A New Novel's Unflinching Look At Troubled Teens On A Journey To Nowhere

Oct. 26, 2006 - PRLog -- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 2006

“There was only one way I knew how to get out. That was to just pick up and leave it all behind. I wanted to live and I knew if I stayed in that town, it would eventually kill me. If not physically, then emotionally and spiritually. The only thing worse than not having a dream to hold onto is holding onto one that you might never realize. So, that’s one reason I was leaving. I just didn’t know then it wasn’t the choice I should be making.”

American Odyssey presents a stark cautionary tale of three teenagers who decide to run away from their miserable lives in a confining New England factory town, where all they can see before them are limitations and futures too bleak to contemplate. They decide to head out West by freight train, unfortunately as outlaws, stealing whatever they need or want from life. But can they run forever?

This gritty, true-to-life story unfolds through the honest, unapologetic voice of its lead character, seventeen-year-old Hunter Leroux, who’s bitter and disillusioned with life following the death of his estranged father. His friend, Wade Canter, is a tough and abused, eighteen-year-old city kid with a lengthy arrest record. Billy Prescott, fifteen, is innocent and unassuming and simply longs to go out West to see the wild buffalo. Their troubles begin in their journey westward when they assault an old man and steal his car. As one wrong choice follows upon another, Hunter becomes increasingly haunted by his past. When he is befriended by a woman who recognizes his burgeoning talent for writing, Hunter begins to seriously question the dangerous course he and his friends have chosen.

Revealing the depth and uniqueness of each character and their motives through flashbacks and the actions they take, the author weaves a relevant, gripping account of innocence lost and the consequences of choices made.

American Odyssey is Brian M. Gelinas’ debut novel. A reporter for a local daily newspaper, he lives in the small Massachusetts town of Athol, where he was born and raised. His first success came in 1997, with the publication of a creative commentary piece in Worcester Magazine. In 2001, while a student at Fitchburg State College, he won the Louis P. Shepherd Award in Creative Writing. He says of American Odyssey: “I believe that it speaks straightforwardly to today’s older youth as well as captures the raw emotion and uncertainty of adolescence.”

Book Statistics
ISBN(s): 1598007556
Retail Price(s): $18.95, U.S.; $23.95, Canada
Size and Format(s): 5.5 x 8.5 Paperback; E-book also available
Page count: 300
Availability: Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, www.outskirtspress.com/AmericanOdyssey

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Website: www.outskirtspress.com/AmericanOdyssey