Traveler by Ron McLarty - Audio version

[NiceguyEddie]

Synopsis:

In the eagerly anticipated follow-up to his poignant and deep-souled debut, The Memory of Running, Ron McLarty delivers the beautifully crafted story of a man who returns to his hometown to discover the truth about his past.

 

 

Review:

A Traveler is a bullet lodged in the body that much later moves and causes death.

I listened to The Memory of Running, Ron McLarty's debut novel soon after it was released in December 2004. With the help of Stephen King, the book was heavily promoted and was a huge success. It was a soulful debut that left me looking forward to his next title. Ron McLarty's Traveler shares some similarities with The Memory of Running in that a present day event causes the narrator to revisit his past to uncover memories of events that shaped the main character's present.

Bartender & actor Jono Riley hears of the death of his childhood love Marie D'Agostino in his hometown of Rhode Island. It emerges that the cause of her death was a bullet that had been lodged in her body since childhood that moved - a "traveler". Jono returns to Rhode Island and gradually the story of his childhood and the mystery of who shot Marie unfolds as Jono begins to make connections with other strange incidents from that time.

On seven compact disks, it is a well written & read unabridged version of the book. McLarty, an actor as well as author and established audio book reader reads it as well as the author who is also an actor can - flawlessly.

The darker moments from Jono's past are lit up with laugh out loud humour.

Traveler is a terrific "read". I can't truthfully say that it quite lives up to his debut novel, but I'm very glad I listened to it. I look forward to his next novel.

[Purple Poppy]

Good review. I might think about this one. Interesting story line.