Timeless Tale, Wonderfully Told

Every so often you come across a little-known gem of a book, so good you can hardly wait to tell everyone about it. "Run from Diablo" by Richard L. Easley is such a book. Although set in California's juvenile justice system of the 1970's, the story has a timeless feel, quite relevant in the present day. Packed into the book's concise running time of three hours, 38 minutes are over a dozen vivid characters, plenty of tense action, pages of well-written dialogue, and some sharp social commentary. Narrator Christian Prentice seems to have the perfect voice, a wonderful southern cadence to evoke the lead character, Luke Landry, and tell the boy's riveting story. In Landry, we have a good-natured, but tough-minded teenager, falsely accused of wrongdoing and funneled into a system set up to drag him down and crush his spirit. At the youth facility in the mountains where he is sent, we meet a colorful cast of wayward boys -- Slate Baxter, Joseph Striker, Studs Boise, Billy Hendricks, Carl Jackson, among others. We also meet some adult characters we are apt to recognize -- Mr. Godard, the harsh ramrod, Mr. Steele, the earnest teacher, and Mr. Claiborne, the conniving big boss. Throughout, Claiborne's desire to exercise full control over the boys in his remote fiefdom keeps butting up against the boys' long-neglected unmet needs. Inevitably, rules are broken, fights erupt, privileges get withdrawn and punishments are meted out. Landry, who only dreams of working on a ranch and riding horses, struggles to stand up for himself, stay sane, and do the right thing, Easley writes terrific dialogue, through which some astute observations are made -- the behavior of gang members compared to the behavior of wolfpack members, and the Old Testament dictum of "smite your enemy" compared to the New Testament admonition to "turn the other cheek." I liked very much how Carl Jackson's rhyming graduation speech anticipates the coming of rap a generation later. I also liked how the inspection tour, intended by the big boss as a showcase, turns into a reckoning, as Landry reveals the truth about what's been really going on. Every sentence in every one the 15 chapters hits the mark. No word is wasted. As Landry rises up to take control of his fate, and the rousing conclusion unfolds, I found myself cheering him on, and not wanting the story to end. Easley's writing and Prentice's narration seem made for each other . . . a great fit. "Run from Diablo" gets my highest recommendation.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful