Bill Warrington's Last Chance

When Bill Warrington's granddaughter, April, runs away from home and turns up at his house, the elderly man and teenage girl take off on a road trip. She hopes for musical stardom while he hopes for a family reconciliation. Joe Barrett narrates with a gravelly tone that's a perfect match for the gruff Bill's voice and thoughts. With only a small shift, Barrett gives April a cynical teen voice. Along the way, Bill's disintegrating mental state and April's increasing concern for him are brought to life in Barrett's voice. The dysfunctional characters feel familiar at times, but Barrett and King keep the interest going in this family drama. J.A.S. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

April 5, 2010
This nicely tuned road trip novel from 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award–winner King begins in Ohio, where April Shea is a “pigheaded” 14-year-old girl who experiments with pot and constantly squabbles with her single mother, Marcy. Together, Marcy and April care for Marcy's 79-year-old father, Bill, a Korean War vet and retired salesman now suffering from Alzheimer's. Bill has his heart set on bringing his family together for a reunion, but with this looking ever unlikely—his two sons are perpetually out of the picture—Bill and April take off for California, where April plans on joining a band and Bill imagines he can force a reunion. Along the way, April fends off the lecherous creeps, Bill slips increasingly into his mental twilight, and Bill's children rise above their family dysfunction and band together. The spirited interplay between the gruff but wounded Bill and the perhaps too precocious April provides the most sensitive scenes in this enjoyable first novel.