20180921_234659.jpgHappy Friday!  Today I have a review of Tiger Drive by Teri Case. When I read the synopsis, and knowing how drawn I am to stories of dysfunctional families, I was excited to see what Tiger Drive is all about. Please read on for my review.

My Thoughts:

In reading the synopsis of Tiger Drive, I was interested in this family’s story. The Sloan family lives in Nevada in a trailer park. Harry, the father, is an alcoholic, and Janice, the mother, is fed up with him. Everything has become overwhelming to Janice. She’s doing this all on her own, she’s drowning in debt, and she has kids to take care of (two young ones, and four mostly grown); but all she wants to do is sing in the Grand Ole Opry. 

Carrie, one of the teen daughters, plans to escape life on Tiger Drive by going to college. She’s been saving every penny to have a different way of life. On the cusp of her leaving, Janice decides to run, too, giving her two young sons to Harry. None of this happens, though, because another secret of Harry’s is uncovered, his biggest yet. 

All the Sloans want a different life, but how will they create one, and how successful will each family member be?

The talent of Teri Case shines in the complexity of her characters.. Starting with Harry, there’s a tenderness and a large amount of regret and shame built into his drinking and his discoveries of just who he has hurt physically and emotionally after his black outs. He doesn’t want to be this way, but he has no idea how to be different. The same is true with strong Janice. She’s been the mom and caretaker, but she’s tired, and she’s ready to let it all go to find her piece of the pie. Carrie is ready to run out the door, but at the same time, she feels an immense love towards her family, and she wishes she could help them all. It’s like they are on a ship that’s going under, and she’s trying to figure out who to put on the life raft with her. This richness carries on throughout each of the individual characters. 

Tiger Drive is a well-written novel of a family in hard times that could be any family, one on the possible cusp of change, but one in which the secrets of the past continue to weigh it down. The stories of each character come together so beautifully because they are part of this thing called family, and love, though extraordinarily complex, continues to bind them together. 

Overall, I found Tiger Drive to be relatable, vividly real, and written emotionally from the heart; a story of utter despair clashing with hope and faith at every turn.

Thank you to the author for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis:

One family. Too many secrets. Four people who want to matter. In Nevada, Sloan family matriarch, Janice, is tired of her white trash life–dealing with debt, kids, her son’s motorcycle gang, and Harry, her drunk of a husband. She can’t shake her lifelong dream of singing at the Grand Ole Opry.

As Janice’s teen daughter, Carrie, plans her escape to college, Janice confronts the fact that she’s forty-eight and running out of time. She decides to leave her two young sons with Harry and move to Nashville for one year to pursue her dream. But before Janice can leave, Harry’s worst betrayal yet destroys everyone’s plans, and detectives start digging up the family dirt.

Times are desperate for the Sloan Family. They might survive if they can become each other’s unlikely heroes. Do they have what it takes to confront the truth about their lives and each other and break free from their way of life on Tiger Drive?

Debut novelist, Teri Case puts us inside the minds of mother, father, daughter, and son to portray how addiction, poverty, and secrets can derail the best of intentions. But with a little hope and a dose of trust, the human spirit can prevail.

“Tiger Drive is an outstanding [novel], with . . . layered characters, relationships that make me ache for the characters and yearn for a positive resolution, and character journeys that intertwine in heartbreaking, soul-soaring ways.” –Deborah Halverson, DearEditor.com

“I LOVED Tiger Drive so much . . . I know I’ll be thinking about these characters for a long time.” –Lizette Clarke, Author Accelerator

Have you read Tiger Drive, or is it on your TBR? Do you have a favorite story of a dysfunctional family? Happy Reading! ~ Jennifer THR