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Ray Rhamey
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The Summer Boy Kindle Edition

by Ray Rhamey (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 11 ratings
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The air was as still as it was hot—only the whir of a grasshopper’s flight troubled the quiet. Jesse felt like an overcooked chicken, his meat darn near ready to fall off his bones. Mouth so dry he didn’t have enough spit left to swallow, Jesse croaked, “That guy tryin’ to kill us?”

Turns out the answer is “not yet.” A ranch hand is murdered and bad things start happening to Jesse, just an average kid working on a ranch the summer of 1958.

And then there‘s Lola . . . the boss’s daughter is a firecracker of a girl, and her bold ways send death their way. It will take all of their heart and courage to survive.

What readers say:

“The Summer Boy brought back memories of first kisses and fogged car windows.”

“The story is alive. I kept reading even when my eyes were closing at night.”

“Wow . . . the tension never ended and it seemed to come from all directions. I spent the day reading as I couldn't stop.”

In this coming-of-age story laced with love and murder, a boy and girl who will warm your heart struggle with death and passion in ways that transform him into a young man and launch her toward womanhood.
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  1. Print length
    273 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    November 1, 2011
  5. File size
    934 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Rhamey does a nice job of capturing the uncertainties and challenges of adolescence in this whodunit set in 1958 Texas. High school student Jesse Carver is working as a hand on the Box 8, a cattle ranch for the summer, along with his best friend, Dudley Miller, whose mother landed them the positions. The work, which includes a lot of digging holes, is less exciting than he imagined, and Buddy, the foreman, is a hard and sadistic taskmaster, but there's one compensation: the rancher's daughter, Lola Braun, who's about 16, is "already the kind of girl a boy undressed with his eyes." Lola's physical attributes have also attracted the attention of the two Mexicans working at the Box 8, and violence ensues, eventually culminating in a murder by pitchfork. Jesse, who's scarred by the circumstances of his father's untimely death, makes a sympathetic lead, and Rhamey keeps the surprises coming. Fans of romantic thrillers will find a lot to like. (Publishers Weekly/BookLife)

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B006CWIZZ2
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Flogging the Quill LLC (November 1, 2011)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 1, 2011
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 934 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 273 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 11 ratings

About the author

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Ray Rhamey

Ray Rhamey

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Ray Rhamey was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. Leaving graduate school (psychology) at the University of Texas/Austin for the working world, he toiled in advertising/marketing communications for several decades, creating for national advertising clients and universities. Then he spent a few years working on screenwriting in Hollywood. Then he took up editing and the writing of his blog on the craft of storytelling, "Flogging the Quill" (floggingthequill.com).

Now living in Oregon and focused full-time on book editing and book design (crrreative.com) plus writing (rayrhamey.com), Ray has published five books--nonfiction on writing, "Mastering the Craft of Compelling Storytelling," and four novels: "The Summer Boy, a novel of Texas;" "Gundown," a speculative political thriller; "Hiding Magic," contemporary fantasy; and "The Vampire Kitty-cat Chronicles," a humorous spoof of the vampire myth as told by a cat.

Ray has always been drawn to creative work, starting with a longtime desire to be a cartoonist and artist. He has done some cartooning, and now applies his visual talents to book cover and interior design, although he sees a graphic novel in his future. He loves mentoring other writers and does this by presenting workshops at writers' conferences.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
11 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Michael J. Krentz
4.0 out of 5 stars I Kept Turning the Page
Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2012
Verified Purchase
An entertaining page-turner about teenagers coming of age in Texas. Two Dallas city boys -- rancher wannabes -- hire on as summer help on a ranch near Kerrville in the hill country. As they learn the ranching trade and lifestyle, they also face the challenges of emerging manhood, young love, sexual discovery, a dysfunctional family, and, well, a murder or two. The author adroitly portrays the adolescent awkwardness and angst of his protagonist, Jesse, and also his grit and courage. Jesse begins the summer as a naive boy, but arcs into a young man by August. His love interest, Lola, compels as a sensual teenager challenged by her own emerging sexuality, her abusive mother, and her lecherous uncle. She also grows through the summer,as her competitive spirit spurs her to become an independent young adult in spite of her over-controlling mother.

I read this book because I enjoy Mr. Rhamey's writing blog, "Flogging the Quill," in which he advocates for high tension, precise writing, and compelling action to motivate the reader to turn the page. "The Summer Boy" does exactly that. I couldn't stop turning the pages until the end.
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Cynthia Cloughly
4.0 out of 5 stars Lots of action and plot twists with 1950s ranch life honestly portrayed, both the beautiful and ugly
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2020
Verified Purchase
Having lived in rural Oklahoma, and married to someone who was raised on an Oklahoma farm in the 1950s, the Texas ranch where this thriller takes place was very familiar to me. The descriptions were vivid and engaged all the senses, and the characters were well-drawn. The rodeo description was spot-on, and the climax was right out of a modern action movie. A real page-turner.
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C. Norbury
4.0 out of 5 stars A pleasant, enjoyable surprise
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2017
A darn good read. Didn't know what to expect, genre-wise, but was drawn into the story quickly. At first, I thought it was a middle-grade story, but then the language, violence, and sexual situations kicked it up to a young adult level, even though the main young characters were only 16 yrs old.

Nevertheless, a good story is a good story. Pacing was good, story questions abounded, tension was always present, ebbing and flowing and keeping the reader off guard. There were some nice plot twists, even though I suspected who the killer was at about the 75% mark.

Dialogue was realistic for a novel set in Texas in the 50s (? ... or 60s). The POV switching from Jesse to Lola showed me that Mr. Rhamey captured the confused and frustrating feelings of teenagers in love pretty well. I certainly empathized with Jesse.

This was a pleasant reading surprise and I recommend this book to anyone who likes a touching, intense story about teen romance and coming of age.
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TPB
4.0 out of 5 stars Clear, precise writing, engaging story
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2020
Ray brings his characters to life with clear, precise writing and attention to detail. The tension begin on page one and escalates, breathlessly, until the final, deadly confrontation. There are no slow parts, no boring middle, just a steady ratcheting of the stakes for these believable, likeable characters.
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reader
4.0 out of 5 stars Great summer story
Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2012
I read this book in two days. I had to find out who the murderer was, how the young lovers survived, and how the various characters were going to deal with all the triumphs and adversities of their summer. It's a tale of friendship(the long-lasting kind), love, hatred, deceit - all told through the lens of a long, hot Texas summer. I felt like I was right there with them, sweat and all, while trying to do the right thing and grow up all at the same time. Highly recommend it for a good summer read, or a mid-winter read if you need the reminder of summertime!
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liketoread
5.0 out of 5 stars Lost sleep reading to the end!
Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2012
I've read several of Rhamey's books, and one thing I love about them is his genre-bending style. In "Summer Boy" he gives us a murder mystery, a teen romance, and a coming-of-age story, all woven together with effortless skill. Rhamey has created a believable cast of characters--some heroic, some disturbed--whom readers come to really care about, plot twists rich with lethal pitch forks and black widows, and all of it supported by a back-drop of real-life Texas ranch experience--like how to prepare cactus for cow consumption during dry spells.

The main character Jesse's crush on Lola brought back my own teenage longings--minus the murder--without being sappy. A pleasant surprise was that Jesse's evolution over the course of the novel emerged not only from his encounter with first love and ranch life, but also from his challenging relationship to the jealous and dangerous ranch foreman, Buddy.

I read Rhamey's novels quickly, shaving off sleep time in order to finish them. "Summer Boy" was no exception. Highly recommended!
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Tony DiMeo
5.0 out of 5 stars Ray Rhamey does it again!
Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2012
A warm and engrossing tale of growing up--Texas style. You'll find yourself rifling through the pages, as you sweat through the oppressive Texas heat along with Jesse, a young man struggling to survive his summer job as a newly hired ranchhand in 1950's Texas.

Jesse's journey to discover who he is as a man, and find his place in the world, is complicated by his budding relationship with a young woman, Lola, who he can't keep his eyes off of, a dangerous loose cannon of a co-worker, Buddy, who is bent on forcing Jesse to leave the ranch by any means necessary, Lola's cruel, controlling mother, who disapproves of her daughter's relationship with Jesse and a murder that looms large over everything that happens that summer at the ranch.

This novel will tug on your heartstrings. Great fun and powerfully written. Don't miss out.
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Travel Enthusiast
5.0 out of 5 stars Coming of Age in Texas
Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2012
Sixteen-year-old Jesse takes a summer job on a Texas ranch, and encounters a series of tests and challenges that a kid without his guts and gumption would never survive. From water mocassins to flame throwers, from the rancher's knock-out daughter Lola to her malevolent witch of a mother, from one dead body to another, Jesse must navigate the perils like a modern, younger Odysseus. There is mythic quality to this initiation journey. At the same time the book is so rich in realistic detail that you realize by the end that you've learned a great deal about ranch life in the hinterlands. I was fascinated throughout.
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Top reviews from other countries

cajetane
4.0 out of 5 stars This feels like old-style story telling to me
Reviewed in Australia on March 16, 2016
Verified Purchase
This feels like old-style story telling to me, in the best way. No frills, no fuss - just lean, spare writing that paints a clear, strong picture of a time and a place. Ray Rhamey's characters come alive on the page and the story draws you in with its many facets - romance, murder, philosophy. A nice way to spend an afternoon.
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