Forty Miles an Hour, a Debut Novel
Nine months after his father’s sudden death, and following months of reckless living, Donal McCaslin, an impulsive risk taker, sometimes pool hustler, and veteran of the quick exit, has just been dumped by his girlfriend, Katie, and kicked out of college in his final semester.
He’s afraid to go home, however, because going home means dealing with his mother—who prays to saints to find lost car keys, worries about the salvation of Donal’s soul, and gets into endless imbroglios with the neighbors and the town zoning board—and with his schizophrenic older brother who lives in a mental institution and sends him weekly letters that include forged checks for millions of dollars, which he hopes will help Donal break him out and bring him home to live again like when they were kids.
So, to avoid going home to face responsibility, and on the heels of a pool game gone terribly wrong, Donal flees Vermont for Rhode Island to win Katie back and put his life in order. He gets a job working for Norman, a nutty, semi-retired builder, who wants to do “one great thing” before he retires – build a retirement center that he won’t be afraid to move into one day. Donal learns through Norman the value of relationships, trust, and integrity. But Norman’s big plans soon get them tangled up with the mob. This sets Donal on a journey through construction sites, pool halls, and the greyhound tracks, trying to outwit the mafia, win back his girlfriend, salvage his sanity, and—maybe—face life as a grownup.