Happy book birthday to author, Brent Jones! Today we celebrate the release of Fender with a blitz and giveaway.

I’m also going to share my review of this book, as Brent was kind enough to gift me with an ARC for my honest opinion. Having read his debut, The Fifteeth of June (Read review on Booknista), I was happy to dig in!

Fender: A Novel (Release Date: August 21, 2017)

How far must we travel to find our way home?

Nothing could have prepared Brennan Glover for the car crash that claimed the lives of his wife and six-year-old daughter. Stricken with grief, the only things that get him through each day are breaking his sobriety and clinging to Fender—the family dog and the sole survivor of the crash.

Desperate to distance Brennan from tragedy, his two closest friends take him on the cross-country road trip they had always talked about. But what begins as an effort to mend his broken heart ends up unraveling a secret that changes everything he thought he knew about his family. Can a journey of six thousand miles lead Brennan to acceptance and new beginnings?

From finding the good in an often cruel world to learning to say goodbye to those we love most, this sophomore release from author Brent Jones is sure to leave readers longing for home, wherever that may be.

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My Thoughts…

Ugh! Break out the tissues cause your going to need them for this one!

Fender is not like other books about tragedy. You know the ones I’m talking about… The ones that paint over the ugliness that is pure, soul-destroying grief, with flowery prose and comforting platitudes. No, this book is as visceral as it should be. The protagonist lost his whole family in one vicious blow and there are no words capable of soothing that kind of grief.

No, this kind of loss violently shoves Brennan off the wagon, his only comfort. That, and his poor dog Fender. Not only is Fender injured in the crash that only he survived, he’s also terribly old. But, he is Brennan’s only tenuous hold on life. (Are you crying yet?)

Brennan’s oldest friends decide to take him on a cross-country road trip to California. They are desperate to help their grief-stricken friend and think removing him from everything will help. Brennan will not leave without his dog, so they all pile in a car (Fender too) and head out.

The road trip in my humble opinion, is depicted in a very realistic way. The author provides an authentic experience of three grown men, all with complicated lives of their own, and their shared history, stuck in a car for hours at a time. There is laughter, tears, foul language, anger, more laughter and eventually, glimmers of hope for Brennan. Signs that maybe he can survive this.

Fender isn’t a pretty story but it’s real, well-written, and evocative. It’s hard to say “I enjoyed it” because of the nature of the story but I will say, that I read it in one sitting because I couldn’t put it down. And, God help you if you have a furry family member because this book will rip your guts out!

Seriously though, I can’t recommend this one enough.

Rating… A

Fender is Available on Amazon

About the Author

From bad checks to bathroom graffiti, Brent Jones has always been drawn to writing. He won a national creative writing competition at the age of fourteen, although he can’t recall what the story was about. Seventeen years later, he gave up his freelance career as a social media manager to pursue creative writing full-time. Fender and The Fifteenth of June are his first two novels.

Jones writes from his home in Fort Erie, Canada. He’s happily married, a bearded cyclist, a mediocre guitarist, (sometimes) vegetarian, and the proud owner of two dogs with a God complex. Subscribe to his newsletter (AuthorBrentJones.com) or follow him on social media (@AuthorBrentJ) for updates.

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