I’m tempted to say Tessa Goes Down is – to paraphrase the fictitious movie Rochelle, Rochelle from Seinfeld – a young girl’s strange, erotic journey from Malvado to Decatur. But it is so much more than that. It’s a dark, carnal, and vicious tale of drugs, arson, murder and money. It’s a multifaceted account about resiliency, retribution, following your own moral code/belief system and clamoring for a better life. And perhaps most of all, it’s an epic love story filled with lust, arousal, animalistic sex and finding your soulmate in the unlikeliest of circumstances. This thriller truly has it all!
Tessa Rae Jayne is on the run for the Mexican border to escape the consequences of her actions against a gang of sinister men in her hometown. Almost to her destination in the far reaches of Texas, she runs into Floyd Tillman Weathers, a mysterious and handsome man with his own secrets…and a bag full of money. Making an instant connection, the two find themselves intimately intertwined in more ways than one, leading to an adventure that they hope will result in finding freedom and building a life together. But danger lurks around every corner and it’s damn near impossible to outrun your past. So Tessa and Floyd are forced to make a decision deeply rooted in the human condition – fight or flight? Their choice will set them on a path that will alter their lives forever.
This novel is unadulterated noir from start to finish and it’s fantastic. Tessa and Floyd are both flawed characters who are put through multiple trials of moral ambiguity. They must make decisions that they believe are justifiable in the heat of the moment but still contain malice and go against most people’s views of conventional and acceptable societal norms. With nothing less than survival at stake, it’s up to the reader to determine if their actions are defensible and if they have enough redeeming qualities to deserve forgiveness for their actions, past and present. Can you root for these two young wayward individuals to find their happily ever after, considering their conduct along the way? Does true love conquer all? These are questions every reader will be faced with and forced to answer, and I know which way I’m leaning (hint: I just might be a romantic underneath all this cynicism, sarcasm and hair).
If you (1) are a fan of gritty, suspenseful, dark crime novels, (2) believe in fate and (3) are a sucker for love, then Tessa Goes Down is the perfect book for you. But even if you only check one of the three boxes, this book is still an excellent escapade worth taking. Because Jason Bovberg delivers a tremendous reading experience that will leave you breathless and reeling, contemplating the journey, the destination and the multiple meanings of the title long after you close the back cover.
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