About the book: A broken man. A twist of fate. A second chance. From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Mistletoe Promise and The Walk comes the first novel in a riveting new trilogy that explores the tantalizing question: What if you could start over?
Chicago celebrity, Charles James can't shake the nightmare that wakes him each night. He sees himself walking down a long, broken highway the sides of which are lit in flames. Where is he going? Why is he walking? What is the wailing he hears around him?
By day, he wonders why he's so haunted and unhappy when he has all he ever wanted-fame, fans and fortune and the lavish lifestyle it affords him. Coming from a childhood of poverty and pain, this is what he's dreamed of. But now, at the pinnacle of his career, he's started to wonder if he's wanted the wrong things. His wealth has come legally, but questionably, from the power of his personality, seducing people out of their hard-earned money. When he learns that one of his customers has committed suicide because of financial ruin, Charles is shaken. The cracks in his facade start to break down spurring him to question everything: his choices, his relationships, his future and the type of man he's become.
Then a twist of fate changes everything. Charles is granted something very remarkable: a second chance. The question is: What will he do with it?
The Broken Road is the first book in a much-anticipated new trilogy by beloved storyteller Richard Paul Evans. It is an engrossing, contemplative story of redemption and grace and the power of second chances. It is an epic journey you won't soon forget.
My review: This book was a bit interesting for me. I spent a good deal of it not liking the main character, Charles. I felt like he was not a very nice person. But as his story unfolded, I felt a bit sad for him. His life was not the kind of life that I would wish for anyone to have. Yet he dealt with it the very best he could.
I did think it was kind of interesting that in the author's note at the end, Richard Paul Evans mentions that this book is based on a real person. That made the whole book more real to me and it actually helped me to like Charles a little bit more. And now I want to know what happened to him, and to his family as well.
Charles is the main character, you see the whole story through his eyes, so you don't know what motivations the other characters may have had. I kind of felt like I didn't get to "know" the other characters, but I guess with the type of story that it is, that's what you'd expect.
This book is well-written and engaging, leaving the reader wanting more. I can't wait to read more of Charles' story!
I was able to borrow this book from my local library.
Purchase link: AmazonLabels: clean fiction, Richard Paul Evans
