What do you think?
Rate this book
The Train
Insightful, poignant, and inspiring—with touches of humor throughout— The Train chronicles the coming-of-age of a young man living on the Gulf Coast of Alabama during the 1950s and 1960s. It is the story of how one thoughtful boy—gradually forged “as a Damascene smith might have shaped a blade” by his father, his heroes, his family, and his friends—becomes “a harder, stronger substance that will take a keener edge.” This debut novel by Tony Jordan, a former senior CIA operations officer and Air Rescue pilot, introduces Jack Jourdain and Jean-Louis Thibodeaux, two remarkable young men—who are showcased in future volumes—as they confront real-life military and national security challenges. Inspired by actual events, the book considers the importance of imagination and visualization as it explores how family and community influence the formation of core personal values including love, duty, and honor. The author “knows the human heart and the way of the world like Faulkner, but writes like Hemingway.” —Daniel W. Jacobowitz, USAF (Retired) The Train is “a compelling read that shows you can’t go wrong with a classics education.”—Ruth Overman Fischer, George Mason University (Retired)
164 pages, Paperback
Published October 28, 2015
1 person is currently reading
4 people want to read
About the author
Tony Jordan
9 books5 followersA former Spymaster and Counterspy for the CIA, Tony Jordan is a skilled and practiced observer of human nature. In his work he captures the essence of everyday people having moments of incredible lucidity, joy, tragedy, hope and faith. His writing is succinct yet graphic and expressive whether he is describing the onset of a cold December rain, the fear and elation of an air rescue mission or the Crow sung song of release as an elder lies dying.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 31, 2016
Jean ‘Jack’ Jourdain is a young man growing up in Mobile, Alabama in the 50s and 60s. He has a very close relationship with his father, who is his mentor and friend. In The Train by Tony Jordan, we follow Jack’s life as he grows up under the shadow of his father’s impending death from a variety of ailments, and learns the value of the subtle lessons his father teaches him.
A rich portrayal of one aspect of life in the South in the 1950s and 60s, and how one young man, through the relationships he has, learns to stand on his own, and to be true to himself. A story of friendships, in particular Jack’s friendship with Jean-Louis Thibodeaux, the scion of a wealthy Mobile family, who becomes his best friend in college, but most significantly, Jack’s friendship with his father, a man who refused to allow the circumstances of his own birth, or the social strictures of southern society to beat him down, The Train is a great debut novel that contains many essential truths that are conveyed through the eyes of the main character, making them all the more profound.
While I found it a bit frustrating not knowing the narrator’s name until chapter four, the incremental introduction of Jack and his responses to life turned out to be a strong point of the book. You sort of know who he is, even if you don’t know his name, and by the time it’s introduced, you’re inside the mind of this unnamed character, seeing the world through his young eyes.
Clean prose, rich descriptions, and an inexorable growth in the character from page one until the end, marks an outstanding first novel by a promising writer.
A rich portrayal of one aspect of life in the South in the 1950s and 60s, and how one young man, through the relationships he has, learns to stand on his own, and to be true to himself. A story of friendships, in particular Jack’s friendship with Jean-Louis Thibodeaux, the scion of a wealthy Mobile family, who becomes his best friend in college, but most significantly, Jack’s friendship with his father, a man who refused to allow the circumstances of his own birth, or the social strictures of southern society to beat him down, The Train is a great debut novel that contains many essential truths that are conveyed through the eyes of the main character, making them all the more profound.
While I found it a bit frustrating not knowing the narrator’s name until chapter four, the incremental introduction of Jack and his responses to life turned out to be a strong point of the book. You sort of know who he is, even if you don’t know his name, and by the time it’s introduced, you’re inside the mind of this unnamed character, seeing the world through his young eyes.
Clean prose, rich descriptions, and an inexorable growth in the character from page one until the end, marks an outstanding first novel by a promising writer.
March 25, 2016
A thoughtful, engrossing and well-written coming-of-age story
Author Tony Jordan's "The Train" is a thoroughly enjoyable recounting of a young man's voyage into adulthood. The book's main character, Jack Jourdain, gives us a first-person accounting of his early life on the Gulf Coast in the late 50s and early 60s. He is guided by the structure provided by a loving father, who lets his son make his own decisions on his journey through life. As pointed out in the book's preface, it is a story of "mentor and pupil; father and son; best friends."
By the time you reach the end, you too will be looking forward to learning more about Jack Jourdain and his further adventures.
John Cathcart
- Award-winning author of Delta 7
- Reviewer for the Military Writers Society of America
Author Tony Jordan's "The Train" is a thoroughly enjoyable recounting of a young man's voyage into adulthood. The book's main character, Jack Jourdain, gives us a first-person accounting of his early life on the Gulf Coast in the late 50s and early 60s. He is guided by the structure provided by a loving father, who lets his son make his own decisions on his journey through life. As pointed out in the book's preface, it is a story of "mentor and pupil; father and son; best friends."
By the time you reach the end, you too will be looking forward to learning more about Jack Jourdain and his further adventures.
John Cathcart
- Award-winning author of Delta 7
- Reviewer for the Military Writers Society of America
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews