Will Leitch

Daniel is a twenty-something guy living in a southern college town and working at-home for a regional airline’s customer service department. He only has a couple of friends and doesn’t get out too much, with the exception of tailgating on football game days. Overall, though, he considers himself a lucky guy, despite the fact that he has a degenerative and eventually fatal disease that has left him wheelchair-ridden, Stephen Hawking style. Then one day he sees a college student accept a ride from some dude in cowboy boots and a ballcap for a defunct team, and when she is reported missing, he’s pretty sure he was the last person to see her, except for her kidnapper, of course. But what, exactly, can he do about it? Honestly, more than you’d think.

This Rear Window-esque novel is like a fun, slightly wild ride on a motorized wheelchair (and I’m convinced Daniel would happily take readers on such a ride if requests were made). The mystery itself isn’t anything earthshattering and there are no big or shocking twists, which threw me off a bit, if I’m honest. But Daniel himself, and the more-than-half of the book devoted to his life story, more than make up for whatever the actual plot lacks. He's a fantastically created character, who rings 1000% true, and he’s one that you’ll want to be friends with for life.… (more)