When family man and war veteran Russell loses his job as a quarry worker, his life suddenly seems more like a waking nightmare than a chance to finally live the American dream. Facing bills, a new baby, and a bone-dry bank account, he’s got nothing left to lose. Russell comes to the rescue of a naked stranger dancing in the rain, and what was supposed to be a straightforward good deed turns into … into a spiral of danger. When Russell finds an enticing stash of money in the woman’s house, he knows the cash could be his only hope. Taking just a handful will save his family’s future.
His “victimless crime” seems to be anything but risky—until the criminals he robbed come looking for their dirty money. Russell’s ready to surrender it, but then his daughter gets sick…and he must choose between saving her or giving the devils their due. Someone’s going to pay. The question is, how much?
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Only the Rain is a thriller that falls into the category of sort-of-good-guy gets involved with the wrong people because he’s broke. And though the results aren’t as disastrous as McCarthy’s bloody novel, they certainly serve to teach a valuable lesson: When you see a drugged-out girl dancing in the rain, keep going.
Book source ~ Kindle First
Russell works in a quarry, is a veteran, husband, and father to 2.5 kids. He and his wife are living the American Dream. They’ve got decent jobs, just bought a home, and are waiting for their 3rd child. Then everything goes sideways. One decision, one mistake, one out-of-his-control event, and now everything he’s ever wanted is all in jeopardy.
The storytelling in this book is a bit different. Russell is writing to an Army buddy through emails, reflecting on the events that led him to what happened, how he screwed up, and how he managed to make things right again. But are things right? Will things ever be right again? No. They can’t after what’s happened. But hopefully they can move on. I’ll be honest, this isn’t the greatest story out there. But it is compelling enough to keep a person reading, to see how Russell is going to get through this terrible fuck up. I have to admit I didn’t see that ending coming. I envisioned something else, but I’m satisfied with how it played out. My favorite character is Russell’s grandpa, Pops. What a cool guy! All-in-all a decent read.
An Overboard Use of Self-Justification Asides
This novel starts with the main character, Russell Blystone, writing an e-mail to his Army buddy, Spence, from Iraq. The author uses this mechanism to delve into the mind and thoughts of Russell. The action of the story starts shortly after this introduction. Russell learns that he has a third child on the way, that he is losing his job without any viable prospects on the horizon, and that he looking at the future without any real savings. On his ride home on his motorcycle Russell decides to take a back road to avoid traffic. On the way, he sees a naked young woman dancing in the rain who then collapses. Russell decides to help the woman who is higher than a kite back into the house. After fighting off her amorous advances, he discovers a fortune in the bathtub. He decides to take some as the woman could not possibly remember him, and the place looked like a meth lab. The storyline proceeds from here. Needless to say, the main storyline continues to go downhill for Russell from here.
The action in the main storyline as one would expect with an ending that was interesting and fulfilling. Unfortunately, my problem was with the author’s use of Russell’s talking to his buddy Spence. This is a literary technique called an aside. It is an excellent way for a character to tell the audience what he or she is thinking. While a little wandering in the beginning, I really liked the use of theses asides. Unfortunately, the author, in my opinion, overuses this technique excessively. Russell keeps justifying his actions with shallow logic of someone who really knows that what he had done was wrong. These asides started to overpower the main storyline until the near the end.
To some people sex, violence and vulgar language is important. There is the regular use of f-bombs and other vulgar terms. There are some sexual situations, but no graphic sex. There is some violence. To me the language fit the situation, and the violence not excessive. Unless you are sensitive to these issues, they should not pose any problems.
This is the first book by this author that I have read. In my opinion the use of the asides just went overboard with Russell’s self-justification for his actions. This excessive use of asides turned an OK main storyline into an exacerbating read for me. For this reason, I am rating this novel with two stars.