Portland Bound by James R Lawrence

  Compelling, Intriguing Powerful

Genres: Action and Adventure/Humour/Family Drama

Portland Bound by James R. Lawrence

Charles, Charlie, Chuck - no wonder he was at odds with life, who he really was, and what he really wanted. Over the course of his relatively short life, he had been influenced by three very different women, all of whom had expected different thing from him, two of whom he had not been able to move past, mentally anyway. The third is his current girlfriend, Mandy, he feels that the they are, in many ways compatible, but he still struggled with one vital element, trust. Estranged from his family for many years, he has no wish to return to that place, or see those people again......however, sometimes life doesn't give you that choice, and when his mother comes knocking on his apartment door, along with an old flame in tow, and she hands him not one, but two moral dilemmas, he is confronted with both the past and the present, and whether to choose self preservation over perseverance, and ultimately self sacrifice, and do what many others attempt to convince him is the right thing....

I read a couple snippets of review and had seen that at least one other person I know was reading 'Portland Bound', plus I'd read some of the blurb and was intrigued by the unusual and original narrative. As soon as I had the opportunity, I wanted to download this and read it, for I knew that this was going to be a book that I would enjoy.

James has created four diverse and interesting characters. All three women have a different perspective on the central character, as they have all played a part in his life at different times. His mother and Mandy are both strong, forthright women, perhaps more alike than they would care to acknowledge. With the exception of one thing. His mother has one goal to achieve, and will stop at nothing to get it, even at the expense of her first born. Mandy is frustrated that Chuck cannot see that there is something not right, and is prepared to safeguard the future of her relationship and defend the man she loves. Meanwhile, Erin is doing a convincing job of playing devil's advocate. However, I felt that as Erin manipulated Charlie during their earlier relationship, she could probably do it again, and so we weary of her from quite early on.

I started to get my suspicions about the, quite frankly, spectacular plot twist , when they are accompanied by random strangers at various parts of their travels. I still couldn't quite put the two events together, thinking that maybe they were the same person, until I realised that Charlie would probably have spotted that!

Erin's reluctance to wear the necklace or to take things a stage further, until Charlie's devastation over his mother's unexpected and long awaited declaration, I thought was odd considering she had seemed quite the 'good time gal' once away at college, but once the twist was revealed, it all made perfect sense.

My favourite characters were Chuck and Mandy. It was clear from their time together, they had a deep respect and affection for one another. Mandy's outspoken, expressive sassiness, and particularly being in a situation where she had strong competition for Chuck's attention, enabled her to be written as a deeply impassioned individual, for which I admired and applauded her. I felt that our male protagonist, despite having been strong enough to distance himself, from those who had disrespected him, once, was obviously a person who is easily influenced once he is around those same people....and although he is being pressured to do 'the right thing I had to wonder, at what cost?

It is well worth devoting the time to this absorbing, impressively in-depth novel, with it's expressive dialogue, at times humorous. Characters so authentic that they jumped off the page, a full-bodied and detailed plot, together with a heart-breaking and mind blowing conclusion. Having read this on Kindle, I have just purchased it in paperback, as this is a story that I will want to read again, and encourage others to read. Thank you James