VBT and Giveaway: As Good As Can Be by William A Glass

As Good As Can Be

by William A. Glass

 

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GENRE:   Coming of Age/Historical Fiction

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BLURB:

Dave Knight is a wayward child growing up in a military family during the 1950s. His older sister wants to kill him but settles for regularly beating him up. Other siblings join in the mayhem while their alcoholic father contributes to the chaos with his unique approach to parenting.
As the Knight family moves from one army base to the next, Dave develops a give-a-damn attitude that often leads to trouble. In high school, he joins other delinquents in a series of escapades, some dangerous, others funny, and a few that would be worthy of jail time should they ever be caught.

After barely graduating, Dave is drafted into the army and sent to guard a nuclear weapons depot in Korea. There, he gets into trouble with his sergeant and tries to avoid dishonorable discharge.

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EXCERPT: 

Two rocking chairs are arranged in front of the fireplace. On the mantle is a signed photograph of General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Mr. Lawson takes the picture down and shows it to Dave. “My pappy rode with Forrest,” the old man says. “He killed a lot of Yankees, you know, in the war.” Mr. Lawson looks at Dave expectantly but is disappointed by the uncomprehending expression on the child’s face. Carefully he places his prized possession back over the fireplace. 

Dave and Melissa return to Gram’s house in time for lunch. After eating, the Knight children have another quiet time. Then Ethel comes up with an idea. “Let’s take a ride out to the river,” she suggests.

“What for?” Knight asks.

“I want to see if the rain the other day caused it to rise.”

“Who cares?”

“Come on, it’s something to do,” Bobbie says impatiently.

The family piles into the Plymouth and rides a short distance to where the Trinity River flows. Knight parks on the shoulder of the highway, and they all go onto the bridge to peer at the muddy water. It’s an evil-looking stream, full of snags and home to alligators, cottonmouths, gars, and snapping turtles. No one in their right mind would go swimming in the Trinity, so all the natives can do is look, check the water level, or maybe drop a line in to see what manner of creature takes the bait. “Can we go now?” Marie asks.

“Hush. Gram wants to look,” Bobbie says.

“At what?” Dan asks.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Bill is a retired business executive now living in South Carolina with his wife, Bettina.  She teaches high school German while Bill coaches soccer at a small college.  Their three sons, Alex, Robert, and Gordon, have all graduated from college and moved away to pursue careers. 

For recreation, Bettina and Bill enjoy hiking and camping out.  Usually, they take their dog, Scout, along.  When the weather permits, Bill commutes to work on his motorcycle. 

https://williamaglass.com/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20170818.William_A_Glass

 

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/As-Good-Can-Be-ebook/dp/B086MB11FZ/

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GIVEAWAY:

William A. Glass will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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October 26: Rogue's Angels
October 27: Fabulous and Brunette
October 28: All the Ups and Downs
October 29: Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews
October 30: Novels Alive
November 2: Readeropolis 
November 3: Andi's Book Reviews 
November 4: Straight From the Library 
November 5: Locks, Hooks and Books 
November 6: Hope. Dreams. Life... Love 
November 9: Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!  
November 10: Our Town Book Reviews  November 11: Jazzy Book Reviews 
November 12: Readers Roost 
November 13: Welcome to My World of Dreams
November 16: Unabridged Andra's 
November 17: Gimme The Scoop Reviews 
November 18: Ascroft, eh?  
November 19: Hurn Publications 
November 20: Long and Short Reviews 

My Review

As Good As Can Be was a pretty good debut by William A. Glass. I was intrigued reading about Dave’s life. I enjoyed watching him grow throughout the book and learning how he grew up in the military life during the 1960s. It was quite the journey and adventure. To me, it felt like I was reading a memoir instead of a fictionalized account. The author definitely knew how to draw in the reader. 

I am giving As Good As Can Be four and a half stars. I would recommend it for readers who enjoy Military Historical Fiction. 

I received this book from the publisher. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.

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