Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

The Ride of Our Lives
The Ride of Our Lives
The Ride of Our Lives
Ebook397 pages6 hours

The Ride of Our Lives

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars

()

Read preview

About this ebook

In his twelfth historical fiction novel, Author F. Mark Granato returns to his roots for inspiration on the south end streets of Hartford, Connecticut. The Vietnam War is raging, the Draft Board is desperate for fresh recruits, and Joe Bertone has pulled a lottery number that all but ensures he will be forced to join the divisive conflict that is tearing America apart. At the same time, his family disowns him, a fickle girlfriend dumps him, he flunks out of school and no longer has a student deferment from the draft. It seems his fate is decided. But like thousands of others who are being bullied by the government into fighting an endless, tragic war without meaning, he must face up to a hard, lonely reality. He takes to the road in his eccentric and battered vintage British sports car, a friend as much as a set of wheels, and sets out to find a world where real freedom is not an illusion. The path is painful and torturous for the fugitive boy who wants only peace and to share love with someone who understands his struggle. Is he a coward? Or a hero? Only he can decide. I hope you will experience the gamut of emotions this poignant, evocative, and decidedly offbeat story has evoked in its first readers. You might even taste a little humor from a writer who rarely dabbles in anything but dark history, mystery and thrills. But this is a story of a young man, a character I'd bet nearly all of us from the 60s knew in some way, who loses everything buts fight back and wins his freedom, real love and a new life. In the journey, he experiences a tumultuous year of growing from a bullied young man to a courageous and committed adult with convictions he refuses to abandon, at any cost. And with him every mile of the way is a unique character: a vintage British sports car who is more than gas, oil and metal, but a feeling, thoughtful, philosophical and eccentric mate who gives him the means of reaching a world where freedom is not simply an illusion.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateJan 3, 2020
ISBN9780463831588
The Ride of Our Lives
Author

F. Mark Granato

F. Mark Granato’s long career as a writer, journalist, novelist and communications executive in a US based, multi-national Fortune 50 company has provided him with extensive international experience on nearly every continent. Today he is finally fulfilling a lifetime desire to write and especially to explore the “What if?” questions of history. In addition to THE BARN FIND, he has published the acclaimed Vietnam era novel, FINDING DAVID, a love story chronicling the anguish of Vietnam PTSD victims and their families, OF WINDS AND RAGE, a suspense novel based on the 1938 Great New England Hurricane, BENEATH HIS WINGS: THE PLOT TO MURDER LINDBERGH, and TITANIC: THE FINAL VOYAGE. He writes from Wethersfield, Connecticut under the watchful eye of his faithful German Shepherd named “Groban.”

Read more from F. Mark Granato

Related to The Ride of Our Lives

Related ebooks

Coming of Age Fiction For You

View More

Related articles

Related categories

Reviews for The Ride of Our Lives

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings

0 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    The Ride of Our Lives - F. Mark Granato

    cbook_preview_excerpt.htmlu}˒ƕ@c2DPzlh*+J*,* G<AQLm;'G{!̌qO~mC8yԬ&N&KOt9S3]..iiwsdO _:/)o&ykͣ|fSM)΋Ρ7yƻSt Q>C\モ0s4n B*By^<~w5 x 1xoŻ$Adi Kuٺip|~7`}vq"N$F.yr#,|A/A]D>q`sjDզӜ71}v v:*cJr"7ağd}E?a2Dtlt|7W7NqM`or`*XMQ۰x`yuNqjğ mYO?'?YDRhɲ1Ȅf*$* ⦳re Ni{O]gH8[1+^Qއ҆ί`1`9̓ur_MQ*0_n&ǻvŃ \ȓ:|pI\r pFAŷgEWHB^Ց!$CnN4*Lb@b Fǥ\+b}:P|O.:d8|qcOdWz\)(TjB? s`*%,ؙ({s7|RL ȓu^ 5osuvO"ͻIrCzc8y[w߮ '(& gh] TQIе. h'^LAOY>0n9ɵ}܋,K-ŜA+CkXs ѯl15ӵuAcD%t Hq ec* .S8T(37NK8xGo^0iBEd_>Ի6k^aXbDf0 c}7V!.^,]R,6+}:^/q.6\D mچA|Aˡy5cb%v{hQ)pr<1GCXcC⼊,r3[>u'h@,+P]D)Y>ZP}@ /?ՏVre9h;F "'a r BOz0Q UqijS.VR}_DYaPAJ KJ+h0:P2\5i]z+b:8kD{q 3(@8$xټVW&,%l_' Kp3>>>Q>) iދX&؁ .l?c0ORvaqJAXXM`4^,6Gp o_~Ps00#lGFcth&st4*5f`U,f D AK\ϸS8b 2m E,"x*g$8H֏I9gy0jh 2c:&QDuUtIc1MߛNr|?֪\W\m.c$,C1 cg0^RHku}8]7h=0ƐaMԋax"Txh?k"n]Kaֹ4Orܚ]+.D&>|f7 +IcqFBpPmFo0UJhLJ 8 p ~D^ 봷do)ᏢqôEǦ(i/g5Sծ!.zs1bYi@.B nS$,tfTqs0靸*" Nj$E9Ȁc 01n$Y4&_IW(d˫džN)po[PZX-Qq5gAgMCAf K@b%%I2p$+s#3td hM1I_!©L$Z澓姤SAKm8T$uVp,P1j(|RuWvg/Kp#SM5hIRd1nAZq, ![&mA kmV8HWֺ-[gly)b@ )  ,y+|$*Cg1!> ^tSF%9J"v&gYE![CIg%j<[ly{h+=ߛZI;QyFlNf65i2}K\pi!Wd6X6n(XnG\Y3L@McSwI dd)"D} ǫ"nOٔAoRę)(9)*QP+X$)GoRp%T U.LBԋVa>T-ҷ38 o~T,thFZ-$o&8Zy̼՚ZQ|DpPBE+-xY;~dG7p*b변7㟾ڏgo*E M7![e9V%d:G +-@^ -"[|`&~A,^(Ͷhܬi+?r4C귽Wjmxݷ| (-[pmw2}HTFn;K8W՗Qdu:4|zKnހ*3!og[H`DP O1(sE s9i-i+.j&4\(WVWb nI`e εxLǟ=s˙Ts8-ǟ9%8 y8Y9RaAyHx/1G>n: _#]=֐ ~ƣe$fÌ.txhV30 |XXrTiQL<@b&;A=h"^{l򦌉 քUYQxZ LyS|o7(+9W^DjEfOZ*1/w%+b萶+[䪔l[DY uy&8;7x'QdPxv]HfGS#6S)ADB03üqkۮ<2F8i5وW:S %Yy,cgSJlj} 0l;y3Hɮ0mZ.jE4bYNg>c{9=ge._N*8nJ\ĖJc@':Qu=(سf<5ퟲ1Hʯ yM)~X&X *u!^x߄ CqȒɚ@=Z=8E|S󷬃h@ɰ<)O+çAb.d($AS,[/V-U~)G}fV\[#JqJ;@**<ݬ'LUQ_7S5)aL6O>E׎%)%j?F[v?d#ʳ&YH|2?#q[};FƊrI?$w"}ZA{|Gr,oTpZlj7[: i~kI>wW[&\3~s_>{kk9v-WIoLJ/hԭfgˠѰ3}jd;PUHv>Z_!7H,]D7O@K^t0f $ܼS-D6w`帥[< ,h\H'@GdvedlsVc3lB<1=KҊBَ:v@Tō%mdBZ꜆AC#2>BK{ >lle(,*7*>1 Zv#P/ew%FVoŌ­>:iK \Z"ԺKc񣅅 G)o6Rͪ Z17dgz0Xu" [HqۄM9xePҙ1>b(fc"lSoMBZcwPTa*9g#SA#A ^Y, {6?+mY0b$H̪$O紣vӡAƭ7_ZauY‘1ӥpy{TP%١ P?و=J5$1PE3v4wBOF0ma]Uм7 ֩bʕwgґu? pK)Җb@8>^*{Bf#LZ4B^.[Q#ǜ1"ȓIR[;r#S+G&~܀m]n@a2p2ޛƵC,'!9c/9amf'J#aŌp^?,<5_NgQJVEUnnrM%si ּ]`3N!Zı)4 6F&%F39D0X+1D.W-CGԹ :0[UeTjÎr_Oş@XDZ`{orZ<%pH ,4 Kɀ1p:Ţwy%p|c=b_ȺGn@b9Ʒ2g&)~aAoY9\:/|:l9[aQ,U+{gҚ;aݥEm*iM]Ԓ$vNS'Ϩ`Luo7 ~tFpUޗ)TT +\5ChgӐG?m"8?j "|9sd)jVM[bk0hgam`5U+%XqѼ*UWJ_fp>[?t`*7,w>A mEZ˟s9V[/.l$g+V^;)qMܷ~~ _$מ,vH-5L~ߵP/Ԉ|3j-2'=W$\xk^%L_{nBDd.VĠa Nwڭ ՕXs7ϮW6:j}'"K͟" y(x⾆ dkn끡 m=Gz'2CHIl HX\8Ml/L(eQ0 vƻ/g#x!,x)eNx +09K6+Xaa%9LHP/’SjUkJ?.z > Fܛq] {JԡMKY3Cd=fҺxp _Z+&+6q"a]:Y6Y}8˳BcY[}܆ZmUvי[4 qCW:|5oq̳gg՛eȽ`.6 RcfKs Fyr}ЬG9 3jb`TJH {3;*A|'.,$p(Zϊ l9?T:Cز*qM M˧RԔN]P|jmիƲ&<):ۈ%P8( w)c$|(#і_s:{uETY,0:$l_wdjf/5T繐x߳q$35[: =߮E+s/*D6ivjQٱET=ztb#ȚZ i۞}-!h{b4 kLTF]VG۫ ~ 0j"DP_|ݻk~;8 A.8x%e*ybވl<O@#7(Z#zRL" Y4j{$4U "6}^3Jʛղ/`.}ͮl c*&Yb]I2$9TpLґ9ʣ]h\XU{Hʪ+݆Duh#v8/РC5;pa[ָ=4 2~QuiEW}Gg_ꖻ\QW:-3BASȚm|0Kjȧha7pyW?Eʐ58āEj.5k8rGi4#ؚDyr߈.[zv+g9|5d#5y؈J ֝::(KoDpqyU ]/T5^rn 433=Yt'v*c[T,nەbe6c[z1{ў]'} vpcn9n#Q.A8 >FѤ``XT\[,aaG',/٪ՠ׭"WTcK7`.@k,>2HR;ekRqp؃m(%"oP  4"*L+ \qU2iݲz 3ZG!e%ަ ğ|!`.aF أV6a ,jYfp%1lGpU"i2Qq|Z?77g^Kc1|rw/8(kh٪? i8+n Q1cyxZiig똍p,#oوd+äípEwy*~E}$о{֮ $ʉ^1Uf"ЇW^c+uF \sR`ues6BUfVWaZ7a|Un"w2d T1ڜ7 8b=͛.e*n#)%~7 S>c+ yEٻʯc$h#3koۤ~%Z-83Rf00YEI3pIf#p:V@HRM֎\WTo牠-1ڙKXDN0Eژg4ş4|h }: V۔ /j%or1*(,ޤ\{ ҽ}[ɗ BQ`3+?wZ9GmDjC[GR="fEXZM.4y7 YYT>fm$2 8G&~5ٚZU|M4oYV7z̸3Sc'1OHaU[/Ajd]t# ])X-8vu(F͹h6G h/m8κ[AXR%S 6:q׳NuNдlF$I>cWb$*BM hM0kRnEODm GB{/Yi(Mtb?1FЋ{1L?5v?ӕLV~(<)a^ #v{|3& WH=NI3]x,~nsQ. btcp-m$NJKe/x}NW-0QF\/lJh~ Ǩib1Y.)zjMhv5%օC/'3еՊu86扢Au*TmMImZQ 1Fh&ŗUeؐ-JY$iQVvvɪ@ʩxn6`C>vXvj&>qd9HuxAUn& n aa?C_otVdU5ubYKðy2cj5ݾ@aq1ڼ/Һqv#.e7y4>oILf"ΠL?T6_~ʎRT-C{VZ jc`8+Q-Y˞c;G.~ j2{ ˰*F%&L=_R& r3dY,* Ayd:ES1yiG5:k'}'0ZCKD ma;K=琁FukϬKm#д?湆%g˺ԐB}Wf ̮V_Xˣ>ppX59i6O}fkѾg/RMRgsV+9 &%?Ӟ)#"䦣 y !@(P+[2'΢\m vg@ mՇhbĐ4~ Us3Z1/K \KGɉ5^h"Y#8qs
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1