McKenna's Path

A Teen's Perilous Journey

By: Kasey Riley

Narrated by: Robin Assouad

Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Suzie McKenna has a desperate need to get away from her mom - and most importantly her mom’s creepy boyfriend. She comes up with the perfect way to escape, taking her beloved mustang mare, Gypsy, with her. She’ll ride to her father’s ranch. She has the knowledge, the maps, and the need, but does she have the ability?

Join Suzie and Gypsy as they make their way from Victor, Idaho, to Dubois, Wyoming. Only the Bridger-Teton National Forest stands between them and the safety of her father.

When Gypsy is found loose and injured, can searchers find Suzie before it's too late?

Suzie's divorced parents, Mike and Sherry McKenna, share a burning need to locate their wayward daughter. Can they stand each other’s company long enough to get the job done? Ride with them as they answer this question and maybe even discover what tore their marriage apart.

©2019 Kasey Riley (P)2019 Kasey Riley

Well Done

How did this happen? I listen to audiobooks all the time; I usually have one in my shirt pocket all day, earbuds in. My wife ran out the door, snatching up her phone as she went. Except it wasn't her phone; it was mine. With MY audiobooks on it! I like history, military, thrillers, techno, sci fi. She likes Romance…ugh. And horse stories…another ugh. I could have downloaded something on her phone, sure, but then she'd come home and want her phone back. I perused the selections available to me at that moment and this cover caught my eye. There's tension in that horse's body, suggesting urgency…suggesting drama. Is he galloping away from something, or toward something?? OK, so I gave it a try. The narrator reads with emphasis and I found myself getting invested in the story. When the horse was found, hurt and riderless, I was hooked. A writer is skilled when he or she can encourage the reader to keep going, to want to know "what happens," and Kasey Riley is good at her craft. I'm not into teenage angst so I would never have willingly chosen YA as a genre, but Ms. Riley knows horses, she understands family dynamics, her description of the rugged terrain was accurate and I felt bad for the kid. I was out there with young Suzie, unhappy, hurt, alone, cold, hungry and scared, and just as relieved as she was when the book had a happy ending. I'm giving it five stars because it's a good little story and I have to admit I enjoyed it.

THE PERFECT GIFT FOR A TEENAGE GIRL

Most teenage girls love horses so what could be better than a story set on horseback? This story is about a young girl who sets out alone on horseback on a perilous journey through formidable terrain. Suzie McKenna was upset when she left her mother's house in Idaho and attempted to ride through the mountains to her father in the neighboring state of Wyoming; things get much worse halfway through an already long and arduous journey when her mare has a fall and Suzie is hurt. Worse, there's a storm closing in as searchers try desperately to reach her. This YA author knows her way around a horse and the details are clearly authentic....young adults will gobble it up. Kasey Riley has a gift for 'orienteering' and describes the situation and the terrain so accurately, the reader is out there with Suzie and just as terrified! The story delves into family dynamics and addresses issues many teens struggle with, serving as a cautionary tale for Suzie's mother as well as the girl herself. The cover is dramatic and appealing. Christmas is coming, so look no further for the perfect gift for the teen on your list.