day in 2002, Lindsey O'Connor woke from a 47-day medically induced coma. She heard her ecstatic husband's voice and saw his face as she emerged from the depths of unconsciousness. She was bewildered by the people around her who looked so overjoyed and were so thoroughly attentive and attuned to her every move. Then came the question: "Do you remember that you had a baby?" Lindsey drifted in and out of consciousness again for weeks. When she finally and gradually surfaced permanently from her long submersion, she struggled to understand that the day her baby came into the world was the day she left it. Her awakening was the happy ending for her family and friends--the miracle they had been praying for--but it was just the beginning of Lindsey's long and frightening journey toward a new reality. With visceral images and richly layered storytelling, Lindsey O'Connor vividly tells the poignant true story of the struggle to reenter her world and rebuild her identity. Underlying this life and death battle is a story of lost and found love, the effort to make sense of life-altering events, and the continuing search for self. This moving memoir paints a powerful picture of pain, beauty, and the unsurpassable gift of finally knowing who you are.