Narrow the Road by James Wade

 

NARROW THE ROAD

BY JAMES WADE

Narrated by Roger Clark

Literary Fiction / Coming of Age / Southern / Historical

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

Publication Date: August 26, 2025

Audio Length: 9 hours, 20 minutes

Print Length: 306 pages

ABOUT THE BOOK: In this gripping coming-of-age odyssey, a young man's quest to reunite his family takes him on a life-altering journey through the wilds of 1930s East Texas, where both danger and opportunity grow as thick as the pines.

With his father missing and his mother gravely ill, William Carter is struggling to keep his family's cotton farm afloat in the face of drought and foreclosure. As his options wane, William receives a mysterious letter that claims to know his father's whereabouts.

Together with his best friend Ollie, a mortician in training, William sets out to find his father and bring him home to set things right. But before the boys can complete their quest, they must navigate the labyrinth of the Big Thicket, some of the country's most uncharted, untamed land. Along the way they encounter eccentric backwoods characters of every order, running afoul of murderers, bootleggers, and even the legendary Bonnie and Clyde.

But the danger is doubled when the boys agree to take on a medicine show runaway named Lena, eliciting the ire of the show's leader, the nefarious con man Doctor Downtain. As William, Ollie, and Lena race to uncover the clues and find William's father, Downtain is closing in on them, readying to make good on his violent reputation. With the clock ticking, William must decide where his loyalties lie and how far he's willing to go for the people he loves.

From award-winning author James Wade, Narrow the Road is a riveting exploration of a young man's hard-won coming-of-age and the courageous ways a person can forge a singular path in the face of overwhelming adversity. Alive with grit and tenderness, this is an unforgettable story of the power of friendship to sustain us through loss, betrayal, and devastating consequence.

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BOOK REVIEW

I don't spend time on plot summary, so please read the synopsis above.

HALL WAYS REVIEW: Audiobook Review. I read NARROW THE ROAD with my ears and not surprisingly, it's outstanding. It's so outstanding that I'm now turning to the paperback to revisit some exceptionally profound, beautiful, heartbreaking sentences and scenes that only Texas author James Wade can create. Wade has a near-unbelievable talent to tell a tale. (I've read all of his books to date, and I've never been disappointed.)

As always, audiobook narrator Roger Clark knocks it out of the park with his perfect delivery of Wade's words. Clark performs and voices the characters in such a way that we're transported to another place and time. His pacing is perfect (I listened at regular speed), and the audio is glitch free -- because Blackstone Audio doesn't do any differently.

If you enjoy savoring a story slowly and appreciate carefully constructed sentences that evoke all the feels, NARROW THE ROAD is a must-read experience. I expect to see this book on a lot of awards lists this year. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

James Wade is the award-winning author of Beasts of the Earth, All Things Left Wild, and River, Sing Out. He is the youngest novelist to win two Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America, and the recipient of the MPIBA’s prestigious Reading the West Award. James’s work has appeared in Southern Literary Magazine, the Bitter Oleander, Writers’ Digest, and numerous additional publications. James lives and writes in the Texas Hill Country with his wife and children.

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Runners: The Oakley Series, Book 2 ~ Lone Star Lit Campaign & Book Review!

RUNNERS

BOOK TWO IN THE OAKLEY SERIES

By Phil Oakley

Historical Fiction / Depression Era / Family Saga

Publisher: Stoney Creek Publishing

Pages: 206

Publication Date: March 31, 2025

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SYNOPSIS

From the author of Little Hatchet, this gripping historical saga continues—a powerful story of resilience, family, and the price of ambition. Perfect for fans of epic generational tales and action-packed historical fiction.

Walter Oakley and his wife, Ada, used the westward expansion of America to establish themselves as model citizens in the town of Telegraph, Texas. Now, they watch in despair as their children lurch from one crisis to another — rum running, train-hopping outlaws, shattered dreams. With one child dead and another on the wrong side of the law, Walter and Ada struggle to keep their younger children on the straight and narrow. But trouble and temptation beckon as Prohibition and the Great Depression give way to the horrors of World War II. Will hope survive the chaos?

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REVIEW

HALL WAYS REVIEW: History, hardship, and a whole lot of heartache make Runners a riveting read. 

Runners is the second book in the Oakley series, a family saga based on  author Phil Oakley’s family history. Characters within the pages parallel the names of the author’s real family members, and the narrative is based on the stories they told over the years.  Books one and two span the Civil War, the Prohibition era, and World War II.

I knew I was jumping in on the second installment in the series, so I read the synopsis and some reviews of Little Hatchet, book one, before getting started. It helped. From that, I gathered that Walter, a primary character from book one, grows up, and he and wife Ada (the author’s actual grandparents) and their seven children are the focus of Runners.  

I recommend reading this series in order, and here’s why. Even coming in with some information from the prior story, I still struggled a bit because I didn’t truly have the big picture, know the details of what each character brought to the story, or understand the relationships. Though Walter and Ada have seven children, Runners really focuses on two of the sons, secondarily, two of the daughters, and many references to a deceased son. I was left wondering about the rarely mentioned other two daughters. Add to this the quantity of peripheral characters (including several characters with the same name), it is a lot to manage. A family tree or even a short bring-to-date placed at the beginning of the book would have been immensely helpful in keeping all the characters straight, and I think that would help all readers, not just those who missed book one.

Despite my confusion, Runners kept me deeply immersed in this family’s stories. Case in point: at one point, I had given myself an hour to read, and when I looked up, two hours had passed! And I decided to read another hour…hour-ish. Rich descriptions and factoids (Thirty-five cents for a meal?! Monthly rent for $22.75?!) will place readers right in the middle of the stories and time period, and interestingly, the narrator jumps in throughout to tell readers how things turned out. It feels very much like author Phil Oakley is telling family tales as we sit around the kitchen table together – a reminder that this is barely a fictionalized story. It is an efficient device because we want to know more, and I’d have been happy to have the author show, rather than tell, us more.  

“The behavior of their children was a persistent puzzle troubling Ada and Walter.”

Walt’s and Ada’s collective pain and helplessness are palpable as their children make one poor decision after another. Worse, even as the children grow into adults, they seem slow to understand the heartbreak they’ve inflicted on their parents. This passage was particularly poignant:

“Again, Ray missed the irony of what was going on around him. There were more rules in these camps than in his mother’s kitchen, and at her dining table. The work was harder than any Ray had ever done on his father’s farm, or at football practice. Most of the money Ray was earning wound up in someone else’s pocket. Half-a-dozen times since Ray had been riding on freight trains, he had been arrested, almost arrested, or beaten by men with clubs. This information didn’t take root in Ray’s mind. All he could see was that he was free and having a grand adventure.”

I bought the eBook so I’d have the final copy and am pleased it’s so cleanly edited, which seems to be the exception, not the rule, these days. The very few errors I noticed aren’t enough to distract most readers (in the unlikely event they'll be noticed at all). Oakley's writing is smooth and has a natural flow; he's clearly a natural storyteller.

At the book's conclusion, I was unsure of how many years had passed between the final chapter and the epilogue, and Runners ends somewhat abruptly. However, it does end with a small ray of hope (and that’s a double entendre), and the final page after the About the Author section assures us that a third book, titled Longhorn, is coming. I’ll definitely go back to Little Hatchet and read this family’s fascinating story from the beginning so I’ll be ready.

To learn more about the book, look for #LSLLRunners on your preferred social media platform.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Phil Oakley is a novelist and veteran journalist with experience in the motion picture industry. He is a retired regional executive with The Walt Disney Company (ABC News), a former director of the Louisiana Film Commission, and a retired editor with the Dallas Morning News. He covered presidents and presidential campaigns beginning with Lyndon Johnson and ending with George W. Bush. He was a television and radio anchor and reporter with national awards from Columbia University, the Radio-Television News Directors Association, and a National Headliner Award. He began work on his first novel in 1964 while a student at the University of Texas at Austin. He has written nine novels.

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The Knotted Ring ~ Lone Star Book Blog Tours Book Blitz & Giveaway!

THE KNOTTED RING

BY MYRA HARGRAVE MCILVAIN

Historical Fiction / Family Saga / Historical Romance

Publisher: Next Chapter

Page Count: 412

Publication Date: December 7, 2023

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Susannah Mobley, expecting a baby by her lover, a slave owned by her family, submits to an arranged marriage to Hezekiah James who is headed to Texas to claim a Spanish land grant. Caught in a series of lies about the origin of a beautiful ring woven from her red hair and the circumstances of her pregnancy, Susannah embarks on the harsh trip to Texas, grieving for her lost love and determined to control her destiny.

On the wagon train journey, Hezekiah is tested by his beliefs and strengths with his slaves and Native Americans, as well as a strange Mad Stone. His determination to build a plantation as fine as Susannah’s home place and to make the best decisions for Susannah fails. Susannah will have to decide if she can live with the consequences of her lies and open herself to this man who shows every form of contrition or if she will allow longing for what she cannot have to destroy her life.

The Knotted Ring is currently a semi-finalist status

in the Laramie Awards for Western and Americana Fiction.

"An often engrossing and well-handled story of the 19th century."

--Kirkus Reviews

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Myra Hargrave McIlvain, a sixth-generation Texan, is a storyteller who has written Texas historical markers (yes, real people write those things lining Texas highways), articles for newspapers and magazines such as Texas Highways, and six nonfiction books about famous and infamous Texas characters and places.

McIlvain found her real love when she wrote her first historical fiction. All her tales take place in Texas during major periods of its history. However, The Knotted Ring was inspired by an old family story, and in her search to understand what may have happened, she imagined their lives set in a time that she knew well––the establishment of the first Anglo colony.

McIlvain views history as the story of a people; the people she knows best have made Texas home.                                                                                                                                     

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THREE WINNERS

1st Prize: Autographed hardcover & tote bag; 2nd Prize: Autographed paperback + candle; 3rd Prize: Autographed paperback

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The Fifth Daughter of Thorn Ranch ~ Lone Star Book Blog Tours Book Trailer, Spotlight, & Giveaway!

THE FIFTH DAUGHTER

OF THORN RANCH

by

Julia Brewer Daily

Women's Fiction / Contemporary Western / Family Saga

Publisher: Admission Press

Pages: 322 pages

Publication Date: November 1, 2022

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Emma Rosales is the heiress of the largest ranch in Texas—The Thorn. All the responsibilities of managing a million acres now fall into her fifth-generation hands.

A task Emma could handle with her eyes closed…if The Thorn were any ordinary property.

The Thorn is home to many things. Clear, cloudless skies. Miles of desert scrub and craggy mountains. A quiet disrupted only by whispers of the wind. And an ancient web of secrets won’t let Emma out alive without a fight.

The Fifth Daughter of Thorn Ranch is a family saga as large as the state of Texas.

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK:

“A delight to read.” --Theresa Kadair, Seattle Book Review

"Julia Daily builds a captivating world by letting her imagination lead the way. The result? A unique story that’s a little Wild West, a little old Mexico, a little ancient history, and a lot rebellious” 

--Julie Cantrell, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Perennials

“A novel that combines mystery, suspense, adventure, and a romance that neither hardships nor time can erase between the main characters.” --Debra Holt, award-winning, multi-published Texas author of series such as The Tremaynes of Texas and The Lawmen Series.

"A dignified, passionate, and layered tale in a rugged yet picturesque landscape... This book testifies to the rewards of fighting for enduring connections between family members and home." 
--RECOMMENDED, The US Review of Books

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HALL WAYS BLOG

MINI-MINI AUDIO BOOK REVIEW

★★★★★

The audio book of THE FIFTH DAUGHTER OF THORN RANCH by Julia Daily dropped on 11/9/22, and I listened to it straight through on 11/10/22. Nine hours and twenty-minutes, well-spent, immersed in the story.

FABULOUS story, the ending is PERFECTION, and the narration is STELLAR. Daily's descriptions made me long for a return to Big Bend and hiking the breathtaking, wide empty spaces still left in Texas...and for a trip to Aggieland. Gig 'em, Emma.

This really is a family saga as big as Texas. I hope the stories within THE FIFTH DAUGHTER OF THORN RANCH continue.

Thank you to the author for gifting me a code to listen on Authors Direct. (I listened at 1.1x.)

Julia Brewer Daily is a Texan with a southern accent. She holds a B.S. in English and a M.S. degree in Education from the University of Southern Mississippi.

She has been a Communications Adjunct Professor at Belhaven University, Jackson, Mississippi, and Public Relations Director of the Mississippi Department of Education and Millsaps College, a liberal arts college in Jackson, MS.

She was the founding director of the Greater Belhaven Market, a producers’ only market in a historic neighborhood in Jackson, and even shadowed Martha Stewart.

As the Executive Director of the Craftsmen’s Guild of Mississippi (300 artisans from 19 states) which operates the Mississippi Craft Center, she wrote their stories to introduce them to the public.

She is a member of the Writers’ League of Texas, the Women Fiction Writers’ Association, Women Writing the West, and the Pulpwood Queens Book Club.

A lifelong southerner, she now resides on a ranch in Fredericksburg, Texas, with her husband Emmerson and Labrador retrievers, Memphis Belle and Texas Star.

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ONE WINNER:

Receives a $100 Amazon or Bookshop Gift Card

(U.S. only; ends midnight, CDT, 11/11/22.)

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11/01/22	Hall Ways Blog	Bonus Promo
11/01/22	Julia Picks 1	Review
11/02/22	Sybrina's Book Blog	Notable Quotables
11/02/22	The Book's Delight	Review
11/02/22	LSBBT Blog	Bonus Promo
11/03/22	Jennifer Silverwood	Review
11/04/22	The Clueless Gent	Author Video
11/04/22	It's Not All Gravy	Review
11/05/22	Jennie Reads	Review
11/06/22	All the Ups and Downs	Scrapbook Page
11/07/22	Shelf Life Blog	Excerpt
11/07/22	Bibliotica	Review
11/08/22	Rox Burkey Blog	Character Interview
11/09/22	StoreyBook Reviews	Review
11/09/22	Reading by Moonlight	Review
11/10/22	Rainy Days with Amanda	Review
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Low Water Crossing ~ Lone Star Book Blog Tours Promo & Giveaway!

LOW WATER CROSSING

Book Two of the Sulfur Gap Series

by

DANA GLOSSBRENNER

Genre: Literary Fiction / Family Saga 

Independently published

Date of Publication: July 19, 2020

Number of Pages: 476

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Low Water Crossing is a tribute to those who endure heartache and nevertheless celebrate, to those who wait—and live full lives while waiting.

A backhoe unearths a human skeleton buried on Wayne Cheadham’s West Texas ranch. The investigation points a grisly finger at Wayne’s first wife. And so begins the wild ride through twenty-five years of love and heartbreak. 

Wayne’s a highly eligible bachelor who runs into trouble, first because he’s naïve, and next because, well, life is unpredictable. He’s a loveable guy with a peaceful outlook. Just about anyone wants the best for him, dang it. To cope with sadness, he arranges for an old steel-girded bridge to be placed in the dry pasture in front of his house. Says it helps him adjust his perspective. Others say it’s the world’s largest yard ornament. He takes in stray emus and abandoned horses and becomes a mentor to a loveable little boy without much family. He sits and ponders his plight at a low-water crossing over the creek.

A cast of characters from the fictional small West Texas town of Sulfur Gap—the staff of a high school burger shop hangout on the Interstate, coffee groups at the Navaho Café, hair stylists from the Wild Hare, a local sheriff and his deputies, and the band at the local honky-tonk—knits together the community surrounding Wayne, and all bring their own quirks. People you’d find anywhere, some with thicker Texas twangs than others. 

The town, the ranch, and familiar Texas cities such as San Angelo, Abilene, and Austin provide a backdrop for universal themes of love, grief, and loyalty.

                          

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Dana Glossbrenner has lived in West Texas all her life. She is the author of Women Behind Stained Glass: West Texas Pioneers (non-fiction) and The Lark: Book 1 of the Sulfur Gap Series.

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TWO WINNERS: 1st winner gets signed copies of both books in the Sulfur Gap Series; 2nd winner gets a signed copy of Low Water Crossing. 

 October 6-16 , 2020

(U.S. Only)

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FOR DIRECT LINKS TO EACH POST ON THIS TOUR, UPDATED DAILY. 

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10/6/20	Review	Reading by Moonlight
10/7/20	Excerpt	Texas Book Lover
10/7/20	BONUS Post	Hall Ways Blog
10/8/20	Playlist	The Adventures of a Travelers Wife
10/9/20	Review	Bibliotica
10/10/20	Deleted Scene	All the Ups and Downs
10/11/20	Author Interview	The Page Unbound
10/12/20	Review	Chapter Break Book Blog
10/13/20	Scrapbook Page	Max Knight
10/14/20	Review	StoreyBook Reviews
10/15/20	Review	The Clueless Gent

   

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