Chasing Ghosts

by Philip J. Reilly

Joey McNeal is a Philly kid through and through. With a wild mop of curly hair and an uncommon thirst for competition, Mac is known to keep his car trunk full of sports equipment, ready for any pickup game.
But McNeal's true passion is running. Joey Mac is the fastest guy in town, but a slate of injories stopped him short of greatness at what would have been the peak of his career. Now, about to turn thirty, McNeal starts to wonder "What if?" What if he put everything he had into training? What if he had a great coach? What if he could run faster than he ever had before? What if he could silence a lingering unfulfilled dream?
But McNeal has two jobs, little time or money and only the support of his closest friends. Even they don't know that McNeal secretly dreams of competing onthe highest athletic stage:the Olympics.
Phil Reilly's debut faithfully depicts a runner's life in Philadelphia--from Kelly Drive to Pennypack Park to the icy winter streets of the Northeast--as McNeal gives his running career one more shot. This searing pursuit reveals the sacrifices that passions requirea nd the limits that are made to be broken.

362 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2011

Reviews

[Francis Cusick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm torn on this book. On the one hand, I'm in somewhat of a similar situation to the protagonist of the story, as I work in education, coach, and still run semi-competitively. So I really enjoyed that aspect of it, as I could identify completely with Joey Mac and his friends as they pursued their running dreams while their friends wondered why the hell they were doing it.

The bad part of it was that the writing was just really...flat. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't expecting some type of literary greatness on par with Faulkner. But a lot of the sentences were robotic. The dialogue at times didn't really flow either.

Nevertheless, I did appreciate this book. the story was interesting and the scenes discussing training and racing were the best part of the story. If you are a competitive post-collegiate runner, I think you'll enjoy this book.

[J.Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

The bottom line is this: Chasing Ghosts is a very readable book which makes you want to keep turning the pages. This is somewhat surprising, as it appears to be just another story of an underdog who just wants to take one more shot at greatness and his struggle against the odds to make it. Turns out that's exactly what it is. Yet Phil Reilly pulls it off without any big hooks, without a flashy writing style, without the gratuitous dirty parts. What it is full of is this: running, workouts, track & field, races - packed in every chapter. So as a track guy, I'm in.

[Mary Wilson · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is horrid and boring. It reads like a blend of someone's training log and a diary of a mindless fool. The guy coaches a girls team, but the characters on the team are boring and undeveloped. He has an old girlfriend that was an uninteresting character. He unloads her and picks up another equally boring girlfriend. Meanwhile, he chases and Olympic dream.

In ways it has elements like Again to Carthage, but without well developed characters, good story telling, or good writing.

[Andrew J. Sellers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not too bad. Good story. Sometimes corny.

[Rob Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Made me go take a run. Read this book in 4 days!