Forty Rod Road: A young man's tale of adventure and discovery

by Grove N. Mower

Forty Rod Road tells the tale of a young man's road to adventure and discovery. It is the story of Ivy League freshman Hank Chandler whose life is crumbling around him. His girlfriend is dumping him, he's flunking out of school, his overprotective family is smothering him. And he's haunted by questions about the death of a boarding school buddy. In desperation, he accepts a sight-unseen summer job at a Wyoming ranch not far from where his friend died. The spread, on Forty Rod Road, turns out to be a lot less than he expected but the owners are decent, honest folks; like many (but by no means all) of the locals, they are rough diamonds with hearts of gold. Hank works hard, makes friends, learns a lot, parties a bit, falls in love with the cowboy culture and the owners' daughter, and things begin to turn around. He uncovers the truth about his friend's death, and along the way is drawn into a deadly Western drama. Forty Rod Road becomes Hank Chandler's path to recovery. His road to redemption.

390 pages, Paperback

First published March 11, 2015

About the author

I grew up and currently live in the Midwest (St. Louis and Chicago), and have spent time in the East as well as on ranches out West. For the past forty years I worked in financial services in New York and Chicago, the last twenty-five years managing family wealth (“dusty money”), and the most recent fifteen, writing novels in my spare time.

I get it. Reading is hard. Books take time. Time is precious. We are all exhausted by the digital intrusion, the vitriol, the nonsense. We need a break. An escape. More fun in our lives—think Ted Lasso.

My solution: Fun, fast fiction. Call it what it is: bubble gum with a pop—two Butterfingers and a Coke—a second glass of wine with your feet up

It’s tougher today. Covid. Anxiety. Talking heads screaming at you from every angle and channel. Being told what to think and do. Emails. Texts. Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. It’s exhausting and does not stop.

But you can. Stop, that is, by reading my stories that are primarily meant to entertain. They won’t move you unless to turn the page or to get another glass of wine. These are simple tales with a beginning, a middle, and an end. They contain themes and plots, but what is most important are the characters and the details in between that keep you from chucking the book across the room with a I don’t have time for this. Those little clues, utterances, details, and twists that leave you on the precipice of the ah-ha and the ha-ha. That’s my goal.

Forty Rod Road, and its sequel, Hope, are mature coming-of-age novels set in the West, Midwest, and East during the 1970s and 80s. The Dusty Money trilogy is a modern-day romp through Chicago and its North Shore suburbs: Dusty Money is a story where love and money compete and collide; Amos and Ike is about coming of age and unresolved love; last, A Christmas Storm finds a family knee-deep in holiday mishegoss.

Music is interwoven throughout my novels, the soundtracks of which can be found on the links to Spotify with each book.

Read. Hum along. Be transported back or whisked away.

I hope you enjoy my stories as much as I enjoyed writing them.

- Grove

Reviews

[Aley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, fast paced with a new and unique voice.

[Squasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast read. Great coming of age story about finding yourself in the doing what needs to be done, in a beautiful part of the country.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast read thoroughly enjoyed this book. Descriptive language that came out of the mouths of rural Wyoming-Ian’s was fabulous.