WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT LOST EXIT:
Compelling!
by Jeff Dawson
This is not a story about sports but rather the struggles of one Timmy Davenport and the demons that plagued him from age twelve to twenty-one. Timmy grows up on the side of Atlantic City most of us have never heard about but yet have the same neighborhoods in our own towns. Kevin Michaels introduces us to the underworld of Atlantic City.
It is seedy, drug infested, and packed with mob connection behind the bright lights of the casinos.
Timmy is the kid who does good by getting away from the town that harbored him for eighteen years. He gets his big break by obtaining his "golden ticket" a basketball scholarship to St. Augustine. It isn't the largest or most prestigious university but it offers him a chance to never return home. Home, something he really doesn't have. His father is convinced, his basketball dribbling son (along with his three older brothers) will eventually come to his senses and get a "real" job working in the family business. His father almost gets his wish when the demons from Timmy's past resurface at a college party. He thrusts his hand through a plate glass window turning his right hand into a bloody mess costing his team a shot at finally advancing (hopefully) to the final four. The doctors and his coach aren't sure if the wrist will completely heal from all the muscle and tendon damage. Without a 100% healing, Timmy will lose his scholarship and his ticket out of Atlantic City. He will be left to follow in his father's footsteps and never meet his demons head-on. Don't take the next statement as cliche, it isn't and don't think I'm getting all soft and mushy, but the love of a good woman helps Timmy face all of his demons of the past and take on those that are connected too close to home.
Timmy is the kid who does good by getting away from the town that harbored him for eighteen years. He gets his big break by obtaining his "golden ticket" a basketball scholarship to St. Augustine. It isn't the largest or most prestigious university but it offers him a chance to never return home. Home, something he really doesn't have. His father is convinced, his basketball dribbling son (along with his three older brothers) will eventually come to his senses and get a "real" job working in the family business. His father almost gets his wish when the demons from Timmy's past resurface at a college party. He thrusts his hand through a plate glass window turning his right hand into a bloody mess costing his team a shot at finally advancing (hopefully) to the final four. The doctors and his coach aren't sure if the wrist will completely heal from all the muscle and tendon damage. Without a 100% healing, Timmy will lose his scholarship and his ticket out of Atlantic City. He will be left to follow in his father's footsteps and never meet his demons head-on. Don't take the next statement as cliche, it isn't and don't think I'm getting all soft and mushy, but the love of a good woman helps Timmy face all of his demons of the past and take on those that are connected too close to home.
The author, Kevin Michael, addresses issues many teenagers of today face all too often; underage drinking, access to hard drugs, cutting, suicide attempts, and family tragedy. This is a very compelling read. The lessons we learn from how Timmy is forced to face his demons can be applied to all us in everyday life.
Readers beware: this book is brutally honest and thought provoking.
Readers beware: this book is brutally honest and thought provoking.
Grit and Basketball
by Paul Bishop
Lost Exit by Kevin Michaels gives us the gritty side of life in Atlantic City superbly portrayed -- call it basketball noir . . .
Great book - a summer on the brink!,
by Scott Johns
An excellent read! "Lost Exit" offers insight into an Atlantic City that the weekend gamblers and tourists don't see, and it captures the nuances, feel, and rhythm of blacktop basketball in a detailed, fast moving style.
But this book is about more than basketball. It is a telling tale about friendship, family, father-son relationships, pain, love, and putting the past behind. The main character, Timmy Davenport, is a talented but flawed college basketball player home in Atlantic City for the summer, trying desperately to reconnect with friends and family while re-building his career and his life. He's got a suicidal streak and a self-destructive past that has taken him years to overcome - there's a dark side to that talent that has kept him on the edge as he tries to stay focused.
Lost Exit is a very well-written novel that grabs your attention and pulls you in from the opening paragraphs. It is the kind of book that will stay with you for a long time. I whole-heartedly recommend it.
But this book is about more than basketball. It is a telling tale about friendship, family, father-son relationships, pain, love, and putting the past behind. The main character, Timmy Davenport, is a talented but flawed college basketball player home in Atlantic City for the summer, trying desperately to reconnect with friends and family while re-building his career and his life. He's got a suicidal streak and a self-destructive past that has taken him years to overcome - there's a dark side to that talent that has kept him on the edge as he tries to stay focused.
Lost Exit is a very well-written novel that grabs your attention and pulls you in from the opening paragraphs. It is the kind of book that will stay with you for a long time. I whole-heartedly recommend it.
Gripping crime drama
by Paul D. Brazill
Two steps forward and one step back. That's life for most of us, if we're lucky.
In Kevin Michaels' brilliant crime drama Lost Exit, young basketball star Timmy Davenport returns home to Atlantaic City to spend a scorching summer trying to move on and escape the grip of the past.
Old friends and rivals, booze and drugs, gangs and casinos, bullets and bodies all act as obstacles in the way of Timmy's chances of growing up.
Lost Exit is a gripping and very moving piece of social realism which will appeal greatly to fans of the television series The Wire.
In Kevin Michaels' brilliant crime drama Lost Exit, young basketball star Timmy Davenport returns home to Atlantaic City to spend a scorching summer trying to move on and escape the grip of the past.
Old friends and rivals, booze and drugs, gangs and casinos, bullets and bodies all act as obstacles in the way of Timmy's chances of growing up.
Lost Exit is a gripping and very moving piece of social realism which will appeal greatly to fans of the television series The Wire.
This Novel Got Game
by Sean Patrick Reardon
I have never been to New Jersey or Atlantic City where "Lost Exit" takes place, but after reading it, I felt like I have been there. The Atlantic City in this novel is far from the one depicted in the MTV show Jersey Shore. The author takes us on a trip inside the belly of the beast with excellent attention to detail and no sugar coating. This is what drew me into the novel. If you took out all the glitz, drug use, and self-indulgence from "Less Than Zero" and replaced it with big time college basketball and all that goes along with it, you'll have a good idea of the themes running throughout the story. The author either played, had insider information, or did some meticulous research on the subject because it is so believable and well written. I think this novel is a must read for anyone into hoops and wants to experience all the highs and lows that go along with it, including the casinos, the mob, and the ruthless, cut-throat games on the playgrounds.
Excerpt From Chasing Empty Pavements:
I
quickly realized this novel was far more than just a sports novel. The backdrop
for the story is set amongst the sports, but it’s just a frame for Timmy and
what’s really going on inside his head. What I loved the most about this novel
is how relatable and true this story could be. I could totally see myself being
friends with a guy like Timmy or at least knowing someone like him. His demons
and issues are not ones that are uncommon. This isn’t a paranormal or fantasy
novel, it’s not a dystopian or post-apocalyptic novel. It’s a contemporary
novel about real life. I love that. Sometimes it’s actually refreshing to read
about characters that go through life experiencing the same things other young
adults go through. I think it’s
important that other “New Adult” age readers realize there are actually novels
out there that are touching on issues and themes in our lives.
Read The entire review here at Chasing Empty Pavements
Buy This Book!
by David Peterson
So here's the story on Lost Exit - it's really good (between a 4 and 5
star kind of rating). It's the kind of book that you can't put down
once you start reading it: it's gripping and edgy and kind of gritty,
but it's a fast read that moves along at a brisk pace. The characters
and dialogue are realistic and believable and the sights and sounds of
Atlantic City are dead on (I was just there a couple of weeks ago and
Kevin Michaels nailed it - I got lost trying to take a shortcut from the
Tropicana to the Borgata and it was like driving through a neighborhood
right out of the pages of Loast Exit).
How can you go wrong with a book that combines college hoops, the violent "under belly" of Atlantic City, basketball tournaments, dead mobsters who turn up in starnge places, and a father-son dynamic that might rip out your heart.
How can you go wrong with a book that combines college hoops, the violent "under belly" of Atlantic City, basketball tournaments, dead mobsters who turn up in starnge places, and a father-son dynamic that might rip out your heart.
This Book Rocks
by Michelle Lee
This is an excellent book.
The story is so well written I was hooked from the beginning. Most of the other reviewers note that it is not a sports book and I feel obliged to say that too (classifying Lost Exit as a sports book may explain why it hasn't found a larger audience yet. This is a book with mainstream appeal). This is really a book about friendship and the loss of youth and the main character's attempts to put the pain and hurt of his past behind him. I don't want to go into too much detail because the book is worth reading yourself and I don't want to take away any of that enjoyment, but Lost Exit is a very well written story of a character who crashed and burned, and is trying to make it all the way back. The main character, Timmy Davenport is strong and likeable, and he is also surrounded by other characters who will make you laugh, cry, wince, and even break your heart.
Atlantic City comes alive in this book, and you see parts of the city that you don't often noticed when you're going to the casinos or the boardwalk. And there are little things that set this book apart, like the books Timmy Davenport has to read to complete a summer class to the mobsters from Philly who lurk in his background to the dead bodies of other gangsters who show up all through the summer. But the heart and soul of Lost Exit is about Timmy's friendships with his pals Sonny and KC, the love he finds with Jen, and the fractured relationship with his father and brothers.
This is an engaging book - the kind you will be thinking about days after you've finished it because you can't get the characters out of your mind.
The story is so well written I was hooked from the beginning. Most of the other reviewers note that it is not a sports book and I feel obliged to say that too (classifying Lost Exit as a sports book may explain why it hasn't found a larger audience yet. This is a book with mainstream appeal). This is really a book about friendship and the loss of youth and the main character's attempts to put the pain and hurt of his past behind him. I don't want to go into too much detail because the book is worth reading yourself and I don't want to take away any of that enjoyment, but Lost Exit is a very well written story of a character who crashed and burned, and is trying to make it all the way back. The main character, Timmy Davenport is strong and likeable, and he is also surrounded by other characters who will make you laugh, cry, wince, and even break your heart.
Atlantic City comes alive in this book, and you see parts of the city that you don't often noticed when you're going to the casinos or the boardwalk. And there are little things that set this book apart, like the books Timmy Davenport has to read to complete a summer class to the mobsters from Philly who lurk in his background to the dead bodies of other gangsters who show up all through the summer. But the heart and soul of Lost Exit is about Timmy's friendships with his pals Sonny and KC, the love he finds with Jen, and the fractured relationship with his father and brothers.
This is an engaging book - the kind you will be thinking about days after you've finished it because you can't get the characters out of your mind.
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