“He heard Jasper Fisher’s pickup before he saw it, the pinging of gravel spun up into wheel wells, the dusky growl of a muffler riven by holes. Thomas sighed and got to his feet. Jasper threw open the door, his bony face a mask of fear. Dirt poor, seventeen years old, the boy grazed a handful of sickly dairy goats on a ten-acre farmstead of thistle and stunted jack pine with his mother, Rachel.”
That’s a passage from Ron Rindo’s novel Life, & Death, & Giants. In the back of Jasper’s truck is his mother Rachel, struggling to give birth to her second illegitimate child. Raised Amish, she won’t allow Jasper to take her to an English hospital, so he brings her to Thomas, the local vet.
Rachel dies giving birth to an unusually large son, Gabriel. Gabriel is cared for by his brother until Jasper commits suicide and then Gabriel goes to live with his grandparents. By age 17, Gabriel is eight feet tall and recruited to play high school and then college football until he is injured.
Each chapter is written in the voice of a specific character: Hannah, Gabriel’s Amish grandmother; Billy Walton, the local bar owner; Thomas, the vet; and Trey Beathard, the high school football coach.
As the book jacket says, “Threaded through with the poems of Emily Dickinson, (this book) weaves together an unforgettable story of faith, family, buried secrets, and everyday miracles." This is a cleverly written novel that will also reveal a little something about the Amish way of life.
If you’re looking for a story with intriguing characters, then you must read Life, & Death, & Giants by Ron Rindo.
