Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my candid opinion.

I like this book. I enjoyed this book. I felt compelled to find the resolution to the two stories that were going on. I liked the characters. But, I struggled with the ultimate message of having to give up everthing else in your life for God. That does not match my beliefs. I believe that you reach God by living your everyday life as he would want it.

Having said that, I thought the book very well written, suspenseful, and good to read.

I wanted to like this book. I tried to like this book. There were times I did. Unfortunately, it wasn't what I expected, and it didn't surprise in a way that drew me into the story.

I struggled with the flow of the story. I've read books with flashbacks, moving between the present and someone reflecting on their past and how it has shaped them or using that to unfold a mystery. This time, it was all over the place and I would lose the flow of what was happening each time. Then, all of a sudden the book became an oddly spiritual something that I just couldn't fathom. It wasn't presented in a way I could follow or grasp or become a part of. The train "awakening" moment was beautifully descriptive of what Owen and Micky experienced and I was becoming a part of their lives and their struggle to fall in love despite their social situations and them wanting the acceptance for their relationship until after that train moment happened, then it just simply fell apart for me. There were beautiful quotes I highlighted several times throughout this book, but the story itself I could not become a part of, so even the foreshadowing of ghosts in Yankee stadium and the subsequent things Owen had to deal with with his parents fell short for me. Especially since what actually happened to Micky that then became a part of what happened to Owen at the end of the book, it just didn't make sense for me; it was bizarre for me.

I did even enjoy a lot of the baseball scenes and references, but as a whole this book didn't mesh and in the end left me wanting.

Unfortunately this book just didn’t appeal to me. I’m generally a fan of sports related fiction but, while well written and containing some lovely prose, the storyline and characters seemed somewhat cliché and the characters just didn’t seem real or particularly engaging to me. I don’t like to be negative but I also feel compelled to be honest. That said, this book has received a lot of good reviews so it’s a reminder that every book is not for every person.
Thank you to Net Galley for the advance copy.

Favorite Quotes:

The house looked wrong somehow, on some deeper level. Like sadness had distorted it as despair can a person. It spoke of a life beyond mere want, worse than disease. Shantytown was like a bruise on an apple that reached all the way to the core.

She offered a smile that reminded me of a bright ribbon tied to a broken gift.

The value in spending most of your Sunday morning having to sit still and listen to the most boring person you have ever known go on about your own badness was always lost to me.

A siren called in the distance. Horns blaring. It sounded as though every law enforcement officer in four counties was on its way, even though it was but one old Crown Vic traveling a little over two blocks from the sheriff’s office. Clancy stopped the car at an angle to the sidewalk. He parted the crowd like Moses, calling each man and woman he passed by name.

So much of my childhood was spent in such dreaming. The past was unchangeable, better forgotten, the present often boring toil. Yet my tomorrows shone like lights on some far hill, offering me guidance and direction.

You never know what to do when a parent dies. Doesn’t matter how old you are, you feel four years old again and lost inside some huge department store where bright lights shine in your eyes and everywhere are strangers that look like they’re one bad choice away from grabbing you.

My Review:

This was a challenging read for me for many reasons, and I adored and begrudged it in equal measure. I remain conflicted even now while writing this review and am struggling in how to rate and classify this genre-straddling story as there were interesting and original elements of so many to chose from; Sports, Coming of Age, Small-Town, Southern, Christian, Fantasy, Paranormal, YA, Romance, and Contemporary and Literary Fiction.

The wisdom, dialogue, and inner musings were often comprised of the peculiar and compromised grammar of the Appalachians and required additional thought to fully absorb, however it was more than worth the effort. Having been reared also in the South but further west by overly rigid and strict Bible banging hypocrites who forced me through the church doors every time they opened, I generally eschew Christian religious themes as narrow-mindedness greatly annoys me, and this proved to be more than a bit of a problem for me as I read. However, the unusual twists to this story kept me reading despite my bias as the petty and small-minded tendencies were well affirmed and part of the tale.

There was a highly skilled, well-crafted, and pervasive heaviness or emotive heft to Owen’s narrative that continually squeezed my heart as if his recounting of events was actually a heartfelt confessional of his regrets, anguish, and childhood discomfitures. Mr. Coffey’s unique and cunning writing style was new to me and while I found some of his story threads tediously repetitive, I also found myself frequently struck by hot licks of brilliance, thoughtful and deeply moving insights, and a poignancy that stung my eyes and constricted my throat. There were five pages of favorite passages and saved quotes on my Kindle once I finished. All in all, it was oddly, unevenly, and annoyingly luminous.

This book was not for me. I tired of the back and forth quickly but enjoyed the baseball parts much more than I thought I would.

This is a book about a baseball and young love, and which is more important. Owen Cross has the burden of succeeding in baseball when his father failed, and loving a girl from the wrong side of town. It's a coming of age story, and you hope the main characters have a happy ending.

Another masterpiece by Billy Coffey. I loved this story...from page one until the surprising conclusion. Five Stars!!!

Well, i thought i knew how was this going to end ,but it never did go the way i believed it would.

This was one of the best books I have read in a while. I am sure many people can relate to this tale, especially when having to choose between the two loves in your life. I was very humbled by this author, and I believe I would like to read more from this author. I could see this book becoming another "To Kill A Mockingbird" legend. It was THAT good. Not many books stick with me after I have read them. I believe this one will for a while. Thank you for allowing me to read this.

Batter up! Coffey’s produced another hit that’s sure to be a grand slam!

Owen Cross was brought up to do one thing: play baseball. His father was a promising pitcher that would have made it to the big leagues if he hadn’t blown out his shoulder in college. Instead of facing disappointment in his life, he focused all his ambitions onto his son to make it for both of them. He found work as the school janitor in Camden, Virginia and continued to make his son the best catcher and hitter that the school could produce. Owen also focused on his love of baseball until he met Michaela Dullahan, a young girl from Shantytown. She was poor, abused, lonely, and considered plain white trash. Owen immediately fell in love with her and they quickly formed a bond. He was going to go off to play college ball and she would go with him to save her from a life of despair. Then the night of senior prom changed everything. A stupid idea of some classmate’s decision to play chicken with the train brought forth a supernatural experience to Owen and Michaela that will change them forever and possibly drive them apart.

Of all Coffey’s novels, this one may be the one that speaks the most to me. It reminds me so much of the town that I grew up in and how divided and cliquish it was. Even though I grew up in Texas, the same scenarios took place at high school. My husband also read the book and said it sparked a memory of his from high school as well. There was a girl a couple of years younger than him that was considered white trash who had to walk about three miles to school every day. No one would pick her up along the way, they just passed her by. Than one day, he decided to give her a ride to school, which then turned into most days. They never really talked along the five minute drive, but she always said thank you when they got there. One day while sitting in his car, he overhead a group of kids talking about him, mostly in a negative aspect. Out of nowhere, the girl that he helped stood up for him to the group. All it takes is a little kindness to make a difference.

As always, Coffey’s books deal with the supernatural and with religion. This book once again puts the small town church in the spotlight with its traditions and prejudices that members are often blind to. And it’s not just in small town churches. I’ve seen the same thing happen in many churches where people go to socialize more than get sustenance for their faith. If someone they didn’t like from town were to suddenly show up, would they be able to show kindness? Or try to keep them from coming in? We always hope for the former, but sometimes the latter is true in our hearts.

Being a fan of baseball, I thoroughly enjoyed how Coffey told the story through the innings of a major league baseball game. Alternating between Owen’s present troubles and thinking of his past really kept the story flowing well. I was just enjoying the story and wanted to know the middle to see how things dissolved when I reached the train scene and everything got thrown for a loop in true Coffey fashion. I also thought it was interesting that we jumped out of Mattingly again, except for the championship baseball game, which featured Junior Hewitt who once struck out Chipper Jones in the majors (read There Will be Stars).

All this to say, Coffey is on his game and I recommend this book to supernatural lovers and anyone who loves a good story.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

I was a little surprised at how much baseball was in this book I expected there to be lots
because of the description however I didn't expect there to be as much as they was. I feel
that part of the story got lost the baseball talk and it never really resurfaced. The story was all about a
young boy who loved baseball but also met a young girl and became friends. Everyone was against it because
she was from the wrong side of the tracks but he didn't care and it wasn't long before his feelings for
her turned into something stronger. Years pass and While I enjoyed parts of the book like the main characters
relationships with each other I found other parts hard to grasp and sometimes it felt like
the author was grasping at straws in what they wanted to say. I expected this to be more of a
coming of age story than a sports story. If you like sports books then don't let the description
fool you and this is the one for you.I did find about half way through the story got a little hard to follow so it took some getting used to. However the first half of the book I really enjoyed.

I tried a few pages of this book and just couldn’t get into it.

This was just OK to me. I struggled with how the book was laid out. It just did not flow from past to present and back to past again very well.

My thanks to netgalley and Thomas Nelson for this advanced readers copy.

This is on my planned re-reads because I feel like I stepped into this book at the wrong time. It is something that based on the summary on Amazon I should just absolutely enjoy this.

Good:

You get a feel of the people and consistent feel of the book. It is well written.

Bad:

This took me awhile to get into to. I kept having to go through and re-read the first chapter to try to get my bearings.

I enjoy sport themed stories one of my favorites is about a kid on a wrestling team. But this was hard to get into and feel at home in the story. It was a decent read nonetheless.

Three stars simply because this was either the wrong time or I wasn't the right person for this book.

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read "Steal Away Home" by Billy Coffey. An interesting work of fiction that is different from anything I have previously read. Owen Cross lives a middle class life with his parents and then meets a girl who completely changes his life. Even though they live on the other side of the tracks from each other, Micky and Owen are inseparable despite this. Owen may have been letdown by baseball but his love for Micky is still there after many years. I've never really been into sports so I was a little bored when baseball scenes were being described. I didn't really like the jumping from past to present over and over again without much warning. A good read if you are looking for something different.

Interesting novel that combines the supernatural with hard scrabble reality. I enjoyed the book.

I can’t say I loved this book. It was an ok read but didn’t quite grip me. I think it would appeal to a reader looking for a lazy read.

I am confused about this book. More accurately, I am confused about how I feel about this book. On the face of it we have two story lines; one which details the life of Owen, who was brought up in a small town with his Mother and Father; on the other hand we have a detailed description of a baseball game, with Owen at age 29 a ‘catcher’ trying to live his dream playing in the majors. This structure although sometimes rending the narrative actually served to underscore the duality of Owen’s life; if you like, the before and after. Owen is raised in a middle class family, but barely. His Father is the school caretaker, a man who had dreamt of making it in baseball but due to injury is forever doomed to embarrassment and humiliation. His Mother works in the library. Owen is in love with Micky, a girl from the Shanties and therefore not worthy to mix with her ‘betters’. Owen’s way out of this narrow life is to become a major player in baseball, something that his Father has encouraged and focused upon – if his son is a star then his life is not in vain. Baseball is the vehicle by which Owen (with Micky) can escape this narrow world and be free.

Now, in reality, I shouldn’t like this book. I don’t like sport. I don’t like baseball or more accurately, I don’t really understand it. Strangely, I quite enjoyed the baseball sections. It wasn’t totally foreign to me. OK, yes, towards the end I was skipping slightly more of the section, but in the telling I caught just a sniff of the excitement; the absorption, the passion and the joy and I got it, I really did.

Coffey’s descriptions of Owen and Mickey’s world were positively lyrical. Even in the telling of the horror that is the school lunch room with its unofficial hierarchy separating the haves from the have nots; the golden, chosen ones from those barely existing in the margins, Coffey engaged me with his insight of two young people who just wanted to love each other and escape the rigidness of their surroundings.

Then something happens. Something that changes everything. Not earth-shattering, but it shatters them, and Owen is now faced with a decision. What does Owen love?

I said that I am confused about this book – and I am. Reading my review it sounds like high praise, but it is not actually. What captivated me most was the language, beautiful, evocative language. The story did not compel me, but the language carried me through to the end.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

A novel this unique and crafted with such straightforward yet lyrical prose is difficult to summarize in a way that brings it justice. I'll keep it succinct: this is a story about the human condition, what happens when we love the things of this world that do not love us back, our struggle with the stark reality that a good God allows the hard things to fall on the seemingly undeserved, and ultimately the realization that His grace is scandalous. He offers a love unlike any we might find in this world and I think Owen's character journey in this story is really about how he battles his own motivations and expectations for his future, while wondering people ever really do change, all in light of the truth he knows but tries hard to ignore.
The fact that this theme is examined within the context of a nine inning baseball game at Yankee Stadium is a brilliant plot device, in my opinion. Well done, Billy Coffey. I look forward to reading more of your work.
I received a complimentary copy of this novel from NetGalley. Opinions stated here are my own.

I really enjoyed this book but I could see where it wouldn’t appeal to everyone. I love baseball and enjoyed the characters in the book more than I thought I would based on previous feedback I had read. I thought the story was believable and the writing style was magical.
While it wasn’t a 5 star book for me- it earned a solid 4 stars.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC of this book.