This Is Not Where It Ends: A Novel

by Richard Alan Carter

Clara Kozlowski is stuck, confused, and afraid that somehow she has wasted her life. After she overcomes her fears that she is undeserving of another chance, Clara declares emotional bankruptcy, leaves the middle-class nonsense behind, and sets out to follow up on the life she surrendered long ago. Nearly two days later, Clara arrives at her sister's house, grappling with both heartfelt and reckless decisions that lead her to the railroad tracks in the middle of the night. Officer Nelson Little has already had quite a week when he watches a lone woman from afar as she stands in the street at two in the morning watching a train pass. When their paths finally cross a short time later, Clara is contemplating whether it is too late to build a future that may not even exist for her while Officer Little is attempting to come to grips with his unfulfilled dreams. Finally when Clara decides all life is worth the fight, she heads toward the sea with her sister and Officer Little where everything becomes clear under an ever-changing sky. In this poignant tale, a woman races against time as she catapults herself into an uncertain future and seeks a second chance at the life within her life.

212 pages, Paperback

First published August 6, 2015

About the author

The son of an electrical-plant worker and a farm girl, Richard Alan Carter was born in the working-class suburbs outside of Washington DC. Educated in the public school system, he went on to receive a degree in technical writing from Northern Virginia Community College. During this time he worked a variety of jobs: everything from cutting stone in a quarry, to driving for a state-run chain-gang, to canvassing for a congressional lobbyist organization. After traversing the United States of America, he took off to explore the world and see it for himself (Sydney, Hong Kong, Rio de Janeiro, Dubai, Reykjavik, Grand Cayman, Istanbul, Nairobi, and Krakow among others). For nearly three decades he worked in newspaper publishing. THIS IS NOT WHERE IT ENDS is his debut novel.

Reviews

[Myeui · Rating 5 out of 5]

An intriguing story.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

"This is Not Where it Ends", is listed as the author's debut novel. It has a great premise that is filled with interesting ideas, but ultimately didn't end up working for me.

The story begins with Clara Kozlowski, a woman who has just discovered a possible medical situation and begins to panic about her life. Coming to terms with her possibly impending mortality after discovering a lump in her breast, and after her husband's less than caring reaction, Clara ultimately decides to return home. Home, in a small town that she once couldn't wait to leave behind, is her sister, Mara, and Officer Nelson Little who are also grappling with fears that they may be wasting their lives as well.

While this story has really great ideas (the trip to the Casino with the seniors home, the road trip to the beach), it never really focuses itself. I never really felt Clara's panic over her possible diagnosis and the relationship between the two sisters didn't feel particularly deep (especially considering Clara never actually tells her sister the reason for her visit, which frustrated me throughout). As well, while Clara's husband wasn't exactly supportive, he hardly gave her a reason to run away; as well, the complete abandonment of her son was really never explained. As readers, we are told that the relationship between Clara and her husband/Clara and her son has disintegrated, without any further explanation or emotion. Overall, I think this book had a lot of great ideas but never quite lived up to it's potential.

With that being said, there were two parts of this book that I did enjoy: the imagery with the hawk and Clara finally setting it free and Officer Nelson's final triumph and recognition for his service were well done.

- I received this book via a Goodreads giveaway; thank you to the author/publisher for providing me with a copy.

[Cathy Broome · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book from a giveaway here on Goodreads. First time winning anything. :) This was an easy to read book that made me stop and think about my own life. I enjoyed the characters and was disappointed when the book ended that I didn't know how each person was going to take what they discovered about themselves and their lives and go forward.

[Camille]

I'm not rating this because I only read the sample. This isn't in any drama that appeals to me so I have no idea why I even bothered. It was not for me but I hear it has a decent ending?