The Silent Road by S.N. McKibben – Review by Tara Johnson Barnes

The Silent Road by S.N. McKibben
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Dan is a man who seems to screw up everything he touches. He spent so much time away from home trying to make money to support his wife and daughter that it caused his marriage to collapse. Not only did his marriage fail but his ex-wife thinks he is a deadbeat. He has failed to follow through with past promises to his daughter, so she has lost all faith in him. The only thing Dan has left is his rig and driving on the open road hauling freight. Or it was, up until the day he was pulled over and was caught driving without a license.

Getting caught driving without a license could not have happened at a worse time for Dan. He needs the money to pay for his daughter’s college tuition. If Dan cannot come up with the money, he risks losing his daughter forever. Dan is forced on probation and must have a co-driver with him in order to prove that he is capable of getting his commercial license. The problem is that Dan does not want to have Jake as his co-driver. He knows Jake’s dirty little secret, and he wants no part of it. Unfortunately, Dan’s boss gives him no choice and Dan must make the best of it as he tries to convince Jake to bend the rules a little bit so that he can make good on the promise he made to his daughter.

As Dan and Jake head out on the open road they get to know one another better. Dan finds that he enjoys Jake’s company a little more than he expected. In all honesty, a lot more than he expected, and it scares him as he finds himself questioning his own sexuality. Could Jake be what he has been looking for, what has been missing from his life, all this time?

This was an interesting MM romance with a big rig, hitting the open road, feel to it. As Dan and Jake hit the open road together it becomes a symbol of their freedom from the constraints of society’s beliefs, judgement, and condemnation. On the road they do not fear what others may think and are allowed the freedom to get to know one another in an open and honest manner. The characters of Jake and Dan are clearly more layered than this story allowed as it was more focused on the relationship between the two men. The author asked for feedback at the end of the book on whether readers would like to read more about Dan and Jake. This reader says, yes, I would love to read a book on each one where the story focuses solely on them, their background, past relationships, and so forth.

I personally, would read a book about Dan which goes back to his marriage to his ex-wife. What was their relationship like? In The Silent Road we know his marriage collapsed because he worked away from home so much. Were there other contributing factors that caused his marriage to fail? Was their relationship rocky to begin with? Did Dan display any signs that might explain his interest in Jake? Was he not attracted to his wife? Was there an underlying reason that kept him on the road and away from his family? A reason that he may not have realized at that time. I would love to know more about Jake as well. Was he always attracted to men? In The Silent Road we see signs of society’s disapproval over his lifestyle. Was there ever a time in his life where he felt the need to conform to society’s beliefs about who he is and hide his sexuality? Was he ever married? If so, does he have children? All in all, this was a good book and I enjoyed it. It left me wanting to learn more about the pasts of both Dan and Jake and I want to read more.

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