T.J. Forrester

The pacing in this novel is great. We ping pong from the televangelist on death row to the life that brought him to that place with hardly time to catch our breath.

And yet despite the speed with which events unfold, within each scene Forrester takes his time and we have moments of heartbreaking reflection. One example – early in the novel the protagonist, Vernon Oliver, watches from his death row cell as his neighbor is driven back to the main penitentiary for his execution. Oliver imagines the what the condemned man see as he is driven the countryside of free men and women going about their daily lives. It’s a great piece of writing.
… (plus d'informations)

Everyone who sets foot on the Appalachian Trail (AT) writes a book, blog, journal, or an essay. Forrester has not only traversed the trail itself but also written from self-exploration and although not a trail guide, he’s put as much knowledge and lore into the storyline as a David Miller trail journal. This one adds darkness to the peacefulness of the long-distance hike.
Taz Chavis, recently released from jail with a yearning for open-air freedom and a chance to make a clean break from an alcohol and drug-addled past, starts his journey on Springer Mountain in Georgia, intent on the northbound journey culminating at Katahdin in Maine, 2170 miles away. We are treated to not just stories of intertwining journeys of his soon-to-be trail partners—Simone Decker, a scientist with a hidden past, and Richard Nelson, intent on discovering his Native American heritage and avoiding working in the family business—but to those who help other hikers.
These side stories are as much a treat to the AT reader, or hiker, as the story Forrester presents us with, that of the possibility that perhaps the deaths on the AT are no accident. As the bodies of hikers pile up along steep and precipitous portions of the trail, it dawns on Chavis that there is a murderer in their midst, “…a hiker murdering hikers is a defilement, the worst of mankind…” The fragile and temporary nature of the relationships these three pals form is tested repeatedly, culminating in a fraught, tense scene in the dying embers of the novel.
Like real life, there is always life after the journey and Forrester guides us home to the same helplessness or loneliness that drives many out on the AT, the pervading melancholy of drab lives that persuades many to take that long walk in the first place. After all, it is, as Forrester reminds us, better than the alternative…death, because, “Death is never the answer.”
… (plus d'informations)

Everyone who sets foot on the Appalachian Trail (AT) writes a book, blog, journal, or an essay. Forrester has not only traversed the trail itself but also written from self-exploration and although not a trail guide, he’s put as much knowledge and lore into the storyline as a David Miller trail journal. This one adds darkness to the peacefulness of the long-distance hike.
Taz Chavis, recently released from jail with a yearning for open-air freedom and a chance to make a clean break from an alcohol and drug-addled past, starts his journey on Springer Mountain in Georgia, intent on the northbound journey culminating at Katahdin in Maine, 2170 miles away. We are treated to not just stories of intertwining journeys of his soon-to-be trail partners—Simone Decker, a scientist with a hidden past, and Richard Nelson, intent on discovering his Native American heritage and avoiding working in the family business—but to those who help other hikers.
These side stories are as much a treat to the AT reader, or hiker, as the story Forrester presents us with, that of the possibility that perhaps the deaths on the AT are no accident. As the bodies of hikers pile up along steep and precipitous portions of the trail, it dawns on Chavis that there is a murderer in their midst, “…a hiker murdering hikers is a defilement, the worst of mankind…” The fragile and temporary nature of the relationships these three pals form is tested repeatedly, culminating in a fraught, tense scene in the dying embers of the novel.
Like real life, there is always life after the journey and Forrester guides us home to the same helplessness or loneliness that drives many out on the AT, the pervading melancholy of drab lives that persuades many to take that long walk in the first place. After all, it is, as Forrester reminds us, better than the alternative…death, because, “Death is never the answer.”
… (plus d'informations)

Taz Chavis, while serving time in prison, is informed that his father committed suicide. Returning to Wyoming briefly, Taz discovers that he has inherited $9000, which is more than enough for him to realize his dream of walking the Appalachian Trail. While "thru-hiking," he runs into a few people who become friends: Richard, the Blackfoot Native who struggles with alcohol addiction and his desire to do something more than sell tires for the rest of his life, and Simone, a laid-off scientist who has a dark secret.

The book is short (195 pages) and deals mostly with Taz, from his relationship to cocaine problems. There are also a few chapters that deal with people that Taz only meets for a moment; for example, Pike and Giuseppe, whom we never see Taz dealing with directly, and only stays in their campground for a night. Sometimes those chapters can be a bit distracting (I still don't know how Dalton and Diedre fit into the scheme of things), but the two about Leona and Emanuel eventually make sense.

There's also not much of a mystery here. A few sentences of the back blurb states: "Hikers are dying along the trail, their broken bodies splayed on the rocks below. Are these falls accidental, the result of carelessness, or is something more sinister at work?" The book gives away that 1) these falls are not accidental and 2) who is doing them fairly early (the second chapter, to be precise).

Still, I found myself drawn into the book. The characters were intriguing to me, and the story itself struck chords of home (I'm originally from the Appalachian foothills myself). I'd be interested in reading more from this author.… (plus d'informations)