Recent Read: November Road

The assassination of President John F. Kennedy was one of the most devastating events to hit this country. Anyone alive at the time remembers where they were and when they first heard the news. I was in a high school classroom when a school administrator walked in and informed the teacher what happened. The teacher then solemnly announced the tragedy to the class. I don’t think any of my fellow students knew how to react or realized the enormity of what happened. One kid, not the brightest bulb in the class, yelled out Nixon got him! Some classmates laughed until our teacher started shouting at us screaming how this was a tragedy and there could be global consequences no one could imagine.  Soon after, the school suspended all classes and sent everyone home.

Lee Harvey Oswald was apprehended hours later after killing police officer J.D. Tippet. That Sunday on live TV as Oswald, in police custody, was being transferred by the police. Out of the shadows a gun shot was fired and Oswald went down, The shot was fired by  sleazy nightclub owner Jack Ruby. They apprehended Ruby, and he was put on trial. He was found guilty, but while waiting on an appeal, he died from a pulmonary embolism due to lung cancer.

With  this as the background, author Lou Berney’s third novel, November Road lays the groundwork for a magnificent  read combining conspiracy theories, history, road trip and a tense thriller all rolled up into one superb crime novel.

Frank Guidry is a trusted member of New Orleans mob boss Carlos Marcello’s crew. He knows his way around the club scene and with women. One night, Frank has an awakening of sorts. Though he is a loyal and well thought of member of the family, he is also a loose end connecting Marcello to the assassination of JFK. Marcello, if nothing else is thorough. That makes Frank expendable. Realizing this, Frank decides its best if he leaves town and disappears. But where to go and who can he trust.

Then there is Charlotte Roy, a mother of two young girls, married to a hopeless drunk. Charlotte lives a dead-end life in a small dead-end town in Oklahoma. Charlotte’s mother’s lessons taught her to hold on to what you got and never look beyond. But Charlotte hungers for something more in life for her and her daughters. With her two daughters in hand, Charlotte packs up and takes off for a new life heading for California.

These two divergent souls will find each other on America’s open roads, both looking to escape their past and search for new starts in life. Berney has created three dimensional, fully developed characters and though the story plays out more than 60 years in the past, you can relate to them. Especially Charlotte, a woman who wants more out of life and does not want to settle for the nothing life of her past. Though Frank is on the run, he too, after meeting Charlotte, dreams of a new life, a good life away from the mob, but the question remains, is it too late, especially for him.

November Road is a must read and will rank up there as one of the best reads of the year.