Title: Free Falling Man
Author: John Montgomery
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 978-1514876299
Pages: 423
Genre: Literary Fiction
Reviewed by: Joe Kilgore
Buy on Amazon
Pacific Book Review
Henry David Thoreau wrote, “The mass of men lead lives of quite desperation.” What happens when that desperation finally becomes unbearable? What happens when a link breaks in the chain that binds man to the submission of his desires and the acceptance that the life in front of him will be as uneventful as the life he’s lived thus far? These questions and one man’s answers are at the heart of John Montgomery’s novel, “Free-Falling Man.”One day, for no specific reason, Montgomery’s protagonist, Bud Greene, simply snaps. Just like that, he goes haywire. He steals cars, destroys private property, picks up strangers, and eventually hops a flight to Florida to avoid capture and prosecution for his explosive melt down in California. This is a mid-life crisis of epic proportions, which has only just begun. In the sunshine state, he immediately gets hustled by a curvy blonde and her hairy accomplice. Outraged, he steals another car and tracks them down. When he surprises the furry one at a shark feeding display, the startled conman falls into the tank and is immediately consumed. Bud then pinches a Rolls Royce and moves on to Georgia. In Savannah he becomes entranced with the thought of taking to sea. Maxing his Platinum American Express Card, he buys a boat and begins an even wilder series of adventures that include making love on the beach, rescuing a woman from the worst of circumstances, and finding a passion for a potential vocation he never knew he had. That’s in addition to encounters with an embezzler, his gun toting, pharmaceutically enhanced son, a cuckolded husband, and various members of the law.
The author’s prose style is breezy and conversational. A brisk pace keeps events careening from page to page. The pace is abetted by an involving technique in which moments from Bud’s past relationships are juxtaposed with his current encounters. These juxtapositions help the reader better understand Bud’s motivations and reactions. Montgomery has crafted a narrative that is occasionally suspenseful, frequently credible, and continually compelling. There is a wonderfully winsome tone to both the character of Bud and the way he reacts to his stultifying past, his extemporaneous present, and his unknown future. Readers who enjoy surprising plot twists and compassionate characters will find themselves pulling for this empathetic everyman until the final page is turned. For better or worse, there is a little Bud Greene in all of us.
