Where the Road BendsBy David Rawlings
Christian Fiction
Hardcover, Audiobook & ebook, 304 Pages
June 2, 2020 by Thomas Nelson
Fifteen years after college graduation, four friends reconnect to keep a long-ago promise and go on a trip of a lifetime in the Australian Outback.
Eliza needs to disconnect from her high-powered fashion job to consider the CEO position she’s just been offered. Lincoln hopes to rekindle a past relationship and escape from another one. Bree looks forward to a fun getaway from home and her deeply buried disappointments. Andy wants to disappear from the mess he’s made of his life—possibly forever.
Dropped at a campsite in the middle of nowhere, the friends quickly discover they aren’t the same people they once were, and they begin to confront hard truths about one another—and themselves. Then a bizarre storm sweeps across their camp, scattering them across the desert. Wondering if they are part of some strange escape game, each of the friends meets a guide to help them find exactly what they need: purpose, healing, courage, and redemption.
But they’ve already traveled far down the road of life and course-correcting to become the people they were meant to be won’t be easy.
Andy circled the floor of the crater, checking for critters. Nothing but dirt and spinifex. He slogged his way through soft sand as he climbed to the crater’s lip, his thighs screaming with the unfamiliar exertion. He pulled himself over the lip and doubled over to regain his breath in the blustery wind. Their vehicle was the only sign of civilization anywhere in this landscape. In the distance graying clouds lit distant hills in burgundy and purple, and a roiling storm brewed on the horizon.
Eddie brushed past him. “Are you hungry, mate? Let’s grab some tucker, hey?”
Andy furrowed his brow. “Tucker?”
Eddie’s voice echoed from deep within the trailer. “Tucker. Food. We might have some spiders or bugs you can eat.”
Andy froze. He was starving, but there was no way he would be forced into that. He reached for the softened shape of the remaining Mars bar in his pocket. He hoped he wouldn’t have to make it last.
Eddie emerged from the trailer, his pearly white grin beamed through the fading afternoon light. “I thought so. I’m only winding you up because your mate said you’d be up for anything.”
Lincoln. Andy grunted in frustration. “Are we going to do anything dangerous?”
Eddie’s mouth twisted into a smirk. “We’ve got some surprises up our sleeves but don’t worry, we’ll look after ya.”
Another flash of lightning, this time closer. “Are we about to get some rain? I didn’t think it rained in the outback.”
Eddie shrugged. “We still get rain, just not as often and not as much, but if it does we’ll sure know about it.”
“Is there any phone coverage out here?”
Eddie shook his head. “Nah, mate. Only our satellite phone. That’s what I said to Eliza over there. If you wanted to disappear for a while, this is where you’d go.” He shouldered a hefty bag of supplies and disappeared over the crater’s edge.
Andy cast a nervous eye toward the bright flashes peppering the hills. He breathed deep as he checked over both shoulders. Alone. He reached into his pocket and held his cell phone aloft, his eyes jammed shut against the messages he was sure he would get. He switched it on, but his phone stayed silent. His eyes drifted to the top corner of the screen. His heart leaped at the two words he desperately wanted to see: No Service.
Fourteen messages had flooded his phone when he switched it on at the airport. He thumbed them open and deleted them all, a growing sense of power flushing back through him, a sense of control over his destiny. It had been far too long.
He stared at the landscape and the flashes that were edging closer. They could come as close as they wanted. Those who were after him couldn’t.
From Where the Road Bends by David Rawlings. Used with the permission of the publisher, Thomas Nelson. Copyright © 2020 by David Rawlings. Learn more at TNZ Fiction.
David Rawlings is an Australian author, and a sports-mad father of three who loves humor and a clever turn of phrase. Over a 25-year career he has put words on the page to put food on the table, developing from sports journalism and copywriting to corporate communication. Now in fiction, he entices readers to look deeper into life with stories that combine the everyday with a sense of the speculative, addressing the fundamental questions we all face.
One winner will receive a print copy of The Camera Never Lies by David Rawlings (US only)
Ends June 24, 2020
ENTER HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for your comment!