Review by Monique1995 -- The Juicy Fruit Man by LaMar Going

[Monique1995]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Juicy Fruit Man" by LaMar Going.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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The Juicy Fruit Man written by LaMar Going is set in the late seventies. Declan Noakes is a Vietnam veteran who spends his time traveling by train to different places on the Amtrak route. He pays his expenses with the money he makes from selling marijuana that is only grown in Thailand. Declan smuggled the weed into America with help from his cousin, Rachel.

While fighting in the Vietnam War, Declan sustained some terrible injuries and narrowly escaped death. He discovered that the weed can help him fight his PTSD and the monsters that accompany him every day. Word has traveled about the marijuana and now some people would like to have it for themselves to sell and make money. These people will stop at nothing to steal the ton of weed. Rachel and Declan have to fight for their lives from a mob member and corrupt cops. Declan also met a woman that might change his way of living alone with no ending destination.

I struggled a little to get through the first half of the book because it felt like a lot of unnecessary information was shared. The book can do with more excitement at the beginning to get the readers hooked on the story. Later on in the book, the story did pick up a little bit more and the action started to become more thrilling. I will give this book a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. The editing was professionally done and there were no typos that I could see.

I loved reading about the amazing relationship between Declan and Rachel. They worked as a team fighting the criminals and staying alive but in addition, also worked on Rachel`s cattle farm. The book gives you a good idea of how the effects of war could influence an individual and one could understand why drug use is so popular among veterans. The author used language that made it easy to read and gives the reader a beautiful picture.

I will recommend this book to someone that's interested in thrillers but also won`t mind reading some brutal scenes from the war. It might get uncomfortable for some readers to read about certain scenes. There is some flashback from when Declan was in Vietnam and there are horrendous injuries included in these scenes. I won`t recommend this book to unsuitable immature readers or to someone that is squeamish.

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The Juicy Fruit Man
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