***3 stars
I read this book for a book club. I enjoyed the beginning and felt it had a lot of promise. The story takes place in 1954. I liked the premise featuring the main character, Emmett, a young man who is released from serving a sentence at a juvenile prison for accidentally killing a youth. He’s released after his father dies and goes home to his house in Nebraska where he is reunited with his younger brother, Billy. Not known to Emmett, two of his fellow prisoners have escaped and hidden in the sheriff’s trunk. When the sheriff brings him home, they get out of the car and hide, later announcing themselves to Emmett.
As the story progresses, a turn of events causes Emmett, his brother, and the two inmates, Duchess and Woolly, to take to the road for different reasons. Emmett wants to head to California to start a house flipping business. Billy also wants to go to California because he believes their mother lives there after leaving them years ago and sending postcards from spots on the Lincoln Highway. Duchess wants to locate people from his past to even scores, and Woolly, who has a condition that is never explained in the book but makes him appear dimwitted and in need of medication, just tags along for the ride. Another person who later joins them is Sally, a neighbor of Emmett and Billy, who has a crush on Emmett.
I liked the way that each chapter is told by a different person, but I found that this lengthy novel meandered in the middle. Toward the end, there was a twist that brought my interest back, but the ending itself was a disappointment. Unless the author is planning a sequel, I don’t feel that enough was revealed to tie up many of the loose ends. Although this hasn’t been the best book I’ve read, others may have a different opinion.
https://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Highway-Novel-Amor-Towles-ebook/
Ruff Drafts 