Rod Raglin

In Abandoned Dreams, by Rod Raglin, we meet twenty-seven year old George Fairweather who is a celebrated poet with a drinking problem. Early on there is a tragedy and then the story jumps ahead thirty-seven years. He no longer drinks, but as we meet the people in his life we have to ask how he abstains. For the most part they are self centered, needy, selfish and unlikeable. The one exception is his granddaughter who loves him unconditionally.

George wants a different life now and finds it show more isn't easy to extricate himself from the people who consider him to be a focal point of their lives. The story is told in alternating voices and gradually we see how the characters come to realize that George is serious. Did they ever really know George?

I found this to be a well told, fascinating and powerful story. Highly recommended.

I received this book free of charge through LibraryThing and the opinions expressed are my own. show less

Interesting plot, fast-moving story, well-developed characters. Not only well presented but also very realistic. A whole range of characters, with all their good and bad sides. Many twists and turns, not always with a happy ending. Rod Raglin is definitely good at writing and gripping the readers' attention from the very first page. He managed to put so many levels in this book - corruption, drugs, murder, threats, politics. Yet, there is also place for love and friendship. He not only show more presents his story, he challenges his readers to get actively involved, to start asking questions and reconsidering their own life decisions. show less

The characters are well drawn, as is the setting. The writing is good, but my copy had a few typos. The plot is standard but with the details being interesting and well planned. The pace was fast enough to keep the tension at a good level but slow enough to allow me to become acquainted with the characters and setting. These aspects coalesced as a good read, despite the heartache.

I have received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Matthew Bennett is quite a well-known foreign correspondent who has seen and witnessed so many things in his life, such atrocities that made him a different man, one who has visions, can't find peace and thus drowns his sorrow in alcohol. He is estranged from his family and his friends, but everything changes when his father disappears and leaves him with a treasure map. Matt starts a journey to find his father and show more possibly the gold, but it turns into a search for true love and meaning of life, in which he discovers his true soul and much more.
Rod Raglin is above all an excellent narrator, very adept at descibing simple ordinary things around us. At the same time, his characters are very complex, yet very realistic people with many flaws. The author manages to present the story in multiple layers, switching between different scenes and charactes so easily and naturally. I trully enjoyed reading this book and would definitely recommend it. If you are looking for something meaningful, you'll certainly get a lot of true love, trust, relationships, friendship, childhood memories, and a lot more in this excellent book. show less