Consistency
In a time where it seems like every work day brings new mayhem I'm attempting to add some more routine, or at least focus on my routine. Writing about my last read was pretty engaging for me. Similarly picking up a book I generally may not have paid mind to was also great. It all has root however in things that are not new. I've always preferred word of mouth suggestions. The suggestions of "good reads" or some other internet company's algorithmic perfect selections never worked for me. I think that also turned me off of e-readers in general.
A shelf with picks from my local Librarians however? I can do that.
The Book
Freight is brief. It's a short novel and even in its words its short. Written about a collection of truck drivers and their circles in Maine the book is written in a gruff style. It's broken up however with some more thought provoking twists of one character, Curtis who has aspirations of being a writer. If you're a fan of Normal Maclean's characters you're going to enjoy Curtis. Curtis is the night dispatcher for a truck company and in a way a locus for the activities of many characters. The characters call him and for the most part he seems a passenger in their plots.
The plot is difficult to piece together at first. The book opens with a murder, albeit one that seems very unrelated to the next segments. Several characters flit around the US and Canada. One driver, Theo, is cheating on his wife and has his girlfriend riding with him into Canada. It turns out she told no-one and the plot seems to be focused on the risks this poses to Theo. He worries about getting caught and when things seem to be close to a boil…
His truck is stolen with his girlfriend in it.
All the while Curtis is along for the ride, hearing their updates and informing the company owner.
Things progress from there, in a dire situation his girlfriend, who is no slouch, kills her captor to escape a similar fate. The theft of the truck fails spectacularly and we the readers are pulled into the aftermath. Theo returns to his wife and his girlfriend returns to her life. Curtis has worries about one driver who got into a bad crash, but seems to escape any bad fate.
Things just seem to be settling when… It's revealed that Curtis had given out all of the information about the truck that gets stolen, the feds have found out…. and the book ends.
Honestly at about 40% through this short book I hated it. The author's blue collar style reminiscent of MacLean's had come to my attention and worn its welcome. His characters even seem to have similar good head, bad history issues. By the end of the book however I reconsidered my stance. I really liked both Curtis and Theo's characters. Theo is typical, the man who can't control his womanizing.
Curtis is a great character. His worry, desire to get his job improved and his life with his wife make him seem so full of pure aspirations. He seems to have plot armor, able to shake off his mistakes and progress in the hero's journey to the day shift. Only to find out he's tied up in what is now two murders as an accessory.
The writing in the book suits its characters, it was a fast read but a good one worth the evenings debating which driver you think is more of a scoundrel.
Kudos to the author for the dramatic ending. This is now three single episode novels where my favorite facet has been the concise endings.