Title: The Ride
Author: Domenic Pugliares
Publisher: GoToPublish, LLC
ISBN: 978-1647494810
Pages: 208
Genre: Fiction / Mystery / Thriller
Reviewed by: Jake Bishop

Read Book Review

Southern California and Mexico are the settings for this contemporary foray into mystery and more in author Domenic Pugliares’s novel, The Ride. It turns out to be a wild ride that takes readers into strange places where it’s difficult to tell the difference between fantasy and reality. Difficult not only for readers, but also for the characters in this engaging tale which walks a tightrope between one world and another.

Unlike most fiction, there are really two protagonists in this story. One is a young man named Jake. The other is a classic Oldsmobile 442 convertible. Jake is like most young men his age, he likes to party and have fun. The 442 is older, perhaps wiser, and has a knack for both endurance and regeneration.

The car is looked on a bit like a second child to Jake’s father and mother. After his mother’s death, it’s lovingly restored to pristine condition and given to Jake by his father, who soon dies thereafter. Jake decides to take the car on what he hopes will be a memorable excursion to Mexico with his ex-lover Shelly, and her beau, his best friend, Don. After a somewhat violent beginning, this seemingly odd relationship doesn’t seem to bother the three of them as they set out for a good time south of the border. Soon they’re munching tacos, drinking beer, smoking marijuana, and rolling down the highway at high speed. Narrowly avoiding a devastating accident, they wind up pulling into the particularly strange Hotel Lucinda. There they meet a ravishing beauty who runs one of the oddest inns on or off record. Their stay is  punctuated by sexual massages, dinner where only white wine is allowed, and famous fellow guests who all have somewhat similar relationships with automobiles. To go deeper into the plotline would be to reveal a number of surprises that are best saved for the reading experience. Let’s simply say that as in most yarns within this genre, things are not exactly what they seem.

Author Pugliares is an enthusiastic storyteller who takes the time to fill out his characters interrelationships as completely as he develops his plotline. In addition to the aforementioned players, a Mexican police captain takes on a major role midway in the narrative and is influential in its conclusion. The pace of Pugliares’s story is swift and only slows down in spots where more judicious editing would have been appropriate. Still, this chronicle comes across as a mind-bending trip down roads far beyond ordinary and filled with revelations. If you’re up for it, you might want to go along for The Ride.