Turn Four: A Novel of the Superspeedways

Let me be very frank to begin with...I do not like racing! I've never liked it, Jeff Gordan never caught my attention, Richard Petty caught my eye a few times when I was little, but racing was never my thing. I was always into baseball, football, boxing, and racing was never something I could watch. So why did I read a book like this? The first reason was because I've been looking for some kind of Christian sports fiction book that would hold my attention, which this certainly did! The second reason was because I liked Morrisey's first book, "Yucatan Deep" and I wanted to see if this would be good. It was better! We take a look at driver, Chance Reynolds. He is an awesome driver, knows how to keep his cool on a racetrack. But his career is cut short. Chance is also a Christian, with a wife who is expecting. He has to let his faith to the talking, and let God be his guide. While this is going on, his friend and teammate, Lyle Danford has problems with his youngest boy, Duane. I really liked how Morrisey got creative with names in the book. Like when Chance gets hurt, his replacement is a rookie named Gage Grissom. And I suppose that like a good race, this had some solid twists and turns! And might I add, this book is redneck through and through! I loved the way it was written. Very creative! Some might say that this is overly-preachy, but you can tell right away that while racing is a focal point in this, it isn't the main goal. Some people might even complain that it is too perfect, which I really didn't see myself. Here's my final take on this. Maybe, just maybe, Tom Morrisey saw the whole picture, God's whole picture. Then he put it on paper, and impressed this man! Am I now a racing fan? Nope? Do I care to watch a race on TV? No way! Will I read more by Tom Morrisey? Oh yeah! Awesome work. Deserves a pat on the back!

I read this book from the wrong side of the Atlantic. And even as the wrong person, because though a car buff since I was a teenager, I've never had a real interest in motorsport. The limit of my interest in Formula One, for instance, is to mildly wonder will Michael Schumacher lose this time ... So a novel based in the world of an American NASCAR race driver would not have been my personal choice. I asked for it because the author is a man I have come to regard as a long-distance friend, and because I figure a review would be of interest to at least some of my readers in 'Irish Car' magazine. I'm glad that I had those two excuses. 'Turn Four' is a well-written book. More important, it is a good read. A yarn well told. But then the teller is someone well in tune with the ambience of the story. Tom Morrisey as a writer has spent a lot of time with the risktakers on the NASCAR tracks. And it shows. The story revolves around NASCAR driver Chance Reynolds and his friends and colleagues. Chance is close to the top of his craft when a disaster not of his own making strikes and he has to make decisions about his future. Along the way he also has to help others make decisions about theirs: notably a racing colleague, and that man's sons, where parental indifference and the drugs culture of the young are major elements. The background is well drawn. The detailing of the auto racing scene in which the characters interact is probably faultless. And if you're stuck on the jargon, Morrisey has included a glossary at the back. Thing is, you only get there when you've finished, and - for this reader anyway - he painted the word-pictures so well that it proved to be unnecessary. Equally, he drove the races in a way that we can almost smell the rubber shredding off the car too tight into a corner, and feel the claustrophobia that must threaten to overwhelm every race driver as he (or she?) are tightly cinched into their chariots to compete in the modern colliseums. As a reader I have a short fuse. If I'm not enjoying a book, I dump it. As a writer, that's in itself a sobering thought. As it must equably be to other writers like Tom Morrisey. I kept reading this one, not because I had asked to review it, but because I was enjoying it. The book is more than good. It is very skilfully written and a true entertainment. I have a small caveat. And it is based not in the quality of the writing, or the believability of the story. It comes perhaps because again I am reading from the wrong side of the Atlantic. Tom Morrisey is a committed Christian. Something I understand, as a baptised (though rather lapsed) Catholic raised in a Catholic country. Tom is also an evangelist, regularly ministering in prisons as just one aspect of his life. His main character, Chance Reynolds, is also a committed Christian. And it is the key theme of 'Turn Four' that there is a reason and an answer in every part of life that is Christ-based. I have no quarrel with that. But, if

In Tom Morrisey's first novel, "Yucatan Deep," he delved into the world of deep-water diving. In "Turn Four," he takes us into the exciting sport of auto racing. Although I've never been a NASCAR fan, he drew me in with his heart-pumping narrative and fact-filled descriptions. He made me care about his racecar drivers. The story follows Chance Reynolds, a highly successful driver, who finds himself cut off from the career he's long pursued. He must deal with spiritual, financial, and relational questions. Along the way, he helps other beleagured families in the world of racing. The story leans heavily on sermonizing dialogue. Although I believe the things Morrisey expresses, I had a difficult time feeling much sympathy for his main character. The guy has talent, money, a wife who loses every extra pound soon after giving birth, a supportive family, an adoring racing world, and very few personal weaknesses. While I know people like this must exist, they tend to come across picture perfect, even too good to be true, in the world of fiction. That said, Morrisey does a great job with his exploration of the Christian male mindset. We need more of this type of storytelling, but, maybe, a little less of the preaching. Will his next book center around climbing, sky-diving, skiing, or...? I can't wait to find out.