The adventures of Railroad Rogues

by Karl Manke

297 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2017

Reviews

[Lily · Rating 2 out of 5]

The problems with this book lie mainly in the writing. Manke rarely shows rather than tells, often bluntly describing the relationships between characters or character motivations. Sentences are sometimes clunky, or phrased strangely. In key scenes, important details are revealed much later than they should be, or mentioned as afterthoughts. Key conversations or moments are only described or mentioned after the fact. There are a number of grammatical errors that become hard to ignore. The ending in particular has all of these flaws: Manke summarizes each character's outcome like the ending of a sports movie.
On the other hand, I was fascinated by the plot, and loved the exploration of hobo culture in this time period. I wish Manke had included an author's note or something to explain his research process, or why he chose this period and subject matter, because it's clear there was passion in the research in how Manke adds time-period-appropriate details. The characters were interesting, as were their relationship and how they evolved over the course of the book.
Overall, I had a good time reading this, and it made me very interested in the hobo culture of that era.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book at a bookstore in Frankenmuth where the author was signing books. Although the story line is very good and kept me interested, this is possibly the worst writing style I have ever read. After reading the first paragraphs, I almost threw it away. The story was good though so I give it a 3 star rating.