Racing the Rain

A Novel

By: John L. Parker Jr.

Narrated by: Jim Meskimen

From the author of the New York Times best seller Once a Runner - "the best novel ever written about running" (Runner's World) - comes that novel's prequel, the story of a world-class athlete coming of age in the 1950s and '60s on Florida's Gold Coast.

Quenton Cassidy's first foot races are with nature itself: the summer storms that sweep through his subtropical neighborhood. Shirtless, barefoot, and brown as a berry, Cassidy is a skinny, mouthy kid with aspirations to be a great athlete. As he explores his primal surroundings along the Loxahatchee River and the nearby Atlantic Ocean, he is befriended by Trapper Nelson, "the Tarzan of the Loxahatchee", a well-known eccentric who lives off the land.

In junior high school, quite by chance, Cassidy discovers an ability to run long distances, but his real dream is to be a basketball star. Still, Cassidy absorbs Nelson's view of running as a way of relating to and interacting with the natural world. Though he is warned of Nelson's checkered past, Cassidy dismisses the stories as superstitious gossip - until his small town is stunned by the disappearance of a prominent judge and his wife. Cassidy's loyalty to his friend is severely tested just as his opportunity to make his mark as a gifted runner comes to fruition.

John Parker's prequel to the New York Times best seller Once a Runner vividly captures how a runner is formed and the physical endurance, determination, and mind-set he develops on the way to becoming a champion. Racing the Rain is an epic coming-of-age classic about the environments and friendships that shape us all.

©2015 John L. Parker (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

on the level of Once a Runner!

once a runner, and again to Carthage are two of my favorite books. This one fits right in with the first two.

More than a running book

I have about 15 "running" books in my library, this is one of my favorites. It is a mix of coming of age and the discovery of running, it brought back many memories of my own (very different) childhood. It is easy to listen to and well written. This is the third in a series of books by John Parker but it is the first chronologically. It's my favorite of the three, Mr. Parker's writing seems to improve with time. The books were written over a 37 year period and retain an amazing amount of continuity.

What a Read!!

My husband and I loved this book from the opening passage to the end. What a wonderful story teller--we were immediately transported into the lives of these incredible characters. Every defeat, every triumph, and every daily happening became very real.

Loved this book

I’d preface this review by saying it was totally out of my wheelhouse of books but I gave it a try due to the great reviews. I was not disappointed. The narrator was excellent and among the best I’ve heard. The story was solid, the characters likable, and the ending was first rate. I did however get a bit bogged down with all the strategies in the basketball games. Maybe if I’d ever played the game it wouldn’t be so foreign. I highly recommend this book. Now I have to listen to the first two in the series which I didn’t know existed until I looked up the author to see what else he’d written!

A solid prequel

So good. I've read and listened to once a runner and again to Carthage bunches of time and will be doing the same for this one.