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Title: Rode

Author: Thomas Fox Averill

Narrator: Scott Sowers

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-14-14

Publisher: Recorded Books

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

When Thomas Fox Averill first heard Jimmy Driftwood's ballad "Tennessee Stud," he found the song hauntingly compelling. As he began to imagine the story behind the lyrics, he set out to research the song's history - a tale from "along about eighteen and twenty-five"" of the legendary exploits of the greatest horse that ever lived, the "Tennessee Stud," and his owner.

Traveling the same route the song chronicles, from Tennessee into Arkansas, through Texas and into Mexico, Averill visited racetracks, Spanish missions, historical museums, a living history farm, and national parks, inventing characters of his own along the way. His novel captures the spirit of the ballad while telling the story of Robert Johnson, a man who holds love in his heart though adventure rules his time. Pursued by a bounty hunter, Indians, and his conscience, Johnson and his horse are tested, strengthened, and made resolute.

Members Reviews:

TheClassic Journey to Self-Knowledge

Author Thomas Fox Averill has favored us with an extraordinary gift, his book "Rode." "Rode" is a superior literary achievement. Spare and lean, as muscular as a channel swimmer, this novel is far more than a journey taken by a young man and his horse, it's an Odyssey every bit as full as Ulysses, a journey of personal discovery. The book opens with the total destruction of Robert Johnson's life.

Robert's journey begins when he is afraid to stay in the home he has built, or close to his girl-friend/fiancé whose family want his farm land and resent his relationship with their daughter. When his farm has been destroyed and burned to the ground and he has been accused of murder, Robert flees with a bounty hunter in hot pursuit. Over the next several months, Robert and his horse, "The Stud," literally make one narrow escape after another as the blood and gold thirsty bounty hunter is always nipping at his heels. Even with death at his doorstep, Robert continues looking for a place appropriate for his new wife (whom he left pregnant) despite her cruel family.

In this deadly game of Hide and Seek, Robert meets an incredible variety of what might be considered overwhelming difficulties, all of which he conquers. This is not to suggest his trials were easy - he and his horse were most often close to starvation, literally walking skeletons.

The story of "Rode" is gripping and involving but more than the plot or characterization it is the style of this young novelist that is so alluring. The language used in the portrait of this work is lean and spare, lacking the adverb/adjective embroidery of most high level historical fiction. Rather, Thomas Fox Averill's prose is spare enough to make Hemingway seem cluttered and verbose - in this case every word in every sentence is absolutely necessary, none can be deleted nor can anything be added. Once one steps into the magical web of this incredible writer, one is hooked till the story's ending - author Averill determines when you're free to leave. "Rode" is a page turner you won't quickly forget; but more than that, Averill's artful writerly craftsmanship makes you want the book to never end.

Good "old-fashioned" Western and then some

After reading a review of this book in the Kansas City Star, I was fascinated. Making a novel from the old "Tennessee Stud" song seemed like a stretch but one worth pursuing.