2 0 2 2 TO P N O TA B L E I N D I E S NOTABLE
N O TA B L E
THE LAST PROFESSIONAL by Ed Davis
THE LONG ROAD HOME by Ella Anderson
A hobo, a wanderer, a madman; three characters hurtling toward a heart-wrenching climax where their way of life, and their lives, hang in the balance.
The Long Road Home is a heartbreaking biographical account by Ella Anderson, whose brother lost his life under mysterious circumstances. Growing up in an unstable home with a drunk, PTSD-ridden father and a neglectful mother, Ella and her siblings had to learn to care for themselves. After a period of living in an orphanage, Ella gradually starts to hold her own. But her younger brother, Robby, becomes increasingly discontent, leading him to seek fulfillment through other vices. As the years go by, Robby transforms from someone indulging in petty crimes to a habitual criminal in and out of jail. Alongside his drug habits, his prison stints get him involved with dangerous members of the Mexican cartel, who he struggles to shrug off his entire life.
These freights let you ride, they don't let you go! Lynden Hoover, a young man on the brink of a new beginning, cannot embrace it without confronting the traumas of his past. Help comes from The Duke, an old loner who calls America' s landscape his home. He clings to an honor code, but in fleeing from Short Arm, his merciless enemy, his code is being tested. The Duke mentors Lynden, enlisting old traveling friends to keep himself and his apprentice just ahead of Short Arm' s relentless pursuit. When two of those friends are murdered, the stakes become life or death. Bonds are formed, secrets exposed, sacrifices made, trusts betrayed; all against a breathtaking American landscape of promise and peril. Three unforgettable characters, hurtling toward a spellbinding climax where pasts and futures collide, and lives hang in the balance. 122
DECEMBER / JANUARY 2023
A tragic tale of systematic racism, a dysfunctional judicial system, bad parenting, and corrupt law enforcement, The Long Road Home is a relevant and insightful look at one of the gross injustices of recent years.