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James Patterson & Peter de
Jonge
Narrated by Brian Bascle
Center Street
release / ISBN 978-1607882022
Fiction
Amazon
Reviewed
by Beth E. McKenzie
Travis McKinley is
what I would call a loser. And like every loser, he is unhappy with
himself, his life, his situation and can't figure out why everything
is so awful. He's got a successful and stunning wife, three wonderful
children, a nice house, a steady job, time to play golf, and the
wolves stay away from his door, but he has nothing, is nothing,
and can change nothing (see- a loser). Then one amazing Christmas
day, while his family bristles over a cold dinner that Daddy didn't
bother to show up for, Travis plays the most perfect nine holes
of golf of his entire life, not once, but four times. Twenty birdies.
It is like a bomb exploded under his seat.
Life gets activated for Travis. In short succession, he decides
that he will go to Qualifying School as the first step in joining
the Senior Tour; his wife decides that their marriage is over (he
hasn't told her about Q-school yet); he loses his job and cleans
out their savings so he can have a go at a big-boy fantasy camp.
I'd have filed the paper then. He could have signed before he left.
As you would expect, the writing is phenomenal. I hated Travis.
I ranted and raved at his lame and shallow wife who would put up
with this kind of selfish behavior while she worked and raised the
family for over 25 years. After he qualifies for the Tour, he calls
and tells her that he is a professional golfer. Her reaction absolutely
steamed me. It would have been different if his track record had
been one of trying hard and succeeding sometimes, but in my eyes,
all he accomplished by joining the Tour was partying for a year
away from the responsibilities at home. During the last tournament
I was crying my eyes out – until the 17th hole.
Enough of the cranky-woman reality check, this is a coming-of-age
story for grown-up boys; not a romance novel for women. The messages
came through loud and clear to even this bitter old crone. It’s
never too late to do well at something you love. You'll have to
work hard for what you attain, but you can do it. Luck is only good
if you have positioned yourself to take advantage of it. Success
is within you, but you don't have to do it all alone. And the winner
always gets the girl.
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