Drive Down Ruby Road

by Nancy Swarts, Jesse Swarts

Midwest Book Reviews"Drive Down Ruby Road" is a fine coming of age tale, much recommended.............................................................................................................YOUNG ADULT | CONTEMPORARY MYSTERY | COMING OF AGE | Bk. 1 - GEARHEAD SERIES............................................................................................................THE gives Dallas O’Donnell a swift kick in the rear when he participates in a dark rite of passage for the boys in the small town of Ruby. “Bloody Bill” Hawkins has been plagued by these teenage boys for years, suffering their torment each time they throw red paint on his porch. It’s meant to look like blood—the blood of Bloody Bill’s younger brother, who was shot twenty years ago on Ruby Road, just as he began his senior year in high school. Great student, great kid, the school’s local football hero. When Dallas is caught “red”-handed dumping paint on Bill’s front porch, his county sheriff father sentences him to hard labor. Painting Bill Hawkins’ house. All of it.Every day Dallas walks down Ruby Road to work on the house, bringing along home-cooked meals his mother makes for Bill. Bit by bit Dallas forms a friendship with the old man and learns about his younger brother, Charlie, who shared Dallas’s first love—tinkering with cars.Bill takes Dallas out to show him Charlie’s classic GTO that has been stored for twenty years in the shed, and it’s love at first sight. The car is perfect, except for one minor flaw—a bullet hole in the driver’s side door.Now that Dallas has befriended Bill, he knows the kids were wrong. Bill could never have shot the younger brother he loved so much. So now it’s up to Dallas to find out who really fired that shot, the night Charlie took a joy ride down Ruby Road.

Genres: Young Adult

122 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 14, 2011

Reviews

[Charlene (Char)🍁☕️📚 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when I first purchased my Kindle and this book and I disappoint. I read this book many years ago.. This book is about a man that was accused of a murder based on a town legend. There is a right of passage, which is something I can’t recall right now, but one of the boys is found out and to make amends for what he’s done he spends time painting the something , and he gets to know the older man and comes to a conclusion that maybe this person isn’t guilty of murder. I really do wish these authors would come out with another book because I’ve been hooked ever since and I am strongly considering rereading this book in the very near future.

[Bette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old Man Bill on Ruby Road murdered his brother, or that’s the story spread around town for years, When Dallas O’Donnell and his friend C. W. drive out to throw a gallon of red paint at the house, they don’t expect to get caught but …

Superstition and rumors can make teenagers do dumb things so Dallas O'Donnell throws red paint onto Old Bill's house. But Wade O’Donnell is the Sheriff and he is going to have Dallas make restitution. Dallas is to paint Old Bill’s house, and while is doing so, he makes a connection with Bill and with Bill’s GTO out in the shed.

Great coming of age story along with the beautiful GTO. A young adult mystery.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Drive Down Ruby Road by Swarts and Swarts

5 stars
Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781937216221
Publisher: Prairie Muse Publishing
Publication date: 10/23/2011
Pages: 122
Sales rank: 818,557
Product dimensions: 5.00 (w) x 8.00 (h) x 0.29 (d)



Summary:
Drive Down Ruby Road is about the unlikely relationship of Dallas O’ Donnell and “Bloody Bill” Hawkins. “Bloody Bill” has a reputation of once killing his younger brother, Charlie, so kids make a habit of tossing red paint on his porch. Dallas happens to be the first person to get caught in the act. What makes things worse is that his father is the county sheriff and in order to calm Bill down, he says that Dallas will spend his summer repainting Bill’s whole house. At first, Dallas is very upset about this new chore, but while he is exploring the property, he finds a classic GTO. Dallas slowly begins to understand that Bill is misunderstood and feels bad for all of the torment that he has had to go through. He begins to fix up the GTO and investigate the death of Bill’s younger brother. This leads to a town wide investigation to try to prove a cold case and clear an innocent man’s name.
My thoughts:
This was an extremely quick read for me. I enjoyed the mixture between mystery, coming of age, and gearhead aspects of the story. Dallas’s character shows a great deal of maturity as he helps Bill come out of his shell. It allows the young to benefit from some of the strengths of the old, and also gives Dallas a chance to see great changes in someone who was much older than himself. The descriptions of how Dallas fixes up all aspects of the GTO makes me feel like I have no idea how a car works. I understand that things have changed and our cars are more computers than they used to be, but I can see how someone who likes to tinker with things would get a kick out of this aspect of the book. Dallas describes the entire process of fixing the car, and all of the new things that he needs. When I was reading through these parts, I was picturing one of my best friends. He never liked reading, but he loved working on cars. I wonder if a book like this would have gathered his interest just like a car did. Finally, the mystery of figuring out who killed Charlie adds another high interest level to the reading. With all of these layers, and the fact that the book is only 117 pages, I would recommend this to all of my reluctant readers. I passed it straight over to our lowest reading group, and had a few gentlemen that took to it immediately. They are craving books that look like teenage books, with teenage topics, and still at a low enough level for them to read. This met all of their requirements and led me to search for more within the series.
5 stars!

[Des · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nancy Swarts and her grownup gearhead son Jesse have a winner in this new Gearhead series. In this opening book, a high school, all around good kid gets sucked into the dark rite of passage act of throwing red paint on the porch of a man suspected of shooting his own brother 20 years earlier. Swarts and Swarts do a masterful job of showing this young man's disdain, embarrassment, and ultimately his acceptance of the goofy old man as a friend. And with the friendship comes the opportunity to indulge his greatest love...tinkering with a pristine 1969 GTO. And when he and his dad solve the unanswered question of who killed Bloody Bill's little brother, their friendship is set for life. This is a great read for all young ages, particularly those who love cars like Dallas, the book's hero, does.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

THis is a good book. WHen a prank turns into a mystery. I would recommend this book for all ages. Thank you for sharing.