Review: The last road trip

The Last Road trip

by Gareth Crocker (Penguin, R230)

Probably because he was part of our last Crime Writers lunch, I assumed I was going to read a thriller. I hadn’t got round to reading any of this local writer’s books and wanted to know how our own are faring in this tough world.

Great was my surprise and delight to find this one wasn’t a thriller or what I was expecting. It’s about people in the last years of their lives and how they deal with it.

That doesn’t sound promising, does it? But I was surprised to fall into a sentimental journey especially made for those of a certain age. Unless you have seen someone travel that road or are ascending it yourself, you will probably find fault with Crocker’s story.

But what he has done is to give an alternative, and a handsome one at that, for those who think growing old is all about shutting down – your home as much as yourself. If you have lived your life to the fullest and have been quite an adventurous spirit up to now, there’s no reason to let any of that go.

Crocker finds four lonely souls who have to make decisions about specific moments in their lives which they still have to come to terms with.

Without telling one another, they get into a car to go on a trip and, along the way, they hope to simplify their lives.

They need to let go, and probably should have a long time ago, but it’s never too late and what they were holding on to, says the author, will set them free.

Life’s too short, as many might have noticed, so get on with it. Live in the moment and grab all the opportunities that come your way. It’s time to make the best of it all the time.

It’s incredibly sentimental, but life isn’t always about following the road of ups and downs. Sometimes it works out in a way we would all wish for. This is one of those times for all of these lonely souls.