The Long Road

by Matthew Ledrew

While on his journey of self-discovery he meets the American people — the real American people, not the ones he grew up learning about in class, and realizes that the world doesn’t work the way it does in his small town back home. The real world is harsh and wicked, but can also be soft and gentle — even loving. Xander Drew comes of age on the road, and sets his new direction.

ebook

First published May 23, 2014

About the author

Matthew LeDrew has written over twenty novels, some of which have gone on to become Canadian and international bestsellers.

Since 2007 he has traveled all over Canada promoting his work as well as teaching seminars on writing and publishing.

He currently holds a Canada Council for the Arts Research and Creation Grant and an ArtsNL Professional Projects Grant for the completion of his first two Newfoundland-set novels, a treasure-hunt novel and a literary fiction novel exploring toxicity within the Newfoundland arts scene, respectively.

He holds an Honours Degree in English from the Memorial University of Newfoundland with a minor in Anthropology. He studied Journalism at College of the North Atlantic in Stephenville, Newfoundland. He has worked with Transcontinental Publishing as well as student-youth magazine The Troubadour.

He has been called "the face of Newfoundland Genre writing" and is one of the most successful authors working and living in his province today.

Reviews

[Paul Carberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Long Road is a collection of short stories surrounding Xander Drew. It offers a lot of perspective into the character, an impressive feat considering there have been 10 novels (The Coral Beach Casefiles, if you haven't checked them out already, do so) with Xander. His character is always evolving and growing, and his story is better for it.
Featuring 7 short stories, we get 7 unique views at Xanders journey. Each story offering a different aspect, keeping the book fresh and fun to read. We get to see characters from his past, characters on this long road and a glimpse into the next series of Xander Drew books.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The short stories found within this book are sad, tragic, violent, wistful, and more over informative. It gives you insight on events from the Black Womb series as well as an idea of things to come as well. It also makes me realize that there are other novels connected to the Engen world that I now I have to buy as the universe that has been created by not just Matthew but other amazing writers as well has a scope beyond what I originally thought when I picked up the first book in the Black Womb series. The need to find out more is at an all time high.

I would readily recommend this book to anyone who has read the Black Womb series. Even those who haven't read the series but want some insight into what it is all about could readily enjoy this novel. Mind you there are some spoilers about the Black Womb series, but in all honesty without having read the series you're not bound to realize that unless you choose to read that series. And you should in any case.
Thank-you again Matthew for the books and for also helping me re-ignite my love for reading. It's been too long since I've found a series that has been able to enthral me like yours has.