Long Way Gone Book Review

SUMMARY:  "No matter where you go, no matter whether you succeed or fail, stand or fall, no gone is too far gone.  You can always come home."

     At the age of eighteen, musician and songwriter Cooper O'Connor took everything his father held dear and drove 1,200 miles from home to Nashville, his life riding on a six-string guitar and the bold wager that he had talent.  But his wager soon proved foolish.
      Five years after losing everything, he falls in love with Daley Cross, an angelic voice in need of a song.  But just as he realizes his love for Daley, Cooper faces a tragedy that threatens his life as well as his career.  With nowhere to go, he returns home to the remote Colorado mountains, searching for answers about his father and his faith.
     When Daley shows up on his street corner twenty years later, he wonders if it's too late to tell her the truth about his past - and if he is ready to face it himself.
     A radical retelling of the prodigal son story, Long Way Gone takes us from tent revivals to the Ryman Auditorium to the tender relationship between a broken man and the father who never stopped calling him home.

REVIEW:  Oh.  My.  Goodness!!  If you read any book this year, you need to pick this one.  It is a modern take on the Prodigal Son parable done very well by Charles Martin.  I love how he weaves the present and past together, back and forth in a seamless pattern that does not get the reader confused or lost.  My heart broke, spirit soared, eyes watered and heart was lifted numerous times as I read about Cooper, Daley, Mary, Big-Big, and Dad.  Normally, as I read I find myself reading really fast, even if I like a book.  But, as I read Long Way Gone, I found myself reading slower, savoring each line, interaction, heartbreak, and salvation story.  The depths of despair, the heights of love and everything in between is covered here.  Read it for yourself, savor in its delights and enjoy the love of our Heavenly Father.

This book was provided by Fiction Guild and Thomas Nelson Publishers

for review without any compensation.

Charles Martin is the New York Times bestselling author of twelve novels.  He and his wife, Christy, live in Jacksonville, Florida.  Learn more about him at charlesmartinbooks.com, Facebook: Author.Charles.Martin; or Twitter: @storiedcareer.