Ryan Stone

The stories in Best Road Yet make for a compelling read, one I didn't want to put down, not even between stories, which is not how I usually feel about short story collections. The stories concern characters from the town of Wynott, a small town in the Midwest with modern small town concerns. The characters and their situations - an unexpected pregnancy, two brothers on a road trip with the intention of getting rid of their aging father, the spouse of a newly rich romance novelist, a drug deal gone bad but not in the usual way, blackmail, complicated families - are interesting enough on their own, but the straightforward style of writing really makes them come alive. Although these characters aren't necessarily like people I've known, the close descriptions of their thoughts and actions transform them into people I can understand and relate to, as if they've always lived nearby and now that I know what's going on in their lives, everything about them suddenly makes sense. Although many of the situations seem hopeless or miserable (and sometimes both), the overall feeling is one of possibilities. These people just might pull through and I find myself rooting for them.… (más)