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Thursday, August 7, 2014

Down the Shore by Stan Parish 276 pages



Down The Shore is an entertaining look at the world of the rich, both the nouveau riche and the inherited wealthy.  I really liked the characters even though they are almost all narcissistic to a fault and they all engage in casual sex, drug use, bouts of drunkenness and poor life choices.  After all, however, they are 18 years old and is that not the time of life when engaging in those activities is expected of a person?

Tom Alison is a scholarship student at an expensive prep school back east and is busted for selling drugs.  He chooses to spend a year in Scotland at St. Andrews University, where Americans go to hide out and get a second chance.  In the process he becomes friends with Clare Savage, the son of a financier who is on the run, internationally, for absconding with funds and ruining the lives of investors.  Clare’s dad is a wanted man.

In addition to the friends Tom makes in Scotland, he spends time with his childhood friends on the Jersey shore.  They eventually join him in Scotland for a short time and all his acquaintances intermingle, with interesting results.


I really liked this book and would recommend it.  I was reminded of Nick Carraway and his fascination with Gatsby and his lifestyle. Tom Alison, however, seems less needy than Nick, and more capable of reading people.  I look forward to more books by Stan Parish.

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