The Gods Of Asphalt – H.E. Ellis

A great book written by one among us from the blogging world H.E.Ellis. It’s a book about destiny, love and family. The whole novel is from the perspective of a teenager. We all remember our time in high school. Simple things seemed liked big, live altering decisions. Sawyer Hayden is in such a state but what he’s dealing with is a little bigger than everyday high school issues.

All he wants to do is not repeat his father’s mistakes in life. His dad is trucker and criss-crosses the country dragging along Sawyer and his brother River in tow. Sawyer believes the reason for his dad choosing the job is to follow his mother Savannah, because he thinks his dad can’t forget her even after she has abandoned the family more than once. River is Sawyer’s half-brother, even though no one reveals this fact to them directly they have figured this out from the obvious difference in their looks. Sawyer gets his looks from his Spanish dad, while River looks like their mother’s boyfriend for whom she left the family. Sawyer finally has enough with following his mother around the country and decides to go live their grandfather Gus who he describes as an “old school badass”. He plans to attend school and to try and win a basketball scholarship for college all steps in his plan to not end up like his dad. The end result of this decision is that his dad stops talking to him and leaves with River.

Another result of Sawyer’s decision is that he meets Sarah, the one he believes he is destined to be with. It comes with its own complications like the fact that Sarah is planning to go away to college, she may still have feelings for her ex-boyfriend, she is the sister of Sawyer’s new best-friend Jeb and the main one is falling blindly in love is one of the ‘mistakes’ he doesn’t want to make. Living with his grandfather helps Sawyer understand more of his dad and that things may not be the way he always thought them to be.

I liked the writing style. If you have read her blog posts you know how well H.E can write. The novel is further proof to that. The first line itself reels you in. Loved the idea of adding a song for each chapter. Great job with song selection. They fit in with the story line and the picture we create of the characters when we read. It helps set the mood for each chapter too.I loved reading the book. Give it a try when you can.