Righteous Road

Thou Shalt Not Road Trip by Antony John

* Book will be released April 12, 2012
* ARC read via Around The World ARC Tours

4 out of 5 gnomes

This book is a fun read with some eclectic characters and a very eventful road trip. 

Luke is sixteen and has written a best-selling book called Hallelujah.  He's not exactly used to fame and he has to go on his first book tour.  He won't be traveling normally though, his brother Matt has offered to drive him.  Of course things don't go as planned.

There aren't really chapters but there are kind of interludes in the book that I looked at as chapters that had a part from the Hallelujah book.  These little parts from the book are pretty funny and give you a glimpse of what Luke was going through when he wrote it. 

Luke's character at first is very self-righteous and naive.  He seems to think that his way is the only way, but that starts to change as he grows wise to the world while on this road trip.  He's ill prepared for the awe and reverence that people are giving his book and him.  He has so much faith but doesn't seem sure what to believe in.  This book tour quickly overwhelms him and the fallout is intense.His brother takes advantage of this situation and gets Luke involved in some colorful situations and they don't stay alone on this trip for long.  The brothers are kind of like night and day almost one really sheltered and the other more outgoing. 

Route 66 almost feels like a character in the book.  Attractions that are found along it are lovingly described.  It will likely make you want to make the trip yourself and hopefully have less problems then the characters in the book do.

Fran is a great character because she keeps Luke on his toes.  She has a punk type look that he doesn't approve of and even though they used to be best friends now they're more like enemies.  I love her take charge/tell it like it is attitude.  I think I liked her even more then Luke, the main character.  While reading though I thought that Fran's problems were going to be revealed to be a lot more serious.  Maybe I've been watching too many episodes of Law and Order: SVU but the story at least to me looked as if it was going off in a certain direction and then it went with something different. 

The interactions between Luke and Fran are disastrous at first but then you can start to see the chemistry that they used to have.  I found myself rooting for Fran and also curious about how her and Luke became estranged in the first place.

I really liked the ending because it puts all the characters in some unexpected places.  It's the kind of book that even after reading the last page you'll find yourself imagining the characters growing and changing for the better.  So check out this road trip and be prepared for a bumpy ride full of humor and surprising characters  that are hard to forget.