Review, Harald Standard
Cheat River Three - A novel that remembers what's gone from our lives By Dave Zuchowski For Weekend magazine heraldstandard.com | 0 comments
Posted on May 18, 2012
by Jim Pletcher
All his life, Scott Baker Sweeney said he heard stories of his father’s wild and woolly life growing up in Point Marion and beyond. A football hero recruited by Bear Bryant for his Texas A&M team and later the NFL’s first pulling guard for the Los Angeles Rams, Eugene Baker, Sweeney’s father, never wanted his son’s literary inclinations to lead to a biography of his exploits. Rather, father and son agreed to a novel that would chronicle “a true life adventure immersed in circumstantial fiction.”
“Cheat River Three,” Sweeney’s 336-page novel, starts off in 1946 and is set in Point Marion, where the Cheat River empties into the Monongahela. A tale of three friends with strong interpersonal bonds that remain even after they leave town to pursue their dreams, the book references many of the places in the river town during a 10-15 year period.
Besides the main character, Sweeney draws portraits of one of his father’s boyhood friends as well as a female character named Katrina Garretson. The trio bonds early, keeps in contact even after their lives take separate courses, and ends up in Point Marion for the book’s surprising climactic finish.
“The female character is entirely fictional and takes over the book, I believe, with exploits that rival those of my father,” Sweeney said.
“My novel is an emotional roller coaster ride, one that has you laughing one minute, then has your eyes welling up with tears the next,” he said.
.© 2012 heraldstandard.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Posted on May 18, 2012
by Jim Pletcher
All his life, Scott Baker Sweeney said he heard stories of his father’s wild and woolly life growing up in Point Marion and beyond. A football hero recruited by Bear Bryant for his Texas A&M team and later the NFL’s first pulling guard for the Los Angeles Rams, Eugene Baker, Sweeney’s father, never wanted his son’s literary inclinations to lead to a biography of his exploits. Rather, father and son agreed to a novel that would chronicle “a true life adventure immersed in circumstantial fiction.”
“Cheat River Three,” Sweeney’s 336-page novel, starts off in 1946 and is set in Point Marion, where the Cheat River empties into the Monongahela. A tale of three friends with strong interpersonal bonds that remain even after they leave town to pursue their dreams, the book references many of the places in the river town during a 10-15 year period.
Besides the main character, Sweeney draws portraits of one of his father’s boyhood friends as well as a female character named Katrina Garretson. The trio bonds early, keeps in contact even after their lives take separate courses, and ends up in Point Marion for the book’s surprising climactic finish.
“The female character is entirely fictional and takes over the book, I believe, with exploits that rival those of my father,” Sweeney said.
“My novel is an emotional roller coaster ride, one that has you laughing one minute, then has your eyes welling up with tears the next,” he said.
.© 2012 heraldstandard.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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