Tag: peter Ferry

Book Giveaway – Travel Writing by Peter Ferry

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HB 1Today’s free book is a trade paperback read once.  Published in 2008, 294 pages.  Here’s the synopsis-

Pete Ferry, our narrator, teaches high school English in the wealthy Chicago suburb of Lake Forest and moonlights as a travel writer. On his way home after work one evening he witnesses a car accident that kills a beautiful woman named Lisa Kim. But was it an accident? Could Pete have prevented it? And did it actually happen, or is this just an elaborate tale he concocts to impart the power of story to his teenage students? Why can’t he stop thinking about Lisa Kim? And what might his obsession with her mean to his relationship with his girlfriend, Lydia?

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Open internationally.  Winner will be picked on October 11th.

Travel Writing, by Peter Ferry

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Cover ImageFinished 9-11-09, rating 3/5, fiction, pub. 2009

See, I think that’s Pete’s problem,” said Carolyn.  “He knew what was going to happen.  You know what I mean?  He could see it happen before it happened, and then it happened.”  (Of course I now know that even if for a moment I could see what was going to happen to Lisa Kim, I had no idea what had already happened to her and would not for a long time.)

Chapter 1

 High school teacher Pete Ferry (you may notice the similarity with the author’s name) sees a woman driving erratically one night and watches in horror as she crashes and dies.  The police say it’s an accident, but Pete is not convinced.  His guilt at not having stopped her fuels his obsession with finding out everything about that night and the victim, Lisa Kim. Pete’s distraction takes it toll on his relationship with his girlfriend of many years and he can’t seem to work up enough energy to save it.

Of course, this may all be a lie, a story.  Pete is telling this story to his students so they see how a great story is pieced together, with truth and lies.  What is real and what isn’t?  Or is it all a dream?

This clever concept was interesting, and it mostly worked.  I guess I had more of an issue with Pete.  I didn’t ever quite warm up to him or understand his motivations.  And if I was to take his character at face value I guess I didn’t really like him much. 

I thought it was original and I liked the alternating storylines and flashbacks.  It’s a solid debut that will keep you guessing to the end.  I liked it enough to try this author again.

I received this book from the pubisher.