Teresa Chafey is running away from
home. Driving north along the California coast, she picks up two
mysterious hitchhikers: Poppy Corn and Freedom Jack. Together the three
of them tell stories: Teresa of her devastating relationship with her
boyfriend, Poppy of a sad young woman she once knew, and Freedom of a
talented young man with a violent temper.
Yet as they talk, a darker story unfolds around them. A story of life and death, of redemption and damnation. It will be the longest night of Teresa's life. Maybe the last night of her life. |
Usually Pike's tempting words whirl me up into a state of orgasmic reading bliss, but here the release didn't match the build up. The traditional Pike strengths are here in their usual trimmings - strong characters, a bizarre and twisted story, a strange ending - but the pizazz existing in some of his other works is watered down.
For one thing the pace wasn't as strong. It's not a slow book by a stretch, and there's a scene or two in there that's mystifying, but the road to nowhere left me on the road to drowsiness. The constant talking, thinking back, and thinking forward in bizarre terms made it harder to sympathize with the protagonist. I liked her, but she's not especially admirable.
Pike's writing style is always welcomed, celebrating every stories strength. There can be no fault found there. A right amount of tension is present, keeping the pages turning, and it's hard to get away from the book, even if it's not perfect. The ending was as powerful as most of his other works, leaving on a good note for a change, if not a little dramatic. So, overall it's certainly worth a read, but it doesn't live up to the greats of his other stuff.
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