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Drive
A single call from his Czech girlfriend catapults Trevor into a serious crisis. Desperate to get his mojo back, he blazes down Highway 99 in a rented Dodge Neon. But soon his journey to California is fraught with peril, and all he has for protection are a semi-automatic pistol, his trusty plastic visor, and a flea-ridden cat. As the drugs and the heartbreak kick in, the question is no longer whether Trevor will get over his girlfriend's infidelity, but whether he'll get out alive. A fast-paced and hilarious contemporary odyssey, The Drive has all the adventure and surrealism of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas—but overlaid with heartfelt yearning and hope.
- GenresContemporary
401 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 15, 2013
57 people want to read
About the author
Tyler Keevil
43 books37 followersTyler was raised in Vancouver, Canada. He first came to the UK in 1999 to study English at Lancaster University. He returned home to finish his degree, and after graduating undertook a variety of bizarre jobs, working as a treeplanter, a landscape gardener, a deckhand on a fishing barge, a ‘greenhorn’ in the shipyards, a restaurant busser and a kayak shop assistant. After paying back his student loan, and saving up some money, he moved to Prague to try his hand at being a starving writer – the only problem being that he didn’t know how to write yet. The money ran out before he learned, and after a brief stint living in Birmingham, he moved to Wales in 2003.
While working part-time cleaning toilets at a petrol station, Tyler committed to learning the craft, and after picking up a handful of short fiction awards – including a Writer of the Year Award from Writers Inc. of London – he began selling his stories to magazines. He is interested both in literary and slipstream fiction, and has been published in New Welsh Review, Planet, Transmission, Dream Catcher, Black Static, and On Spec, among others. A translation of his story, ‘Masque of the Red Clown’ has also recently been commissioned by the French-Canadian magazine, Solaris. Tyler has also written for the screen; a short film he wrote recently aired on ITV Wales, whilst another picked up the Welsh Dragon Award at the Newport International Film Festival. Welsh editors have always been supportive of his writing, from Arthur Smith to Dafydd Prys to Francesca Rhydderch to Helle Michelson, and now more recently Lucy Llewellyn at Parthian.
Like most Canadians, Tyler enjoys his winter sports, including hockey and snowboarding, but since coming to Wales he has discovered the wonders of hiking and camping – particular along the Pembrokeshire coast. He currently works part-time in a factory near his hometown of Llanidloes, and lectures in Creative Writing at the University of Gloucestershire.
While working part-time cleaning toilets at a petrol station, Tyler committed to learning the craft, and after picking up a handful of short fiction awards – including a Writer of the Year Award from Writers Inc. of London – he began selling his stories to magazines. He is interested both in literary and slipstream fiction, and has been published in New Welsh Review, Planet, Transmission, Dream Catcher, Black Static, and On Spec, among others. A translation of his story, ‘Masque of the Red Clown’ has also recently been commissioned by the French-Canadian magazine, Solaris. Tyler has also written for the screen; a short film he wrote recently aired on ITV Wales, whilst another picked up the Welsh Dragon Award at the Newport International Film Festival. Welsh editors have always been supportive of his writing, from Arthur Smith to Dafydd Prys to Francesca Rhydderch to Helle Michelson, and now more recently Lucy Llewellyn at Parthian.
Like most Canadians, Tyler enjoys his winter sports, including hockey and snowboarding, but since coming to Wales he has discovered the wonders of hiking and camping – particular along the Pembrokeshire coast. He currently works part-time in a factory near his hometown of Llanidloes, and lectures in Creative Writing at the University of Gloucestershire.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 14, 2014
******my review from amazon******
I have never read a book so enjoyable as this. As a young guy in my mid twenties I felt I was able to feel where the protagonist was coming from in this novel. It is superbly written and very funny, and it is also empathetic to what can really hurt us as human beings. Trevor, the subject of the book, goes on a road trip of self discovery, healing, of sexual re-gratification (he can't get it up.) He also does this under the overbearing yoke of certainty that he is not very good at the entire road trip business. It's and adolescent tantrum that escalates to an epic with more trials than he should have been able to handle, but I was still routing for him and sticking by him anyway. The book is, as I have said, empathetic to what really hurts us as people: for instance, Trevor has gone on his journey to see a friend in San Francisco since his girlfriend cheated on him - and that is it - his girlfriend cheated on him. It would seem so trivial and common to hear that kind of story but sometimes we forget how devastating that can be to us and the people around us - or - we don't let it be as devastating as it feels it is because cheating is so common, and thus we miss out on some glorious emotional wreckage. So I felt for Trevor, and I was glad to let him have his tantrum because it is something I think many feel they need to have, and yet cant. To call a broken relationship a devastation is admittedly a very first-world problem and it pails in comparison to the struggles of others, but as westerners it's a pain that still exists and this book is filled with enough adolescence and young stupidity to warrant his a pain being the sole reason for this trip.
Overall you know my verdict. I have read classics and modern marvels, and The Drive - though admittedly not very richly titled - is the funniest and most enjoyable book I have read. I am sometimes called - and rightly so - a boring or miserable sod, and up until now I have never had a book make me do so much more than chuckle at its humour, but this piece really took me by surprise. I was laughing whilst filled with gratitude that a novel like this was able to do that for me. It addressed an issue that had affected me but that I didn't ever think was novel worthy, and it still had me feeling proud of the main character for going through and dealing with everything he did. It is not may favourite novel of all time, but it doesn't have to be for a 5 star review. If you want a current, fun, and meaningful book to read then I would recommend The Drive, a superb new novel.
July 22, 2013
Review originally posted on my blog: http://stephinlondon.com/2013/07/22/b...
From page one of Tyler Keevil’s The Drive, I was hooked. You know you’re in for a rollicking ride when Trevor, your narrator, turns up at a car rental agency with beers for the road (two of which he’s had on the way over) and a blacker than coal outlook on life. I found myself laughing through this entire book, all the while cringing at all of Trevor’s mishaps and scrapes.
The Drive spares you nothing… you get the sick, the grit, the unseemly smells of life on the road… and you get them in spades. On more than one occasion I found my stomach turning and curdling with the thought of another drunken episode. Trevor’s journey is enough to make you want to go sober as a priest.
From peyote laced buns, a flashing visor, a beat up cat, cannibal restaurant staff, a man-tiger, a biker gang leader with a grudge, the obligatory hitchhiker and two friendly lesbians, The Drive pretty much has it all. If you’re up for a coming-of-age-finding-yourself tale with a heavy dose of booze, weed, endless stretches of road and a smidge of magic, give The Drive a read. I thought it was better than Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and that’s saying something!
From page one of Tyler Keevil’s The Drive, I was hooked. You know you’re in for a rollicking ride when Trevor, your narrator, turns up at a car rental agency with beers for the road (two of which he’s had on the way over) and a blacker than coal outlook on life. I found myself laughing through this entire book, all the while cringing at all of Trevor’s mishaps and scrapes.
The Drive spares you nothing… you get the sick, the grit, the unseemly smells of life on the road… and you get them in spades. On more than one occasion I found my stomach turning and curdling with the thought of another drunken episode. Trevor’s journey is enough to make you want to go sober as a priest.
From peyote laced buns, a flashing visor, a beat up cat, cannibal restaurant staff, a man-tiger, a biker gang leader with a grudge, the obligatory hitchhiker and two friendly lesbians, The Drive pretty much has it all. If you’re up for a coming-of-age-finding-yourself tale with a heavy dose of booze, weed, endless stretches of road and a smidge of magic, give The Drive a read. I thought it was better than Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and that’s saying something!
July 20, 2017
Superb! One of the most enjoyable and refreshing books I have read. It is honest, entertaining, subtly deep without preaching, and maintains a good pace throughout. Excellent to the end.
August 4, 2017
I read this author's 'Burrard Inlet' and loved it so when I found a copy of 'The Drive' I grabbed it. Not disappointed. Difficult to put down and kept my interest going throughout. As the title suggests, it is a road story. Amusing and with a hint of 'Fear And Loathing'. Keevil is now on my favourite author list. Strong recommendation.
May 20, 2020
Tyler was a lecturer of mine as an undergrad student. I had the pleasure of studying with him and his writing is concise, well crafted, and thought provoking. This book is wonderful
May 13, 2021
Not my favourite of his, but still good fun. The surreal parts took me out of the reality of the character's situation though. Still, good yarn, well told and full of Odyssey-style interactions.
October 6, 2024
A coming of age story of sorts, about a young man steering through his first heartbreak; quite literally - as he hires a car and just drives and drives.
The first couple of chapters made me audibly snort on the bus, thanks for that Tyler Keevil! And I thought man this is one of the funniest books I’ve ever read...
But after the first few chapters, it never made me laugh again, however it did get pretty crazy and is packed full of weird and wonderful (mostly weird) adventures.
Spoiler alert: I have to say I was quite disappointed that after Trevor’s whole life changing excursion, he still made the decision to call his ex because I thought all the crazy crap he had put his body and mind through was for the purposes of forgetting his ex and moving on...I guess I feel like if he was going to ring her and work things out with her, he didn’t need to leave his couch. But maybe I’m overlooking how important it was for him to have got his anger about the betrayal out on the road trip regardless of what he was going to do about Zuszka.
Altogether well written and pretty enjoyable! This gets 4 stars mostly due to the first few chapters which I enjoyed much more than the rest of the book.
The first couple of chapters made me audibly snort on the bus, thanks for that Tyler Keevil! And I thought man this is one of the funniest books I’ve ever read...
But after the first few chapters, it never made me laugh again, however it did get pretty crazy and is packed full of weird and wonderful (mostly weird) adventures.
Spoiler alert: I have to say I was quite disappointed that after Trevor’s whole life changing excursion, he still made the decision to call his ex because I thought all the crazy crap he had put his body and mind through was for the purposes of forgetting his ex and moving on...I guess I feel like if he was going to ring her and work things out with her, he didn’t need to leave his couch. But maybe I’m overlooking how important it was for him to have got his anger about the betrayal out on the road trip regardless of what he was going to do about Zuszka.
Altogether well written and pretty enjoyable! This gets 4 stars mostly due to the first few chapters which I enjoyed much more than the rest of the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 28, 2017
A Fear and Loathing style road trip down Highway 99 in a rented Dodge Neon. Our single protagonist turns on the ignition and off we go on our adventures. Unlike Hunter S Thompson's much more famous book, this is realistically written and a lot better for it. The Drive is simple, good old fashioned story telling with a great plot; and there’s no going off on tangents. The drugs are still there, as is the booze … and the women, the biker gangs, the danger, the diners, the desert, the heat, the desperation, the overcoming of it all and a satisfying ending … and so are you, with the character all the way. Once finished you’ll wish you could go back to the beginning and experience it all over again; which of course you can.
Now I've read it a few years later I'm ever so slightly feeling that I loved it, absolutely loved it at the beginning but only liked it at the end. Something was lost when it all began to tie together. The realistic aspect was lost and I felt that the author was trying to hard to make it all tie together. Sure, it was a satisfying ending, but I've got to say that the journey itself was a lot more satisfying than what it all ended up as.
Now I've read it a few years later I'm ever so slightly feeling that I loved it, absolutely loved it at the beginning but only liked it at the end. Something was lost when it all began to tie together. The realistic aspect was lost and I felt that the author was trying to hard to make it all tie together. Sure, it was a satisfying ending, but I've got to say that the journey itself was a lot more satisfying than what it all ended up as.
August 27, 2013
Reviewed for Litro literary magazine.
From the front cover to the last page The Drive has all the dials turned to madcap as Tyler Keevil follows in the dust trails of the great American road trip. This kinetic journey through the backside of America lives firmly in the shadow of Fear and Loathing
The action starts in medias res with Trevor, our protagonist, fearfully swallowing his stash as he is questioned at the American border. Successfully gaining entry to the hallowed land, he is propelled through a series of bizarre, comic encounters as he desperately attempts to outrun his feelings for ex- girlfriend, Zuzska.
Read the full review here:
http://www.litro.co.uk/2013/08/book-r...
From the front cover to the last page The Drive has all the dials turned to madcap as Tyler Keevil follows in the dust trails of the great American road trip. This kinetic journey through the backside of America lives firmly in the shadow of Fear and Loathing
The action starts in medias res with Trevor, our protagonist, fearfully swallowing his stash as he is questioned at the American border. Successfully gaining entry to the hallowed land, he is propelled through a series of bizarre, comic encounters as he desperately attempts to outrun his feelings for ex- girlfriend, Zuzska.
Read the full review here:
http://www.litro.co.uk/2013/08/book-r...
December 2, 2013
The Drive is a highly readable road trip novel which moves from bleak nihilism to spiritual redemption over some 400 pitch perfect pages. I hope that's not a spoiler, because the final third of the book is as satisfying as the first two parts are bewildering. Fairly early on narrator Trevor introduces the notion of synchronicity and Keevil sets out to demonstrate Jung's theory with a deft tying up of the many plotlines and motifs which he sews in the first half of the book. But whether downbeat or euphoric, The Drive is nearly always funny. it reminds me of Confederacy of Dunces by John F Kennedy O'Toole or even a more recent novel such as The Ask by Sam Lipsyte. If you enjoyed either of those, you will most likely love this.
April 1, 2016
Gripping and hilarious, this tale of a road trip gone horribly awry is one of the best books I've read this year. There is plenty of incident, from bad peyote trips to biker showdowns to a diner that may be run by cannibals, but there is also plenty of subtext to chew on, as a journey through America becomes a journey into the narrator's psyche. Jung's take on synchronicity is explicitly mentioned a few times, and his idea of the amina is at the heart of the book. And if that sounds heavy, don't worry, you're never far away from another tragicomically bad decision by our hero, usually while deep under the influence.
And Mr Keevil appears to know his Richmond Fontaine records, which is another plus as if one were needed.
And Mr Keevil appears to know his Richmond Fontaine records, which is another plus as if one were needed.
August 13, 2014
Brilliantly addictive. Trevor is the kind of character you feel for right from the beginning, and even when he makes stupid choices you want him to succeed. Had me laughing on every page and by the end of the book I felt like I'd been on a journey of discovery along with Trevor.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews