In Port Manitou Michigan , Running Coach and Teacher Neil Kazenzakis carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. An accident many years previously has left his wife on life support, never waking up. Since that time he has taken on full responsibility for his then young son Chris, who is now a teenager. Neil has also been seeing his mother in laws caregiver in secret for the past two years and feels he is i love but has no idea how to share this news with Chris.
When Neil breaks up a fight one day at the school, Neil thinks it is just standard teenage stuff… but when a video shows up on-line of the fight making it look like Neil actually assaulted one of the students, things plummet fast. Now he is suspended from his job during the investigation while he tries to hang on to everything in his life – his son, his girlfriend, his job, and his sanity.
The Banks Of Certain Rivers is an amazing read. You receive a lot of information in the beginning including what happened to Neil’s wife Wendy. The book goes on with much detail into Neil and Chris’s way of living and it is not until after the first 100 pages that the book really seems to take off.
Normally, a slow start to a book like this makes me a bit antsy wanting to get to the plot, yet author Jon Harrison writes this out in such a way that as the reader I found myself fully invested in the back story and the unique way that Neil communicates with his wife. When the book does take off, hang on. It has a crazy real feeling to it and runs ahead quickly and you just need to hang on.
I was blown away by this remarkable read and thank author Catherine McKenzie for encouraging a group of is to read and chat up this book. I am so glad I read Banks Of Certain Rivers. It has an excellent movie feel to it, one that I would definitely go see.
Family dynamics and current issues from schools play starring roles in this book. I would recommend you take the time to give this one a definite try. I would love to hear other thoughts on it.
- Paperback: 366 pages
- Publisher: Lake Union Publishing (September 23, 2014)
Book Journey 
Wow, you’ve made this sound like a must read!
I like the sound of this one – adding it to my TBR!
I enjoyed this one, too, and re-posted my review recently when the paperback copies came out, at Catherine’s request. Glad you loved it.
This is my first time hearing about this book. I think it’s always interesting to watch how people react when everything that could possibly go wrong does go wrong.
This is the first I’ve heard of the book too — Wow!
I have this one waiting in my tbr pile. Can’t wait to read it, especially after reading a few glowing reviews of it.