The Long Rain - Softcover

Jason Dark's life is going far better than he expected. He has revived both his family's small California winery and his dead relationship with his wife. Even his teenage son seems content. But he still dreams, inexplicably, of disappearing and is compelled to take secret, solo drives at the day's end. When Jason skids into a boy one night, he procrastinates about turning himself in, persuading himself that the truth will change nothing: the youth is dead, and now he needs to protect his family. "I don't remember why I had decided that I couldn't confide in the woman who was rubbing my hands with her hands, trying to warm me up. I don't recall what exactly I was thinking, but I can remember the heaviness that suddenly weighed me down, like my arms were stone, like my legs were stone, and I do remember that I had to slide down to the floor of the bathroom. This was the moment when I began to lie." Peter Gadol is up to the constraints of the literate, internal thriller, as well as the hard task of enlisting the reader's (occasionally frustrated) sympathy for this fallen man. He is also good on physical labor--composing energetic, loving descriptions of vineyard tensions and nature's fickleness. Even if The Long Rain contains a few too many coincidences, doublings, and easy solutions, it provokes one to consider the fragility of relationships, the quick development of doubt and portrayal, and the inevitability of disaster.

Praise for THE LONG RAIN:

"THE LONG RAIN is an instantly compelling and believable tale." --THE DETROIT FREE PRESS

"THE LONG RAIN, with swift finesse, collapses several thriller genres into one...[It yields] surprise upon satisfying surprise." --BALTIMORE SUN

"Pulls the reader along with the dark and brooding presence of its narrator...A satisfying book and one that transports readers to a place they might really go." --PORTLAND OREGONIAN

"A novel of riveting suspense...A rare treat that will appeal to readers of many genres. It will satisfy those who love suspense thrillers and will not disappoint those who savor the craft of fine fiction." --FT. LAUDERDALE SUN-SENTINEL

"Delivers plenty of action...Gadol is a gifted writer." --SAN FRANCISO CHRONICLE

"Spellbinding...you will find yourself eagerly turning pages." --THE SANTA ROSA PRESS DEMOCRAT

"THE LONG RAIN is a mature book: carefully written, painstakingly plotted and a joy to read. Once wishes that more contemporary writers would take the care that Gadol has taken in writing THE LONG RAIN, presenting the reader with a coherent philosophy with which to agree or disagree and a memorable story which makes one think." --THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS

"A beautifully written, richly atmospheric novel." --Jennifer Egan, author of THE INVISIBLE CIRCUS

"THE LONG RAIN is at once dark and radiant, moving and chilling. It tells a harsh story in seductive, irresistible prose; it explores the most universal human weaknesses by giving us all the particulars of a unique and mysterious world." --Michael Chabon

"Excellent characterization marks a novel which weaves a realistic, involving story." --THE MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW

"A heartfelt and engrossing story of moral failure and a quest for redemption-- [A] strongly imagined novel. What's fascinating-and impressive-is the degree to which Gadol forces our identification with its self-deceiving and deceitful protagonist: We're made to understand how he could have acted as he did, and to believe we ourselves might well have done the same." -KIRKUS REVIEWS (starred review)

"Gadol keeps the solutions to his hero's moral dilemmas surprisingly complex, which the backdrop of California's wine country keeps the tale, even at its grimmest, disarmingly idyllic." --PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (starred review)

"Absorbing and highly suspenseful." --LIBRARY JOURNAL