Tumbleweeds

Leila Meacham. Grand Central, $25.99 (480p) ISBN 978-1-4555-0924-9

Meacham (Roses) explores a small-town love triangle against the backdrop of Texas football in her overblown latest. Since childhood, Trey Don "TD" Hall and best friend John Caldwell have cared primarily for football and one another. But when recently orphaned Catherine Ann Benson moves to town to live with her grandmother, the boys are immediately drawn to her. At first, the three sixth-graders are just fast friends, but after adolescence sets in, their relationship deepens and complicates. Despite the boys' stellar high school football careers and Catherine Ann's equally sterling academic record, their future plans are fumbled thanks to a botched prank, a secret infatuation, and an accidental pregnancy, all of which will have consequences stretching far into the future. Spanning nearly 30 years, the novel seems unsure of its intentions: is it a romance, a sports saga, or a murder mystery? Most jarring is the novel's unevenness of tone; a detailed description of autoerotic asphyxiation feels out of place compared to rosy-hued scenes of young love, and the poorly-plotted murder mystery is an awkward and unnecessary appendage to what could otherwise have been a satisfying drama. (June)

Reviewed on: 05/28/2012

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FORMATS

Open Ebook - 978-1-4555-0925-6

Hardcover - 693 pages - 978-1-4555-1348-2

Compact Disc - 978-1-61113-717-0

Compact Disc - 978-1-61969-081-3

Compact Disc - 978-1-61969-083-7

Pre-Recorded Audio Player - 978-1-61969-437-8

Paperback - 480 pages - 978-1-4555-0923-2

Compact Disc - 978-1-61969-323-4

Paperback - 480 pages - 978-1-4555-2678-9

Mass Market Paperbound - 560 pages - 978-1-4555-0926-3