Some angels have brass knuckles and tattered wingsAfter a freak accident kills his wife and son, Pritchard slips into alcoholism and spends most of his time at a blue-collar bar nearby to avoid the dead and empty house.A teenage girl sometimes comes into the bar to try to get her drunkard dad to come home, but it rarely works. One day, in his intoxicated state, Pritchard accidentally trips over … Pritchard accidentally trips over her scooter, breaking it. He promises the distraught girl that he’ll pay for it, but she’s used to being lied to by drunk men. To follow through, he gives her his business card.
A few days later, she calls him out of the blue, afraid, begging for his help. Her dad has gotten into a card game with bad people, and the debt collectors aren’t stopping with him.
The selfless act of responding to the young girl’s plea upends his world, leaving him only one way out: A walk in life he knows well, but one he thought he’d left behind. A life of crime.
Best foot forward, his late wife would always say. That was how she urged a man with a spotted past to strive to become a better man.
With danger around every corner, Pritchard must decide, will going back destroy him, or will it bring him full circle?
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Life can change in an instant.
Pritchard lost his wife and son in a multi-car accident and still trying to recover. He succumbs to drinking to fill the empty void instead of spending those evenings at the home he used to share with his family. Refusing to deal with the pain in his life, the bar has become his safe space.
While at the bar, he sees a little girl come regularly to get her father to come home. Dad has a serious gambling problem that ultimately land he and his daughter Rose, in self inflicted danger. Ironically, Pritchard becomes just the savior they need.
It seems chaos and undesired complexities are his lot in life. Can helping another family help to heal his pain and begin to close the gaping wounds of loneliness?
I received an ARC via BookSirens for an honest review.
This was a compelling read, that I found I did not want to put down! Great, multi-faceted characters. Very interesting plot. Vivid descriptions Suspenseful and thrilling. I felt every emotion. Kept me intrigued from the first page to the last. Simply a GREAT read!
*I received a complimentary ARC of this book in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review, should I choose to do so.
A fast paced story packed with action, emotion and respect. It also talks about the importance of friendship, family and caring for people. I was surprised by the way the story flows and how the main character´s feelings are so deeply and easily described – they make the reader think about life and values. Very good entertainment! I´ll be looking forward to reading the other books in this series and following the author.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Relatively short but action-packed and transformative story.
I promised to review the next book in this series of standalone but interconnected stories which is TRAILER PARK PRINCESS for BookSirens so I thought I should read the first one. I loved it! The transition of Pritchard from a sad drunk to a man with a purpose was transformative. After his world crashes down, he remains in that moment, looking back but never going forward until a young girl needs him. Then he remembers his wife’s much-repeated phrase to him: “best foot forward Pritchard and you can achieve anything.”
This book is full of action and surprises, great characters and revelations to behold. I must admit I cried buckets in the beginning. Such a sad start to a book but so beautifully done. Sorry to admit but I felt pride when Rose realized who she called for help that scary night…pride for Pritchard because he was so much more than she originally thought. He was everything that Monica and Zack saw in him.
If you like to see the under-dog win over the bully and can tolerate a sad beginning, read this book! So worthwhile.
This was a very good book that shows no matter how far down you are, that you are able to help someone else who is in a dangerous spot. I was impressed with the main character of Pritchard and what he had come from and what he made for himself and his family. It was great that he stood up for Rose and kept his promise.
Received as a review copy, this is an honest review. After losing all that his loves in an accident, Pritchard drowns his sorrows with smoke and drink; the bar may be a haven but it will become a gateway to hope. While righting a mishap, a young woman named Rose has found her and her father in a dangerous situation that only Pritchard can undo. He thought that chaotic life was behind him but those rough-street skills will save not only a family in need but enable Pritchard to lay ghosts to rest. Highly recommended.
I chose to review this book as I like a good thriller or police procedural. What I received surprised me. As many books deal with downtrodden or idealistic police officers or PI’s, refreshingly something different. Reminiscent of Wiseguy back in the ’80s, the main character is a good guy who got out of a life of crime. It is ironic that by doing a good thing, he is pulled back into that life. The book is believable and was a pleasure to read. So many books leave you on the edge of criminal families and the way they function. This story was just a little short for me; I do like a nice thick book. It was a pleasure to read.
This was an interesting read. A story about a man suffering with depression and how a chance encounter helps him overcome that circumstance. The fight scenes were fun. The plot flowed at a nice pace. It was a nicely laid out story but it felt, easy. Which is fine but not quite as intense as I was expecting.
The aspect of an innocent girl being thrown into a world she probably only vaguely thought existed was nice. I like that she said yes to a lot of things but ultimately she didn’t seem changed by it. Like Pritchard said she needed firm handshakes and stuff but after all she saw beyond this supposed increase in confidence she’s pretty much the same as she went in. Which is odd considering what she’s seen.
Then there was the idea of a code. It felt a bit off because there are countless examples of people going to the family to settle scores. In the dark comedy, Lucky Number Sleven the Boss and the Rabbi kill not only the Dad who couldn’t pay up but his wife and his son in the opening act. And this is a comedic mob movie. Maybe I’m just jaded by so many media outlets on this stuff that something like using family to blackmail things out of otherwise decent people is not a far stretch for me so for it to be an issue in this story was strange.
On its own, it’s not so much of a problem, but not having a code was the crux of the story so it has a lot of importance. Also, I’m totally on board with Pritchard personally having a gripe with the icky situation going down with a teen girl. That was legit. But that disgusting slice of story and attacking family were not the same. I guess I’m saying if that situation instead was the motivation, it would’ve been much more believable cause that thug got what he deserved and someone had to pay for thinking this was a good idea to begin with.
Pritchard overall was nice. His arch was okay. Getting thrown back into the world he was rescued from by his late wife. There was something a bit preachy about his ‘rescue’ though. Almost like we are supposed to hate his old life enough to know why he was happy to escape yet he’s stupid-good at it. And he enjoys it. And it’s that level of fun that makes the story so interesting so the continuous drumming on about him being saved from that life, not wanting to be in that life, being so glad he got out before he became a murderer felt disingenuous. And maybe I was just triggered but when he tried to explain things about being better and dealing with certain issues to the girl he rescued it felt more preachy than life lesson. It’s obvious it wasn’t meant to be that way but something about the timing and the wording of those conversations didn’t sit right so didn’t have the desired effect for me. And, as I said above, the girl seems to be the same at the end beyond a more confident handshake so it’s hard to tell if these few moments affected her at all.
The villain side of the story was questionable. I’ll just chuck that up to lack of knowledge on my part if stuff like this does happen because the way the older brother decided to teach his younger brother a lesson seemed easy and a bit much all at the same time. He’s big-time in town. He could’ve very easily exacted his own justice or washed his hands of it entirely. It felt more like a keep it in-house kind of deal than going to the competition and being like you handle it. I dunno. Definitely felt way too easy.
Overall this was an entertaining read. Not amazing but def short and good enough to warrant me not getting annoyed and giving up on it. Finished it in one sitting. The plot didn’t bog me down or feel too quick and the ending even took its time considering I knew where it was going at around 80percent and it didn’t just jump in there and be done with it. Used the last 20 nicely. It was good reading but it didn’t lift. It felt like it was pushing the good boy angle a little too hard with the references to the life Pritchard used to have with his wife and son. The situation between the good and bad guys resolved a lot cleaner than I expected, it was almost one-sided it was so easy. And, if the good life was so great, why did Pritchard get better Via the bad life if that’s what he doesn’t want? Maybe an obvious hint about him becoming a bodyguard or PI or something that his skill set is good for at the end would’ve made it make sense. As it is I’m here for him getting heavily involved in his old life. It was the only real source of his happiness, rescuing a child and her father.
Good fight scenes, a nice bit of redemption and some villain take down make this an okay story but it didn’t dig too deep into the depression angle and didn’t allow the victim to deal with the world she got thrown into. Another point of view, especially hers, would’ve helped lift this book. All that said, for people who don’t need that much from a story, this one hits home. Short, fun and action-packed it checks all the boxes and is worth the few hours it takes to read it. But for me, it was just okay.