"Epic Sparks . . . showcases the author's most accomplished work to date . . . There are moments of perfection . . . Reaching not only young and old, the novel is commingled with enough cowboy action, literary flavor, and a maturing gift for dialogue to reach across the sexes."—Mountain Times (NC)

"These parallel love stories are each rich in their own right, but together, they tell a broader and more complicated tale of love's growth and evolution over time . . . some surprising twists right up until the very end."—BookReporter.com

“For Sparks, weighty matters of the day remain set pieces, furniture upon which to hang timeless tales of chaste longing and harsh fate.”—Washington Post

"Sparks is a poet . . . a master."—Philadelphia Inquirer

Nicholas Sparks’ redemptive, emotionally charged novel is an enjoyable change of pace for fans. Thanks to nuanced performances by Ron McLarty and January LaVoy, it’s also an instantly engrossing listening experience…LaVoy provides a steady, bright narration and compassionate characterizations that complement McLarty’s work beautifully, highlighting the differences in these character’s experiences even as they grow inexorably closer together.”

The two couples could not be more unlike, especially in their present situations. Ira Levinson is ninety-one years old, injured, and stranded, perhaps forever, after a car crash; yet comforted by visions of his beloved wife Ruth, who died nine years before. Not far away is Wake Forest senior Sophia Danko, enraptured head over heels with an equally enthralled cowboy named Luke. In this cinematic novel, Nicholas Sparks weaves together the stories of these two starkly different pairs as only he could…(P.S. Read it now; see it later: The Longest Ride is slated to be a film, due to be release on Valentine’s Day weekend 2015).”

Nicholas Sparks’s redemptive, emotionally charged novel is an enjoyable change of pace for fans. Thanks to nuanced performances by Ron McLarty and January LaVoy, it’s also an instantly engrossing listening experience. When 91-year-old Ira Levinson drives off the road in a snowstorm, he has no one but his late wife to pass the long hours with while waiting for rescue. Meanwhile, miles away, Sophia Danko meets a cowboy who challenges her dreams of the future. Ron McLarty emphasizes Ira’s inner strength and growing fallibility while making the supporting cast immediately identifiable and intensely sympathetic. January LaVoy provides a steady, bright narration and compassionate characterizations that complement McLarty’s work beautifully, highlighting the differences in these characters' experiences even as they grow inexorably closer together. B.E.K. 2014 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

2013-10-28
Love means never having to say you're dead. Sparks (The Best of Me, 2011, etc.) fans know the drill: sweetness and light, darkness and despair, kissing and making up. And always, always, intertwining storylines. Got the template? Here, Sparks opens with a grim scene that soon turns as sappy as a maple: Old Ira Levinson (there's a signal there) has driven off the road in black ice and snow, and now he's feeling, as he says, "the Grim Reaper tapping my shoulder." Now, it stands to reason that up there in the Southern highlands, a tow truck is likely to arrive less expeditiously than the nearest friendly ghost, in this case, that of Ira's beloved wife, Ruth. If you've seen that Patrick Swayze/Demi Moore movie, you'll know how this part works. But Ira isn't just any old Southern Jew expiring in the cold: He's had a hobby that's morphed into a grail. Exit stage right; enter Sophia and Luke. Sophia's a sorority sweetie with a brawler of a boyfriend whom she's trying to ditch, and Luke is the cowboy hero who comes loping along to save the day. But let Sparks explain: "The cowboy's words were clear and slow, as if he were addressing a dimwit." Indeed. Well, bad boyfriend is conflict No. 1, and Luke's nerves are conflict No. 2, especially when it comes to a session with the monster bull of his darkest dreams. All that remains to be done is to lasso these two couples together, jerk some tears: "My plea to you is this: despite your sadness, do not forget how happy you have made me; do not forget that I loved a man who loved me in return, and this was the greatest gift I could ever have hoped to receive." To which, in cowboy-speak, the proper reply is: "Aw, shucks." Just the sort of thing for Sparks buffs.