The Broken Road: A Novel (The Broken Road Series)
By: Richard Paul Evans
Rating: 5 of 5
This begins as the story of a man, Charles James, who starts out from humble beginnings and ends up making millions. He has had an abusive childhood and, thankfully, seems to have spared the curse of becoming abusive in his turn. Charles, for all that he seems to have everything, has come to realize that he is really empty and has nothing of true value.
The “author” of the book has traveled Route 66 looking for inspiration for his next novel. At the end of the journey, when he realizes that he has not found what he was looking and expecting to find, he comes across a dusty and dirty hiker who looks vaguely familiar. When he realizes who the hiker is (Charles), they agree that the author will possibly be given the rights to tell the hiker’s story. This book is the first in those tales. As the story is told by way of a look backward through the pages of Charles’ journal, it is more autobiographical than biographical in nature.
This first book in a new trilogy looks far back into Charles life and shows us a young boy who learns to fight to survive. It is due to these abusive years that Charles turns his back on God and decides that he is his own god. The events described in his younger years are enough to make one weep while reading. We follow his life through the point when he realizes making money is not the same as making a joyful life. The book ends when he is given a truly undeserved chance to start again, to reboot and, hopefully, find a life of true and lasting value.
While this is the first book I have read by Richard Paul Evans, it will certainly not be the last. I felt as if I knew the man the story was written about. I cheered when he overcame obstacles and felt sad and disappointed for him when he felt made unwise decisions and yielded to temptations that could destroy his life. In other words, Richard Paul Evans made this character come alive to me. I will be waiting (anxiously) for the second book in this series to be released.
This begins as the story of a man, Charles James, who starts out from humble beginnings and ends up making millions. He has had an abusive childhood and, thankfully, seems to have spared the curse of becoming abusive in his turn. Charles, for all that he seems to have everything, has come to realize that he is really empty and has nothing of true value.