Book Blurb:
Heroes are not born. They’re made. Malcolm Wilson’s strength was forged during harsh childhood days–ugly days when he faced down schoolyard bullies and endured the neglect of a promiscuous mother. It is a strength that he has wielded to defend himself and his friends. Yet those years and traumas have taken their toll. Somewhere along the way, Malcolm Wilson lost his love of life. That changes the day when beautiful, tempestuous Heather enters his world. He feels the stirrings of something long dormant. And when he learns of Heather’s own abusive childhood–and the daughter that she was forced to leave behind–Malcolm knows one thing: He must help Heather get her little girl back. Their harrowing quest takes them from Scotland to a remote corner of Canada. There, Malcolm faces more than he bargained for–from being accused of kidnapping, to being targeted by an enraged psycho. And he discovers that Heather’s story is more tragic than he could ever have imagined. Yet his love for this woman with the flaming red hair–and for a little girl he has yet to meet–gives Malcolm Stewart the one thing he desperately needs: A chance to be reborn. A chance to become the hero he never dreamed he could be.
My Review: 4 stars
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This is an absolutely wonderful coming of age story for young Malcolm Wilson. Torn between his parents’ homes in two different countries and being “that kid” that gets picked on for being a good person, we grow up with Malcolm in this literary debut by Martin Crosbie. This book is an easy read that moves quite quickly as words are seldom wasted in the telling of this story. The first half is well told as we meet the key characters and feel the depth of Malcolm’s inner struggle of becoming the man he wants to be. The characters are realized perfectly on the page… full of flaws, like every one of us. The second half of the book becomes much faster paced with a fifteen-year jump in time. Malcolm finds himself in a romance and part of a thriller/mystery that pushes him to his limits to see if life isn’t temporary at all, but instead can be solid, real and everlasting.
This book is first in a trilogy. Well-done Mr. Crosbie!
Quotes I liked:
When you’re 13, almost 14, everything lasts forever. You have no concept of things ending or changing. You’re trapped in a monotony of bleak days at school and silent night-time suppers.”
-“Nothing in my life has ever been forever anyways. Everything is always just temporary, always temporary.”
-“Numbers don’t vary. They don’t stray. If a series of numbers add, or multiply, or subtract a certain way today, they’ll do that over again tomorrow, without fail. I try and live my life the same way. I enjoy order. I love the solace that I get from my numbers. I am an accountant.”
-“The chase ifs overlooked far too often. It’s the foreplay before the foreplay.”
-“Maybes make the world go round, Malcolm. Maybes give us hope. They tuck us into bed at night, and they wake us up in the morning. Maybes help us navigate our way through just about anything. Yeah, that’s what you need, my friend. You need a whole summer of maybes.”
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