Randall DeVallance, 2023
What would it take for you to discover your true potential? Do you have the guts to go for it? Do you need to be thrown into a position of power to show that you’ve got what it takes? Or does lightning have to strike?
You might want to ask Burt Leathers, the oddly magnetic CEO of True North, LLC, or Sal Slocum, his reluctant replacement, what it takes to find your – well, your True North. Both have experienced instant transformation through no will of their own, setting them on journeys that end at their beginning.
Randall DeVallance’s well-crafted story shoots like an arrow – or maybe a boomerang; it’s linear, succinct, and funny. There’s just enough character development to move the action forward, and the plot, while improbable, does not disappoint. The pacing is perfect and the dialogue is lean and funny, as is the rest of the prose.
In any other novel one might want to see at least one woman in something other than a supporting role, but this story feels vintage. If women had agency, the slight sense of unreality would disappear and the story would lose its edge.
Read the book. It’ll be effortless, and you’ll enjoy the ride.