On Tour with Prism Book Tours
Where the Road BendsBy David Rawlings
Christian Fiction
Hardcover, Audiobook & ebook, 304 Pages
June 2, 2020 by Thomas Nelson
Fifteen years after college graduation, four friends reconnect to keep a long-ago promise and go on a trip of a lifetime in the Australian Outback.
Eliza needs to disconnect from her high-powered fashion job to consider the CEO position she’s just been offered. Lincoln hopes to rekindle a past relationship and escape from another one. Bree looks forward to a fun getaway from home and her deeply buried disappointments. Andy wants to disappear from the mess he’s made of his life—possibly forever.
Dropped at a campsite in the middle of nowhere, the friends quickly discover they aren’t the same people they once were, and they begin to confront hard truths about one another—and themselves. Then a bizarre storm sweeps across their camp, scattering them across the desert. Wondering if they are part of some strange escape game, each of the friends meets a guide to help them find exactly what they need: purpose, healing, courage, and redemption.
But they’ve already traveled far down the road of life and course-correcting to become the people they were meant to be won’t be easy.
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**My thoughts**
Four good friends in college are about to go their separate ways. They plan to meet up again in 15 years to share their successes in life. Ah, how I remember those happy days of excitement for what the future can bring, with a bit of anxiety thrown in about going out on your own.
15 years pass and they all get together for a trip to the Australian Outback, none of them where they had really planned to be, or at least not very happy with where they have ended up. There's a lot of bickering as truths start to come to light. And then when a chance storm blows them all over the place and they have to find their way back. Of course, "finding their way" takes on multiple meanings, as they are trying to find their way back to their original campsite and each other, as well as finding their way again in their own lives.
I admit that it took me a little while to get into the story, but I kept moving along. I loved the descriptions and lessons about Australia and the culture, sort of crushing some of the stereotypes that we have here in America. I learned some new things! And the second half where they were all finding their way back was a little difficult to follow, as their stories kind of ran together. But at the same time, it got me thinking and reflecting on my own life since college, the path that I am on currently, and how that matches up with what my expectations had been back then. I guess it was kind of happening anyway, as it periodically does. But this book brought it back to the forefront again.
The author does include some reflective questions in the back, not as a homework assignment, per se, but as a guide in case you are also having some of those same thoughts that I was having while I was reading. This was an interesting way to get you to reflect on your life and how something bigger is guiding you along the way.
Thank you to Prism Book Tours and the publisher for fulfilling my review request. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
About the Author
David Rawlings is an Australian author, and a sports-mad father of three who loves humor and a clever turn of phrase. Over a 25-year career he has put words on the page to put food on the table, developing from sports journalism and copywriting to corporate communication. Now in fiction, he entices readers to look deeper into life with stories that combine the everyday with a sense of the speculative, addressing the fundamental questions we all face.
One winner will receive a print copy of The Camera Never Lies by David Rawlings (US only)
Ends June 24, 2020
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