Phil Stamper

This is an odd book. I quickly became invested in each of these 16 year olds who are from a village in Ohio. The first third of the novel is set in the day before they head into the wide world for their penultimate summer holiday before college.

The novel introduces us to their fears and yearnings, loves and losses. We keep flitting between the four, and I had to listen with care to know who was speaking.

I must admit I kept expecting part 1 to move to part 2, ie from this snapshot of the boys at this pivotal time, to a time 5 or 10 years hence, when we would learn how their lives and longings are panning out.

To have a snapshot of the boys at this age and then to visit them again in, say seven years time, reminded me of that TV series "7 Up", which I found riveting. But this work is not so riveting. The fact that we don't meet the boys later in life is a huge opportunity lost. It leaves the story without direction or evolution. It probably only deserves 3 stars as a result, but the boys and their vulnerabilities are so absorbing that I am giving the novel a pass and awarding it an extra half star.

What is marvellous is that each of the boys has a separate narrator. I only know Michael Crouch, who I think narrates Rhys, The other narrators are Graham Halstead, Shawn K Jain, and Briggon Snow.

Doing some research, I learn that Graham Halstead reads everything (not just Juvenile) and has many books in my libraries. This is his only romance. Only a few books are read by Shawn K Jain; same for Briggon Snow. Unfortunately, there isn't any cast list that I've seen - a pet complaint of mine.

This is my first Phil Stamper novel and unfortunately is the only audiobook of his work held by my libraries.… (mer)