Dove Season (A Jimmy Veeder Fiasco) by Johnny Shaw

Book Review

At first this looked like a guys book..blood and guts..drinking tequila and bar fights…not something I’d enjoy.   I gave it a try because it was a gift, but once I started I couldn’t put it down.

This contemporary novel takes place in the Imperial Valley of Southern California .  It is portrayed with the love and brutal honesty by an author who grew up there.  He provides a great deal of interesting insight and history about the region.

Thirty year old Jimmy has been drifting for 12 years.   He returns to the dreary alfalfa farm where he grew up because his father is dying.  Jimmy and his father have an unusual relationship.  Some fathers and sons bond through sports, these two bond through dark humor.  Their witty banter, added to Jimmy’s other complex relationships add comic relief to the gritty tale.

Jimmy’s father sends him on a quest to find a hooker, a very specific hooker.  This takes Jimmy and his unusual pals on a perilous trek through rough towns on both sides of the border where they get into all kinds of trouble.  The twists and turns in this book will keep you turning the pages.

 

Originally published on Bubblews

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