Roll Me Away – Alan N. Webber

Archway Publishing, 320 pages, (paperback) $24.99, 978-1-6657-4976-3

(Reviewed: October 2024)

Roll Me Away, the second in a series about—and by—a veteran trucker, is part detective story, part romance, and part travelogue, seasoned with insights about the trucking industry from an author grounded in the trade.

The opening imagery and language quickly set the tone (and ominous direction) of the story and its protagonist, Tim Harrison: “Dusk descended on the Arizona skyline…It seemed the sun was slurping up the highway like spaghetti. As the black eighteen-wheeled Peterbilt semi hurtled westward, would it, too, find itself swallowed up?”

After dispatching backstory from his prior book, author Alan N. Webber sends Harrison—and hisappealing dog Rory—on an adventure that begins as a search for the killer of a fellow trucker but turns into a battle for his own life. Along the way, Harrison becomes romantically involved and delves into his personal demons while relishing the natural beauty along his southwestern route.

The story pauses often to describe these scenic and historic venues; although interesting, these scenes don’t move the plot forward and would be more appropriate in a nonfiction travel book.

The language is serviceable but uninspired, and the writing suffers from frequent over-explaining (“After navigating the one-way frontage road system that advances parallel to bothsides of Interstate 10 for miles through the outskirts of El Paso…”). Additionally, stereotypical character tropes, including hotheaded bad guys and fantasy women who happily prepare meals for their men before or after sex that they’ve begged for.

Still, fans of Bob Segar and others of his ilk will enjoy the book’s use of song titles as chapter headings and other sly references and the overall storyline is compelling enough to hold the reader’s interest. Meanwhile, an exciting ending and quick tie-up of loose ends make for a satisfying, if sometimes bumpy, ride.

Also available in hardcover, ebook and audio book.