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Michael DeVault

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The Patriot Joe Morton: A Novel Kindle Edition

by Michael DeVault (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.0 55 ratings

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This small Texas town will never be the same again.

When the good people of Cranston learn a hometown boy has been killed in Iraq, they begin preparing a memorial for their fallen hero.

But nobody thinks to ask the boy’s father, Joe Morton, if such a service is wanted - or welcome. Crippled by grief, Joe goes along with the plans of the townsfolk until he can bear no more. On the Fourth of July, he tells them just how he feels.

Joe's act of independence has unexpected consequences. The residents - and Joe himself - are completely unprepared for what happens next: change and the outside world come to Cranston.

First runner-up, 2010 Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society Gold Medal

Praise from readers:

★★★★★ - "A story about dreams, regrets, and second chances. Excellent."

★★★★★ - "This book will change the way you look at the world."

★★★★★ - "Every once in a while you come across a story that needs to be read for the sake of reading, and not because you are wanting to escape. The Patriot Joe Morton is that story."

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00KMQDUI6
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Creativia; 2nd edition (May 28, 2014)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 28, 2014
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3217 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 227 pages

Customer Reviews:
4.0 55 ratings

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About the author

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Michael DeVault

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Michael DeVault was born in Mississippi and grew up in Louisiana and Arkansas, which gave him a strong grounding in the rich musical and literary traditions of the South. He worked as a journalist for more than twelve years, covering politics and the arts for local and regional publications while he also worked on his novels. A two-time finalist for the Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society Gold Medal (Novel-in-Progress, 2002, Anything But Ordinary; Novella, 2008, The Patriot Joe Morton), Michael's fiction draws on his youth to weave tapestries of intensely believable characters, finely honed plots, and imagery and symbolism inspired by the great southern writers, all wrapped into a package by clean, sharp prose. Michael received an MFA in Creative Writing from Lindenwood University in 2013, and when he's not writing, he teaches college writing and English.

Find him online at: www.michaeldevault.com.

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4 out of 5

55 global ratings

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Mountain Home

What a surprise

Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2017

Verified Purchase

Take the time to work through this amazing book for the time is well spent. You will wind up somewhere unexpected but I guarantee you it is worth it. I will be thinking about things for a long time. My congratulations to the author for such a thought provoking story.

Helpful

Berk Rourke

Cranston, Texas will never be the same without Joe and Doris.

Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2014

Verified Purchase

I enjoyed this story a great deal though it was a bit slower read than I like, I have to admit. But the characters were vivid, real, small town America, wouldn't make any difference in what state it was set. The return of Joe's son was sad and the response was not only unexpected but it was hilarious and at the same time a little offensive considering the good wishes of the town to Joe and his son. But I think I understood. So it was all good. I loved Doris. She will sit in my memory for a long time as a great character and I am glad she struck out to see what she could in the time she had left. A good read. Well done.

4 people found this helpful

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Amy

Something was missing

Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2017

Verified Purchase

Don't know if it was me or the storyline, but I think I missed something. I felt there were too many questions unanswered and while the book kept my interest, it was confusing at the end. I've read better.

Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2015

Verified Purchase

This story is so well written and characters so true small town ! Hard to put down once I got started.
So recognizable as America and I can only think the author grew up in a similar area and among similar people .

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Susan J. Gainoutdinov

Wonderful

Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2017

Verified Purchase

The death of a young man in Iraq sets off a chain reaction in a small Texas town which opens many eyes to the truly important things in life.

Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2017

Good read

Comings and goings in small town Texas

Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2012

The search for escape has been a theme in literature for centuries. Larry McMurtry evoked the question of to stay or to go in a small sleepy Texas town against the backdrop of escape to adventure of an overseas war in is The Last Picture Show. Now Michael Devault has revisited this landscape with his book The Patriot Joe Morton. This time the story beings with the return from an overseas war. Casey Morton is returning from Iraq to his home town of Cranston as a hero and a casualty of war. Cranston is a typical small American town that hoped for economic boom but found instead stagnation and decline when the planned for highway decided to find a route that bypassed the sleepy town with a small downtown area and social life centered at the Truck Stop Café. There we cross paths with the main players of the story: Joe Morton, waitress Doris Greely, veteran Harlan Cotton, his niece Carly Machen, as well as other townspeople and visitors. The return of Casey Morton quickly turns into huge patriotic display - huge at least for a small Texas town. Joe Morton, Casey's father, pulls back into himself in his grief and reaction to the display led by Harlan Cotton and begins to work on a secret project that he unveils to the shock, horror and awe of the town at the July 4th celebration. Joe, through is actions and fiscal largess impacts the lives of others who are looking to move on and escape after lifetimes of living in Cranston. The thought of leaving though is balanced by the theme of arrival with Vitor Barros and his son, the staunch determination to stay by Harlan and the return of a town legend accompanied by the documentarian Karl Groot. The novel captures the way that our actions can affect others and break us out of our inertia to finally look beyond our small world to find our potential, and how something so familiar can be returned to and seen again through new eyes. The short book weaves an enjoyable story but honestly could have been longer - some of the characters, such as the Vitor Barros, seem to be destined for a larger story than presented and some characters could have been given more of a role, but to the author's credit, each character spring from the page with a distinct life and personality and help make us look at who we are, where we are going, and where we have been.

3 people found this helpful

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