BOOK REVIEW

by Maurice McBride

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A taut example of the sports fiction genre, The Heart of a Son follows aspiring teenager Kenji Sato as he is determines to make running one of the life forces which will drive him to shape his future. A coming of age tale that conveys the thoughts and anguish of a relentless adherent of the track, the story takes the reader away from the roar of the stadium to the trips, falls, and hopefully triumphs experienced by us all as we find our way through life's formative years. The Heart of a Son examines the day-to-day trials of growing into an adult just as much as it probes the issue of deeper faith. This is a life being forged with both a steely determination and a love and understanding for those held most dear. It is a life that cannot merely represent an extension of one's parents. It is a breakaway, a forming of new bonds and a breaking of  the old. Reconciliation with an angry father bubbles beneath the surface, seemingly out of reach as new relationships blossom and life's  track inevitably takes on a shape of its own.

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Maurice McBride is an author of  two fiction novels, an editor of fiction and non-fiction, and operates his own proofreading and copyediting company Word Wolf in Northern Ireland: wordwolf.co.uk. Maurice has done editing for the Civil Aviation Authority, Zenbre Speakers, UHPC international, and countless other authors. His work speaks as loud as his testimonies.