wp-1581102083656.jpgWelcome to my stop on the The Road to Delano blog tour sponsored by Suzy Approved Book Tours! Thank you to Suzy for the invitation!

About the Book:

Jack Duncan is a high school senior whose dream is to play baseball in college and beyond―as far away from Delano as possible. He longs to escape the political turmoil surrounding the labor struggles of the striking fieldworkers that infests his small ag town. Ever since his father, a grape grower, died under suspicious circumstances ten years earlier, he’s had to be the sole emotional support of his mother, who has kept secrets from him about his father’s involvement in the ongoing labor strife.

With their property on the verge of a tax sale, Jack drives an old combine into town to sell it so he and his mother don’t become homeless. On the road, an old friend of his father’s shows up and hands him the police report indicating Jack’s father was murdered. Jack is compelled to dig deep to discover the entire truth, which throws him into the heart of the corruption endemic in the Central Valley. Everything he has dreamed of is at stake if he can’t control his impulse for revenge.

While Jack’s girlfriend, the intelligent and articulate Ella, warns him not to so anything to jeopardize their plans of moving to L.A., after graduation, Jack turns to his best friend, Adrian, a star player on the team, to help to save his mother’s land. When Jack’s efforts to rescue a stolen piece of farm equipment leaves Adrian―the son of a boycotting fieldworker who works closely with Cesar Chavez―in a catastrophic situation, Jack must bail his friend out of his dilemma before it ruins his future prospects. Jack uses his wits, his acumen at card playing, and his boldness to raise the money to spring his friend, who has been transformed by his jail experience.

The Road to Delano is the path Jack, Ella, and Adrian must take to find their strength, their duty, their destiny.

My Thoughts:

In 1968, Jack Duncan is a high school baseball player. Now a senior, he has big dreams for life and baseball after high school. He is eager to leave his small town behind. Times are also hard for he and his mother financially.

During this time, Jack finds out his deceased father was murdered. Now Jack can’t get it out of his head and wants to know what happened and why.

Not long after, his best friend, Adrian, is thrown in jail, and Jack must work to get him out.

Jack was an endearing character, and I was rooting for him throughout. I loved the small town atmosphere, and the undercurrents of unrest at the time due to the fieldworkers striking were portrayed well. Overall, I enjoyed the tension and thoughtfulness in the storytelling.

I received a complimentary copy.

About the Author:

John DeSimone is a published writer, novelist, and teacher. He’s been an adjunct professor and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University. His recent co-authored books include Broken Circle: A Memoir of Escaping Afghanistan (Little A Publishers), and Courage to Say No by Dr. Raana Mahmood, about her struggles against sexual exploitation as a female physician in Karachi. His published novel Leonardo’s Chair published in 2005.

In 2012, he won a prestigious Norman Mailer Fellowship to complete his most recent historical novel, Road to Delano. His novels Leonardo’s Chair and No Ordinary Man have received critical recognition.

He works with select clients to write stories of inspiration and determination and with those who have a vital message to bring to the marketplace of ideas in well-written books. https://www.johndesimone.com/

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Have you read The Road to Delano, or is it on your TBR? Happy Reading! ~ Jennifer THR