TOGETHER WE WILL GO - J. Michael Straczynski

Things haven't gone well for Mark Antonelli, a failed young writer with a grim future.  So he puts together a plan.... Mark buys a beat-up old tour bus and hires an ex-vet to be the driver, and he plans to drive/ride across the country. He places ads in newspapers along the route and will pick up a few passengers to join him on the journey.

But this is not a typical site-seeing tour. Mark will screen all the potential new passengers and only those ready to cash it in ... to give up their mortal coil ... will be riding the bus.  Mark's plan for the end of the ride is to drive the bus off a cliff in San Francisco for a beautiful sunset view as they crash into the ocean.

New friends will be made, and lost; new romances will blossom; there will be multiple betrayals; police chases; politics in play; and a surprisingly 'feel-good' atmosphere despite the aura of pending suicide from cover to cover.

Not many authors could get away with writing a novel about a group of strangers who come together in order to end their lives sooner rather than later; take control of when they choose to see the end; and wish to 'go together.'  J. Michael Straczynski is one of those few who can.

Because there is a very mellow attitude toward suicide here, I was very concerned about the potential appeal here to students, an area where there is already too high a rate of suicides every year. But then I thought,' Ah, Straczynski will clear it all up and show us the dark side of taking one's own life, and why it's better to keep living later in the book.

 Warning: People die. By their own hand. It's almost glorified (it is certainly accepted). It is not made to be a terrible thing.  For those who've known suicide - either family or good friends - this is not a book you will want to read.

And yet...!  I really liked this book.

I know I've repeated this quote before, but this is a good time to bring it up again.  Decades ago, I attended a convention with science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon as guest of honor.  He was asked what the difference was between writing a short story and writing a novel (other than length).  His response has stuck with me: A short story is about things people do and a novel is about people who do things.

I think about this a lot when I'm reading and writing reviews, and I've realized that the novels I've liked the most are definitely those that are about people - and people who draw me in.  This book definitely fits this description.  By all accounts, the people here wouldn't normally capture my attention, but I really felt as though I got to know these people. I came to understand why they were on the bus. I came to root for them, or to boo them - depending on what Straczynski wanted from me - and, yeah, I liked this book.

Looking for a good book? If you want a good, general fiction read, J. Michael Straczynski's Together We Will Go will bring you along on a journey with some other heretofore strangers who get to know one another just before their plan to meet their end together.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

4-1/2 stars

* * * * * *

Together We Will Go

author: J. Michael Straczynski

publisher: Gallery/Scout Press

ISBN: 1982142588

hardcover, 304 pages

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